Rush of White Wings

A Rush of White Wings is the sequel to To Ride A White Horse, Pamela Ford's first historical fiction novel of the Irish Deacey family who immigrated to America in the 1840s to escape the horrors of famine in Ireland. To Ride A White Horse was very much Kathleen Deacey's story and, while she remains an important character, A Rush of White Wings puts her brother, Sean, more into the limelight. Sean's courageous act of rescuing a refugee baby from the sea after the boat it was on is destroyed by a storm, brings great joy to all the Deacey's but that happiness cannot last. Instead Ford takes readers on an emotional journey, reminiscent of Brecht's The Chalk Circle, as she pits two determined women against each other - each one convinced she can provide the better home for the baby.

Young Will is absolutely the star of A Rush of White Wings and I loved his scene-stealing antics which frequently inject a bubble of humour into what would otherwise be a very intense novel. Unfortunately I felt the ultimate conclusion to the story was telegraphed from far too early on so I didn't get a real sense of trepidation about Will's eventual fate, however I could completely empathise with both Kathleen and with Will's Aunt, Ailish, both of whom had equally valid reasons to want to raise 'their' child. Ford raises interesting questions about what determines personal identity and whether blood family connections are more important than financial stability. The bitter xenophobia experienced by Irish immigrants is also a strong theme of this novel with Ford ably portraying that many thousands found themselves not much better off on American soil than they had been in Ireland. The timeliness of reading A Rush of White Wings in the week of Joe Biden's inauguration wasn't lost on me!