THE IRISH DRESSER

A Story of Hope during The Great Hunger

(An Gorta Mor - 1845-1850)

by

Cynthia Neale

PLOT SUMMARY:

When thirteen-year-old Nora McCabe crawls into the old dresser that sits next to the hearth holding a few pieces of her mother's china, she dreams of luscious cakes and fairies as hunger pains grip her. It is in the dresser that Nora finds hope when her father declares they must leave their beloved Ireland for America. Hidden in the magical dresser aboard the ship traveling to a new land, Nora lives an adventure that transforms her life and turns hope into reality.

EXCERPT:

"Ever since the potato fog came to Ireland, I am always frightened and hungry. I am as hungry as a caterpillar devouring the leaves on a branch of a tree. My hands shake while I pick berries from the wet fields and eat them. It had been October when the potato fog came and destroyed our crops. Now it is November and it has been raining every day since, a soft drizzle that makes us feel like creatures of the sea. Ourskin is always moist, just like seals, just like fish."

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

"Besides eating green frosted cupcakes, families might celebrate St. Patrick's Day by reading a book about Ireland. More than two million Irish people emmigrated, largely to the United States, during the potato famine of 1845 to 1850 and another one million died of starvation. Author Cynthia Neale limns these terrible times in The Irish Dresser. To forget the hunger, 13-year-old Nora McCabe hides in her family's big dresser and daydreams about food and a richer life. Her father manages to scrape together passage on a ship to America, but there is no ticket for Nora. The piece of furniture is her only hope; and she stows away in it for the long journey filled with sick-ness, hunger and unfair treatment of the poor. In addition to a grip-ping plot, the story is beautifully told in the cadences of Irish speech."

Mary Quattlebaum, Children's Literature Critic

NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR:

The Famine was a tragedy whereby over a million people perished due to hunger and fever. This atrocity occurred because of the loss of a potato crop and the prejudice of the British government who ruled over Ireland. Families lived on small plots of land and grew grain for their rent and potatoes for their sustenance. The potatoes rotted and a slow, agonizing, and horrifying death visited the people. The grain, how-ever, flourished and was shipped to England. Five thousand ships and over two million people left Ireland during the Famine years to arrive in North America.

The invisible scar of the Famine lies deeply rooted in the Irish psyche, and as truth and stories are shared, healing as well as understanding of famine around the world is possible.

BIBLIOGRPHY:

A complete bibiography for The Irish Dresser is available here.