The hungry road / Marita Conlon-McKenna.

In its brilliant recreation of the Great Irish Famine, the children's historical novel Under the Hawthorn Tree is beloved by millions and is considered a classic. Now, the Number One Irish bestseller and award-winning novelist is turning her hand to the definitive adult novel of those hard times, with The Hungry Road. ****** Following the disastrous failure of Ireland's potato crop, the people of Skibbereen and West Cork are soon faced with unprecedented disaster. Hunger, disease and death stalk the roads, fields and farms, the cottages and cabins, during Ireland's Great Famine. Mary Sullivan's dreams of a better future are shattered in 1845 with the arrival of the strange blight which destroys their potato crop. Refusing to give in to despair, she must use every ounce of courage and strength to protect her family as she and her husband and children fight to survive. Dr Dan Donovan is Medical Officer to the Skibbereen Union. The arrival of 'the hunger' soon brings starving men, women and children crowding into the town and the workhouse desperate for help. His wife Henrietta does her best to support him but her life is thrown into turmoil when friends and then her own family fall victim to fever. Meanwhile, Parish priest Rev John Fitzpatrick's faith is tested by the suffering and hardship endured by the starving families all around him. The story of this one town and its people mirrors the story of towns and villages all across Ireland during 'The Great Hunger'.