000			01919n a2200265 a 4500
001			062026
005			20231009193126.0
008			130110s2002 flu 000 1 eng
010			_a2003001984
020			_a9780156029667
050	0	0	_aPR6065.C558 _bS73 2002
082	0	0	_aMYS OCO
100	1		_aO´Connor, Joseph _d, 1963-
245	1	0	_aStar of the Sea _c/ Joseph O'Connor.
250			_a1st U.S. ed.
260			_aOrlando _b: Harcourt _c, c2002.
300			_axxiii, 386 p. _c; 24 cm.
520			_aAboard the creaky Star of the Sea, a motley handful of first-class passengers and hundreds of evicted tenants fleeing the 1840s Irish famine endure a stormy voyage to America. The first-class passengers include a bankrupted Irish landlord, Lord David Merridith; his discontented wife, Laura; an aspiring American man of letters, G. Grantley Dixon; and a compassionate English doctor who cares for dying famine victims below deck. Completing this microcosm of Irish society are Merridith's servant, Mary Duane, a victim of sexual abuse by her employer, and a mysterious Irish balladeer in steerage named Pius Mulvey, who is gradually revealed to be a notorious murderer armed with a mandate to kill David Merridith before the ship's arrival in New York harbor. Oscillating between the life stories of the characters in Ireland and the deaths of dozens of weakened famine victims aboard the ship, O'Connor brilliantly weaves together an intriguing plot, a cast of memorable characters, and some stunningly realistic dialog. Universal themes of love, loyalty, vengeance, and violence are explored in the context of a troubled class-ridden society convulsed by the catastrophic potato blight.
650		0	_aOcean travel _v--Fiction
650		4	_aImmigrants _v--Fiction
651			_aIreland _x-History Famine, 1845-1852 _v--Fiction
655		7	_aHistorical fiction
655		7	_aMystery fiction
942			_cMO
999			_c261135 _d261135