Water, carry me /

Moran has created another engrossing world in this novel set in Ireland. The author of The World I Made for Her (1998) puts his heroine, Una Moss, in the coastal town of Cobh. Una narrates her own colorful tale, telling us early that she is an orphan. Her parents' car crash has left her at least a rich orphan. She lives off a trust and is going to school to become a physician. She has met the love of her life, Aidan Ferrel. She easily settles into a cozy life of poetry readings, love, and chemistry classes. Her grandfather Rawney is her guardian until she moves in with "me best girls," namely Fallon and Gaynor. Despite this, things are not all they seem. The twists and turns begin with Una's discovery that her parents' car accident was not accidental. Then the "troubles" are never far away, no matter how far south one is. She even witnesses an IRA execution. Yet Aidan continues to provide a blissful retreat from any "troubles" --for a time. The title refers to Una's desire for the waters off Cobh to hold her up and defy the forces that would pull her down into the murky depths. --Marlene Chamberlain

Water, Carry Me is a fictional love story based on the political upheaval in Northern Ireland. The novel follows Una Moss, the narrator, who is in her final year of medical school studying to be a surgeon. It chronicles her life from childhood to womanhood. Una is orphaned as a young girl when her parents are killed in a car accident, and she is sent to live with her alcoholic grandfather, Rawney, in a small Irish fishing village. She enjoys an upper-middle-class life, going to private schools, spending time with her rich friends, and falling in love with Aidan Ferrel. In this evocative, upsetting tale, Moran interweaves the political problems in Ireland with personal relationships. As the story develops, Una's life of innocence turns into betrayal, and she finds herself a nave victim of volatile political conditions. Moran's gripping, artfully written, poignant book provides insight into the violence in Northern Ireland. Derdriu Ring's quick-moving narration keeps the reader on edge. Highly recommended. Carol Stern, Glen Cove Lib., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

to judgment, leaving the sense that there must be even more to her tale than we've been told.