Sing, Wild Bird, Sing: A Novel Paperback – August 1, 2023

Beautifully written and very hard to put down. Found myself wanting to see what Honora would do next and how her past was shaping her future.

This book was haunting to read. The author has done a beautiful job of taking a tragic event from history, the Ish famine and all those who died of salvation in Doolough in the mid 19th century, and given us a powerful story of an exceptional young woman who survives, against all odds, and escapes to America. But, Honora's suffering is far from over, and my heart breaks for her throughout most of the book. It was difficult to read, at times, because it was just so sad. However, I had to know what Honora's fate would be. She endured so much, and I wept for her until she finally meets a young Indian man on the wild prairies of America. His name is Joseph."Look for the one who sees the blessing." (from the book) Good advice for all of us.

Fascinating read..beautifully written historical fiction. Excellent character development. Couldn’t put it down. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

A well written book about the hardships of life and the people who endure them. I wanted to stop reading this book but I had to find out what the author had in store for the main characters. Very thought provoking.

Honorà’s mother died in childbirth and a robin in the house at that time marked the child as cursed. She grew up wild, near feral but she married William. But there was a famine in Ireland and Honorà lost her baby and everyone died and she kept walking to the sea. Met girls on the ship bound to be house maids in NYC. But she and Mary were not paid so they ran and headed west to a man Mary knew from Ireland. Arriving in the Oregon territory on his money, they found themselves paying him back in his brothel. A client, Prosper fell in love with Honora (now Nell) and broke her free. They set up a homestead but it was hard work and Honora was trapped. Until an Indian came to claim a roan pony. The rest of the story is worth reading as i don’t want to spoil it. I did like the tidy ending.

I got this book as a first reads pick from Amazon prime. This was the only choice that looked good to me. It is labeled as historical fiction and it is just that. I don’t want to go deeply into the storyline because you can get a synopsis from the listing and from other reviews.The intimate scenes were not smut which I appreciated. Nothing ruins a story quicker than forced or cringey sex scenes, anytime it was talked about it wasn’t overly graphic and she got her point across just fine.I enjoyed this story.I think the characters were well developed and I was interested in Honora’s story and what happened to her. There were sad things but the way they were written wasn’t so depressing that I didn’t want to go on. (A book that I liked “A Woman in Time” was so depressing and felt so hopeless at times I had to put the book down for days and come back to it)It was an engaging story and it made me want to look into the author and find other things she’s written.I’ve also enjoyed historical fiction books by Amy Harmon. “What the wind knows” “A girl called Samson”

Historical fiction can be dry or, in the case of this book, completely relatable. I came away from it with a new perspective of freedom.

Written in such a poetic way as Honore’s connection with nature foretells her connection with the spirit of Indians. The beginning was difficult for me to connect with but the end of the story captured me and couldn’t put it down. Fascinated to hear of the historical connection between the Irish and native Americans.

This story is surprising in how one can be intrigued and captured in the telling of a fictional character within some true history. Courage, survival, abuse, endurance and realisations are some of the words to describe this telling. Finding one's true calling and finally, connected person help to round this tale out. I would definitely suggest this book to read.

Historical Fiction is not one of my favourite genres, especially if it involves some kind of romance and has this kind of title but this was a cheap Kindle Deal of the Month and I usually enjoy novels by Irish writers set in Ireland.I thought the writing was quite beautiful, the story had good, credible characters and I was engaged almost from the beginning with the plight of the female protagonist, Honora, who had grown up wild and shunned by her father and fellow-villagers due to a supposed curse that killed her mother at the baby’s birth and that would supposedly follow Honora through all of her life.The first part which is based on the tragedy of the Doolough Valley in 1849 during the height of the Great Famine was actually the most powerful and moving part of the book. Honora is an interesting protagonist although her interior monologue got on my nerves a bit after a while. Still, the story continued to hold my interest during the New York and Oregon chapters but with the arrival of the Indian on the scene one just knew how it was going to end and the ending, in fact, was melodramatic and far too patHaving said that, there are of course obvious parallels in the fate of the Irish and that of the Native Americans and it was interesting to learn that in 1847 the Choctaw Nations sent money to help the Irish during the Famine.

I loved this story, and the telling of it.It captures a hard part of Irish history, the famine starvation and forced emigration, thrown into sharp relief through the suffering and survival of the main character, as she moves between Ireland and America.I felt a reluctance before starting the novel, thinking it'd be full of suffering, angst and perhaps sentimentality.While it portrays the horrors of the times, Honora is so beautifully drawn that you feel her great strength and desire not just to survive but to live freely, at one with the natural world.The writer does not shy away from depicting the injustices of the time, but portrays them realistically and sensitively,honouring the memory and story of those who cannot tell their tale.The link between the new world and the old was unexpected but welcome: there is a beautiful monument in my hometown in Ireland honouring the Choctaw nation and their support of and sacrifice for the Irish during the famine, raising money and sending corn, despite the little they had themselves. The shared experience of two peoples, thousands of miles apart, echoed across the sea then and continues to today.But this is a personal story, centred around an unusual and intelligently drawn main character, which captures the mind, the imagination and the heart. Read it.

This story was so beautiful. So tragic. So moving. Enriching. Every word was poetry, a piece of art. The author used words to paint a picture of tragedy, despair, strength and perseverance. The horror of the Irish famine, the traumas Honora went through, her determination to survive both in Ireland and America - it all was so wonderfully told. The connection between her and Joseph, unexpected yet not. I cannot describe the feelings this story evoked. I feel them still. How someone can go through what her and Mary did and end up a compassionate human being is amazing. I loved every page of this book. Immerse yourself in it, you will not be sorry. Small wonder the author won such awards. Superb.

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