‘Tessa’s Landing’ Praised as a ‘Heartfelt Immigrant Story’

Kirkus Reviews calls Tessa’s Landing a “heartfelt immigrant story” and praises the research and the expression of “a lonely immigrant’s experience of rumination and loss.” Don’t miss this novel by Maureen Brady!

“Brady’s historical novel follows a young Irishwoman’s journey across the Atlantic during the Great Famine to a new life in America,” the reviewer writes. “The story opens in September 1846 on Achill Island, where 16-year-old Tessa O’Melia is being sent off to America to marry a stranger. …Sailing on the fever-ridden ship Dorcas, Tessa meets a collection of companions who will shape her story. Nuala is a starving orphan; Mavis is a sharp-tongued, prayerful spinster; Nifty is the ship’s apprentice, with whom Tessa shares an innocent romance. After 42 days at sea, Tessa lands in New York, but the man she was sent to marry never comes to the docks. Lost and nearly preyed upon, she’s taken in by Daniel, a kind blacksmith from Donegal who walks with a limp. They marry, a son arrives, and Tessa slowly builds a life, sewing fabric scraps into small toys she sells at the market. … The narrative is capably told and heartfelt, effectively building a cozy and twee atmosphere, and Brady’s research on the famine, the crossing, and the squalor of Manhattan’s Five Points is evident. …Saintly Tessa’s longing for Nifty, for Ireland, and for her father … is evocative of a lonely immigrant’s experience of rumination and loss.”