About this item
Highlights
- "I hold my breath while reading Sarah Crossan's books.
- 400 Pages
- Young Adult Fiction, Romance
Description
About the Book
Originally published: Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2024.Book Synopsis
"I hold my breath while reading Sarah Crossan's books. Every word is filled with so much love, the book is practically throbbing. A beautiful, perfect, moving read." --Cecelia Ahern, bestselling author of P. S. I Love You
In 1847, everything in Ireland was falling apart--but sixteen-year-old Nell was falling in love. Carnegie Medal winner Sarah Crossan's first historical novel-in-verse is a suspenseful and heartbreaking story of love, family, and the forces that can destroy us or bind us forever. For fans of Joy McCullough, Elizabeth Acevedo, Malinda Lo, and Ruta Sepetys.
Ireland is starving, and a poor Irish scullery maid falls in love with the British heir to the land. Can their romance stay hidden during the devastating famine? The potatoes are black, people are dying, and in the midst of it all, Nell must do everything she can to keep her family together and everyone she loves alive.
It is hard to tell a love story
and also the story of a people
being torn apart.
Review Quotes
"Acclaimed author Crossan atmospherically renders the rural Irish setting of this emotionally resonant and powerfully written, page-turning verse novel. . . . Hauntingly beautiful." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"An emotionally taut story of strength and loss, exhibiting how darkness and hope can intertwine. Readers will be left breathless." -- Booklist (starred review)
"Where the Heart Should Be grapples with huge themes of colonialism, poverty, privilege, and power imbalance with astonishing intimacy. A love story set within a harrowing historical period, this is a gripping journey of longing and loss, injustice and sacrifice, crafted by a master of the novel in verse." -- Joy McCullough, award-winning author of Blood Water Paint
"[Nell] is indeed hesitant to tell her story initially, her cadence a bit halting, her narration a bit sparse. But as she opens up to John, so too does she to the reader, speaking of her hopes and dreams even as her world falls apart. . . . Despite the hardship, however, a happy, well-earned ending that emphasizes hope over despair rewards the reader, especially fans of doomed romances that beat the odds." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books