A review by ginabyeg
Away by Jane Urquhart

2.0

This book boasts an award and Urquhart is acknowledged as "one of Canada's most accomplished and interesting writers" (Edmonton Journal). Who is in charge of these accolades? I did not find this book interesting or accomplished. Part of the reason likely has to do with my utter lack of interest in history, and thus I had virtually no context of the Irish or even Canadian experience of the late 1800's. I feel I was able to put some of the historical highlights together as I read; what I couldn't wrap my head around, however, was any sense of plot or even a sense of who the protagonist was. Additionally, the story moves back and forth in time--while most is set in the late 1800's, a bit is set in the mid 1900's, in an attempt to link one of the main characters to her descendant. However, I feel like this is an unnecessary piece of the novel. It has seemingly nothing to do with the rest of the story that is set in the late 1800's. There is no meaningful tie. I kept reading this book hoping the pieces would come together, and they did not.