Her entry begins:
I just read The Help – finally. I’ve seen the film twice and was ashamed I hadn’t read the novel, which I had bought years ago. It is truly an almost perfect novel. The character development, setting descriptions, situations, and depictions of personal stakes are drawn beautifully. For me as a reader, novels set in tumultuous historic periods are very compelling, if done well. Character development and an memorable setting are what I look for in a story. This novel had no stereotypes, no false steps, no...[read on]About Girl on the Leeside, from the publisher:
A young, aspiring poet in a quiet Irish village thinks her life of books suits her perfectly until a charismatic newcomer from America broadens her horizons.Visit Kathleen Anne Kenney's website.
Siobhan Doyle grew up with her Uncle Kee at their family pub The Leeside, in rural Ireland. Kee has been staunchly overprotective of Siobhan ever since her mother’s death in an IRA bombing, but now that she’s an adult, it’s clear that in protecting her Kee hasunwittingly kept her in a state of arrested development. The pair are content to remain forever in their quiet haven, reading and discussing Irish poetry, but for both Siobhan and Kee fate intervenes.
A visiting American literary scholar awakens Siobhan to the possibility of a fulfilling life away from The Leeside. And her relationship with Kee falters after the revelation that her father is still alive. In the face of these changes, Siobhan reaches a surprising decision about her future. Lyrical and heartfelt, Kathleen Anne Kenney’s Girl on the Leeside deserves a place alongside contemporary literature’s best-loved coming-of-age novels.
My Book, The Movie: Girl on the Leeside.
Writers Read: Kathleen Anne Kenney.
--Marshal Zeringue
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