Breda's Island by Jessie Ann Foley

Abstract

Reviewed by: Breda's Island by Jessie Ann Foley Elizabeth Bush Foley, Jessie Ann Breda's Island. Quill Tree/HarperCollins, 2022 [256p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780063207721 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780063207752 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 5-8 After Breda Moriarity's latest episode of petty theft, her mother Maura ships her off for the summer to Granda's farm on Ireland's Dingle Peninsula—an unexpected choice, given that a pregnant teenaged Maura fled to Chicago years ago to escape Granda's anger and disappointment. Granda's not especially warm to Breda, either, but the farm is beautiful, and Breda surprises herself as well as her grandfather with her affinity to and skill with the livestock. Granda also reveals an unexpected role in the small community as a seanchaí, the valued transmitter of traditional lore who can hold a pub—and a granddaughter—beguiled. However, his declaration that any relationship with the local Fahey family is forbidden runs afoul of Breda's need to make some friends, and when she joins that clan for Gaelic football matches, the Faheys shed light on closely guarded Moriarity family secrets. The plot outline may be a familiar one, but the specific revelations contextualize middle schooler Breda's immediate trials within her family's history, particularly Maura's struggle [End Page 351] to make an American life as an undocumented small business owner and Granda's distressing, emotionally-crippling childhood. There's more than a touch of the seanchaí in Foley's own silky prose, and readers who witness the Moriarity family's rapprochement will recognize that it may not promise a fairy tale ending, but it does deliver the right ending. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois