Whispers Across a Sea

“Inspired by the stories of her ancestral past—those shared and unearthed—Christina Holloway takes us back in time and across generations in this tender, colorful reimagining of her Anglo-Irish roots.” —Georgia Hunter, author of We Were the Lucky Ones

“Enchanting. Riveting. Believable. Whispers Across a Sea is a captivating historical novel, set in Ireland and Canada between 1873 and 1921. From her grandmother Lucie Franz, Christina Holloway inherited a treasure trove of family letters and memorabilia, a fascination for Irish history, and the keen ability to tell Lucie’s Anglo-Irish family story. Whispers is a must-read.” —Scott Pearson, professor emeritus, Stanford University 

“Historical novels help us better understand our current world. Whispers Across a Sea offers a moving portrait of one Anglo-Irish family as they courageously confront conflict and change. Absorbing, familiar, and delightful.” —Hadley Dynak, coauthor of It’s a Good Day to Change the World

“In this multifaceted and moving historical novel, Christina Holloway shines a light on her beloved grandmother’s life in late Victorian Ireland. Through the microcosm of the author’s Irish forebears, we glimpse a society of increasing political and religious tensions as a result of centuries of oppression under British rule. An intimate snapshot of a time and place in preindependent Ireland, this book opens up many windows to the fraught history of this fascinating country.” —Stina Katchadourian, author of Efronia and The Lapp King’s Daughter

“In Christina Holloway’s debut novel, Whispers Across a Sea, a loving Anglo-Irish family living in nineteenth-century Dublin gradually awakens to the uncomfortable truth that their life of privilege is built on the backs of the native Irish, who live in poverty and turmoil. This is a beautiful tale of compassion, conflict, and perseverance.” —Kimberly Young, author of In the Event of Death

“A multigenerational cross-cultural epic that weaves the origin story of one woman with the broader histories of Canadian, Irish, English, and American families. What a gift to be lost in the world of the Young family, like being with Alcott’s little women or Austen’s sisters, the friendships and relationships are the beating heart of this generous novel.” —Kristine Zeigler, author of Cover This Country Like Snow and Other Stories and cofounder of New Nature Writers and Planet Women

“The narrative flows like a stream into an Irish world of the past: full of color, spirit, and a medley of distinctive characters. As one family’s story intermingles with its surrounding local and national histories, a bygone time comes alive on the page as if by magic or incantation.”—Robert Pogue Harrison, Rosina Pierotti professor of French and Italian literature at Stanford University, author of Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition

“Whispers Across a Sea journeys through time and space to bring nineteenth-century Dublin into vivid life, with its political rumblings and Irish charm. Holloway has the knack for making the past feel present, her working servants, artists, and teachers all fully formed. But most of all, this is a story of family, one with equal inclinations to adventure, freedom, and the powerful bindings of love. Drawing from letters, paintings, and tales of [her] own family’s generational moves, Holloway writes a warm and compelling tale for all of us.”—Sherri Hallgren, teacher, English Department, Phillips Academy Andover

“Some stories travel across the sea and through the generations, like a whisper that holds dear the inklings of who we were, are, and may become. Not even the sea can separate us from our individual stories and our universal truths in the endlessly churning narration that bridges us all.” —Audrey Gale, author of The Human Trial

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