The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey

As readers we develop relationships with the characters that we encounter in novels.  We love some; we hate others; and then there are the ones that we love to hate.  It is an author's duty to persuade their readers to become personally invested in their characters lives and circumstances because if we as readers don't connect to the characters on some level, the story falls apart.  We end up not caring about the events or the outcome, and we abandon the book all together.  Why invest time in a novel in which an author doesn't care to create plausible and/or fantastic characters in which we can love, hate, admire, admonish, and fantasize?  We want to empathize and sympathize with them.  Our hearts should break when a character hits a low.  Our hearts should soar when they hit a high.  And at other times, we should feel the urge to want to grab that character by the shoulders, give him or her a good shake, and shout, "What the hell were you thinking!!?"

Eileen O'Neill is that character for me, the one I want to grab by the shoulders and lay into.  We meet this outspoken, brash, self-confident Irish mill worker in Patricia Falvey's debut novel The Yellow House.  Set during a period of political and religious strife in early 1900s Ireland, Falvey creates a protagonist to admire, to scrutinize, and to love.

When O'Neill's family and home is torn apart through tragedy, she vows to reunite the remaining members and reclaim her beloved childhood home, The Yellow House.  She earns a living by working in a spinning mill in hopes to save enough money to accomplish her goals.  However, the choices she makes don't always comply with an honest living.  As she spins fibers in the mill, she becomes entangled in her own knot of difficult and tragic circumstances.  Eileen O'Neill's determined, self-righteous, and sometimes even shy personality allow her to fall in love with two men, both of whom are politically charged in support of opposing views.  Her relationships with these men affect her ability to mend the broken pieces of her family and home.  O'Neill makes tough and often politically, socially, and religiously unfavorable decisions in which she unapologetically speaks her mind.

The Yellow House is a wonderful piece of historical fiction.  Although some of the "surprise" outcomes are predictable, I enjoyed it nonetheless.  I learned about a piece of Ireland's history in which I had not been aware.  I also developed that all-important relationship with the novel's characters.  I did not always agree with Eileen O'Neill's words and actions.  I did feel the urge to shout out to her, "What were you thinking?  Why would you ever say such a thing?"   But I connected with this character and admired her resolve and determination.  Bravo!