“Hate is fueled by ignorance, son. The first step toward peace is the genuine desire to understand your so-called enemy.”
Seamus Jennings has lived long enough and endured enough to either harden his heart completely or teach him to see beneath the surface of things. Thankfully, he is the latter: an auld man with a keen eye for beauty, a mind that seeks truth beyond what is immediately noticeable, and a heart of gold even more pure than what he and his son use to craft the beloved Claddagh rings of their ancestors. It is Seamus who sees the wisdom of allowing the new landlord’s daughter to apprentice in the jewelry shop he shares with his son. It Seamus who sees that opening Annabeth’s eyes to the beauty beyond the poverty and hard edges of Galway’s residents will help her see their humanity, pride, and great worth. And dear Seamus also sees that Annabeth, though the very embodiment of their perceived enemy, has the opportunity to open and help heal his son Stephen’s wounded soul.
Stephen’s heart has endured more than enough sorrow to harden his heart toward the entire myth of love and the British people who represent the barrier to Ireland’s independence, as well as the murderers of his beloved brother. His pain has festered to bitterness with his situation in the family jewelry shop and the added fact that his father has allowed the British landlord’s daughter to apprentice with them. The face of all things wrong in his world, Lady Annabeth De Lacey is the cross he must bear in order to set things neatly for his intended path into a new future.
Anna does not mind her family’s relocation to Galway or the removal from court life that comes with it. Ireland is beautiful and the opportunity to find her creative expression in the Jennings family’s jewelry shop is a thrill she had not expected. And if she has to cast aside her heavy beaded dresses and intricate skirts in favor of pants for the sake of that art, then so be it. She has much to learn about the process of making the beautiful pieces that stock the shop, and more to learn about the people of Ireland, their culture, and their struggles. Seamus knows that Anna has an opportunity to bridge the gap between the two sides wrapped up in the bitterness of Ireland’s struggle to be free from Britain. It just may be that she also has an opportunity to chase away the fog of bitterness that has held Stephen for years.
Y’all, I cannot get enough of this book! I devoured the NetGalley and promptly threw down my money to purchase a physical copy. Jennifer Deibel has written an excellent story filled with culture and characters that got into my heart and quotes that made me stop frequently to ponder their weight. It would be easy to read The Lady of Galway Manor as a light read, but it would be a mistake to overlook the deeper beauty of this novel.
The Lady of Galway Manor by Jennifer Deibel is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:
Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.
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