CALL HOME THE HEART

Author: Shannon Farrell ISBN: 0843954752 12/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: 1845

Bewildered and terrified after her bridegroom put a pistol to his head and pulled the trigger, lovely young Muireann Caldwell was faced with two options: She could return to her stifling parents in Scotland and the sheltered existence she once knew, or take a chance and make a new life for herself on her husband’s estate, Barnakilla. She refused to go running home in defeat, and besides, her late husband's darkly handsome estate manager promised that together they could make something worthwhile of her inheritance. For the first time she felt safety in a man's arms, saw respect in his eyes. Lochlainn Roche could no longer stand by and watch the people of Barnakilla suffer. It was his boyhood home, and the lush greens of Ireland called him back. Now with Muireann’s pluck and resourcefulness to aid him, he was sure that they could succeed in restoring Barnakilla to its former majesty. As they fought side by side against the ravages of the Potato Famine, the seeds of love are planted in their tender hearts. But would the unveiling of secrets test the strength of a bond formed in tumultuous times, or would two lost souls finally feel that they had found their way home?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

This is the first book that I have ever read by Shannon Farrell, and while I will definitely give her another try, CALL HOME THE HEART was not all that I thought that it could be. There was definite potential at the beginning of the book and I truly loved the storyline in itself, but the characters did not ring true at all.

I found Lochlainn to be such an insecure wimp that by the end of the book, I truly wanted to smack him. Every time that Muireann left the room, he seemed to revert into a seventeen-year-old boy who didn't know if she "liked" him or not. I will say that at the beginning of the story, I liked Lochlainn. He had definite promise. But, somewhere between page one and page 326, he just became so annoying. He seemed very clingy, and always seemed to be chasing Muireann around with his insecurities and throwing things up in her face, such as the fact that he thought that she was going to leave and didn't truly belong there, which was the entire premise of the book.

Muireann I could like a little more than Lochlainn, though not by much. She was a very intelligent and strong woman, and her sharp mind did seem to bring prosperity to Barnakilla. She was a hard worker and was very unselfish concerning the welfare of Barnakilla. At any point in time, she could have taken off running home to her rich family, but she didn't, because she wanted to make a life for herself. And while I truly thought she did possess some very wonderful qualities, I found her to be very pushy and aggressive, and at times, just downright bossy. I felt like it took a away from her character when one minute she was the epitome of grace and unselfishness, and the next, she was bossing grown men around and hollering at Lochlainn.

I also found the whole set up of Lochlainn and Muireann's relationship to be absurd. They were alone constantly, which in itself doesn't ring true for the era in which this book is written,and no one says anything? Muireann herself is stripping off her clothes and sharing beds and baths with a man that she has known less than a week, when her husband has just killed himself? It just didn't seem right. It seemed an awkward situation to throw these two people into, and I don't see how anyone could have just accepted the situation as it was, let alone Lochlainn and Muireann themselves.

While I truly tried to find redeeming qualities in CALL HOME THE HEART, it just left me feeling unsatisfied and frustrated.

Kristal Gorman