Is Majella right to get angry when he uses the word “babysitting” to describe staying home with their daughter, or does she overreact?

THE CROOKED BRANCH – Reading Group Choices THE CROOKED BRANCH – Reading Group Choices

Then, at her childhood home, Majella discovers the diary of her maternal ancestor Ginny, and is shocked to read a story of murder in her family history. The Crooked Branch follows two desperate mothers struggling through vastly different hardships, one in present-day Queens and the other in Ireland in 1846-47 during the Great Hunger, also known as the potato famine.

The Crooked Branch is a story with motherhood at its core, how parenting comes with its ups and downs, no matter the time or place. Determined to uncover the truth of her heritage and her own identity, Majella sets out to explore Ginny's past - and discovers surprising truths about her family and ultimately, herself. Determined to understand the truth of her heritage as well as her own identity, Majella seeks to learn more about Ginny Doyle's personal history - and discovers surprising new truths about her family and, ultimately, about herself.

The Crooked Branch Coffeehouse | Pardeeville WI - Facebook The Crooked Branch Coffeehouse | Pardeeville WI - Facebook

Her son, Walter, falls in love with Molly Gibson, but their relationship is threatened by the social and cultural differences between the two families. As I mentioned above, this is a story that I talked to about with many of friends – either about the famine and those trying times, or about motherhood and the difficulties some of them faced after giving birth.

The novel is set in the mid-19th century in England and Ireland, and it explores the themes of class, gender, and religion. Cummins’ luminous prose, and that feeling we’re all hoping to find when we sit down to read: ‘This is it—a book I’m going to love. I loved the back and forth between the famine and the current day, the diary linking the two, and the linkage between motherhood! Of course, this story is unique, but I’m certain mothers could relate to the intense emotions of motherhood.

The Crooked Branch - Jeanine Cummins - Google Books The Crooked Branch - Jeanine Cummins - Google Books

Approximately one month prior to release of the book, a negative review from Latina author Myriam Gurba was published online.In 1993 Cummins was a finalist in the Rose of Tralee festival, an international event that is celebrated among Irish communities all over the world; at each festival in Tralee, Ireland, a woman is crowned the Rose. Then, a week before release of the book, a string of critical reviews was published, including a review in The New York Times. Is Majella’s mother right when she declares that “every family tree has at least one crooked branch? Cummins' writing is clear and easy, smattered with humor reminiscent of the author's personal style exhibited during her reading.

Plot and Empathy, Suspense and Love: Elizabeth Gaskell’s “The

Majella’s journey into motherhood actually scared me a bit (as someone who hopes to have babies within the next couple of years) because she really seemed to be suffering from post-partum depression, and it was incredibly difficult to read about.

With no help from her erratic absent mother, she imagines dark thoughts of mayhem, hears strange noises and worries about her even crazier neighbor with baby twins. Both Ginny's and Majella's stories were equally compelling for me to read, despite the centuries that separated both women. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live during the famine, and Cummins does an excellent job portraying the fear, helplessness, and desperation of the Irish people. After the birth of her daughter, Emma, first-time mother Majella finds herself feeling extremely strange - almost like she has somehow become separated or disconnected from herself and her family.