Introduction

TRAVEL FROM IRELAND TO NEW YORK IN THIS COMPELLING HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF HEARTBREAK AND SECOND CHANCES SET IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY.

"An expansive, breath-taking tale . . . Rose’s voice is eloquent and lyrical, the writing glorious, and the historical detail superb." - Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author, The Spectacular

"Hope Tarr's IRISH EYES is romantic, lyrical, and rich with historical detail. Readers will root for the brave Rose as she navigates the immigrant experience in an ever-expanding New York City. A compelling read!" - Heather Webb, USA Today bestselling author, The Next Ship Home

"Tarr writes beautifully, with great pacing, settings, sensitive love scenes, plot twists, just the right amount of period-specific language, and a superb epilogue...The American Songbook series is off to a great start. Highly recommended." - Marlie Wasserman for The Historical Novel Society

December 1898.

In the aftermath of America’s war with Spain over Cuba, eighteen-year-old Rose leaves her beloved Inishmore and boards a steamer for New York City in search of the Yank soldier who swore to marry her. Herded through the temporary emigrant landing depot at The Battery, abandoned and alone, she discovers the New York streets are no more paved in gold than those of Galway.

To survive, she must ford through Lower East Side tenements and sweatshops, Fifth Avenue mansions and tony hotels, tangling with Tammany Hall for the soul of the husband with whom her fate is inextricably linked while fighting her feelings for the first love who still holds her heart. Just as she begins to make peace with the past, the Great War erupts in Europe, threatening to topple the dynasty for which she has sacrificed so much.

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Excerpt

Saturday, 10th September 1898
It was in every way a usual Saturday night, the pub thronged with men arguing over tides and fishes and the price of kelp in Connemara, their raised, rapid speech mostly in Gaelic with the odd English dropped in. Even after all these years, I can close my eyes and conjure that bustling, beloved taproom. The wattle walls stained peaty from centuries of pipe smoke and turf fires, the fishing nets and oilskins slung upon hooks. The damp air thick with sweet tobacco and wet wool. The oil lamps flickering over flushed faces, animated or weary, depending upon whether the week’s catch had been bountiful or meager. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. Irish Eyes is told in Rose’s voice, the story seen through her eyes. Throughout the novel, much is made of the class difference between herself and Adam. Does this reflect a realistic perception of the mores of the time or her own insecurities?

2. Adam proposes to Rose and almost immediately asks her to stay behind in Ireland while he returns to New York to “pave the way” with his family. Outcome aside, do you think his was a reasonable request given the class constraints of the era?

3. Though Rose never encounters a “No Irish Need Apply” sign, her Irish accent and appearance elicit implicit forms of prejudice from the moment she first arrives. Put yourself in her shoes – better yet, pampooties – and imagine walking into a store to ask for work, knowing that your speech and clothing, hair, and face instantly brand you as Other.

4. Joe Kavanaugh has been called a “striped character” – equal parts hero and antihero. As a fireman, he repeatedly demonstrates selfless bravery, but as a politician and husband, he can be selfish, bigoted, and at times, cruel. By the end of the novel, does he redeem himself or is it a case of too little too late?

5. Moira’s commitment to the cause of women’s suffrage is a thread that runs through the latter part of the story. Given the global Women’s March movement, do you see parallels to today’s world?

6. At the heart of Irish Eyes is the Adam–Rose–Joe “love triangle.” Both men struggle to free themselves from their backgrounds – Joe as a “dumb mick boxer” from Orchard Street and Adam from the codified constraints of high society in the age of Mrs. Astor’s “Four Hundred.” Which man do you think had the most to overcome? To what extent was each a prisoner to social expectations and male gender roles of the era? Who, if either, did you root for to win Rose – are you Team Adam or Team Joe?

7. Until the Covid crisis, the influenza pandemic of 1918 was arguably the most destructive “plague” since The Black Death of the Middle Ages. While the actual death toll remains unknown – numbers reported at the time are generally believed to be gross underestimates – it may well have topped 100 million. Then, everyday people from all walks of life and political persuasions pitched in to enforce health code requirements and promote responsible behavior such as masking, refraining from shaking hands, and so forth. How does this response differ from ours during Covid?

8. Several historical figures appear throughout the book, including Tammany Hall kingpins “Boss” Charlie Murphy, Timothy Sullivan, and Tom Foley, whose names are still seen on many of the buildings, streets, and squares of present-day New York City. Even humble Irish-born fruit seller, Jane Noonan, is taken from real life, depicted courtesy of first-person accounts and a surviving photograph of Jane presiding over her stall outside the Castle Garden gates. Do you enjoy “meeting” real-life characters from history in the pages of fiction? Or do you prefer that the characters in a novel be purely made up?

9. Tammany Hall is integral to the second half of the book, almost a character in its own right. To what extent are the “greed and graft” engaged in by certain Tammany leaders specific to the organization versus a sign of the times? Did Joe’s endorsement of “honest graft” surprise you? Or was his reaction consistent with his hard-knocks upbringing? How much, or how little, have politics changed from the early 1900s to now?

10. Did you find the ending of Irish Eyes satisfying? Realistic or fairy tale? What would you have liked to see happen for the core characters? ?

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