Land of a Thousand Dreams

B.J. Hoff

The third of the Emerald Ballad Series, this novel continues the story of Nora Kavanagh Whittaker and her childhood friends Michael Burk in New York City and Morgan Fitzgerald in Dublin, Ireland. This installment focuses more on Michael and Morgan, although Nora is not ignored.

Michael is engaged to the heiress, Sarah Farmington. Michael's son, Tierney, cannot accept Sarah. He keeps pulling away further from his father and his friend Daniel Kavanagh. Tierney lets himself get involved in Patrick Walsh's organization. Michael knows Patrick Walsh is one of the strongest criminals exploiting the Irish in New York City. He just cannot get the evidence yet to prove it.

Morgan, with his man Sandemon and his ward, Annie Delaney, adjusts to life in a wheelchair. Morgan brings in an unorthodox nun, Sister Louisa, to help with Annie. He also befriends the lady who rescued Annie, the lovely Finola.

Jess Dalton, the preacher in New York, gets more involved in the mission work in the Five Points Area. He gets a boys choir to get started. His family saves a young negro boy who was shot in a riot. He starts ministering to the "freaks" who live in the Bowery.

Once again, I enjoy the take that Hoff weaves. These Christian people have real lives, with real problems. The squalor of Five Points and the Bowery is illustrated well. The life of the Irish in Dublin centers around the Fitzgerald home, and the complexities of the changes in Morgan's life. I'm looking forward to the next installment of this saga.

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon