14 Comments
author

Thanks.

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Oh, how sweet, Barb! Bless your mother's heart. Yes, there are so many questions we think of later, that we wished we'd askeed.

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author

I'm pretty sure you'll love it!

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Oh I've had Brooklyn on my shelves for a while and this is a good kick in the pants to read it! I got it in part because I'm writing about my great-grandmother's immigration from Belfast.

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author

So true!

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Barb,

You keep adding to my library. "So many books, so little time."

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author

Same here. SO many amazing Irish novelists these days.

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author

All the time!

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It's interesting to read about all those insights you've gained about your mom over time. Sounds like you're still getting new ones!

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Am a Toibin fan. Loved The Magician, Brooklyn, and Long Island.

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author

I lOVE the Scottish accent! I think you'd like these, too.

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Another interesting sounding pair of books. My closest immigrant relative is a grandmother who came from Scotland. I grew up adoring her accent—and mimicking it pretty well, I think. I would enjoy these books for reasons similar to your own, I think. Thanks again.

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author

That's an interesting question. I'll have to ponder.

I do love British spellings, though. My grandparents used to send books and I thought it was so bizarre that things were spelled differently. (Not to mention sweaters being jumpers and vacations holidays.) It made me so mad that they "Americanized" the Harry Potter books. As if kids could figure out what meant what!

XX

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Thank you for sharing some of your mother's story.

I'm curious as to whether you use any words or idioms differently than most Americans bc of her?

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