the walking people

Greta Cahill never believed she would leave her village in the west of Ireland until she found herself on a ship bound for New York, along with her sister Johanna and a boy named Michael Ward. Labeled a “softheaded goose” by her family, Greta discovers that in America she can fall in love, raise her own family, and earn a living. Though she longs to return and show her family what she has made of herself, her decision to spare her children knowledge of a secret in her past forces her to keep her life in New York separate from the life she once loved in Ireland, and tears her apart from the people she is closest to. Even fifty years later, when the Ireland of her memory bears little resemblance to that of present day, she fears that it is still possible to lose all when she discovers that her children—with the best of intentions— have conspired to unite the worlds she’s so carefully kept separate for decades. A beautifully old-fashioned novel, The Walking People has remarkable range and power. 

REVIEWS

“A beautifully crafted story reminiscent of the best Mary Gordon or John MacGahern or Claire Keegan. She’s got heart and subtlety all at once.”
—COLUM MCCANN

“A richly detailed, powerfully evocative novel . . . Keane tells an archetypal American story . . . and she brings it robustly to life in ways that help us to see its long-lasting ability to inspire. There is a gritty, courageous immediacy to Keane’s realism, as she renders scene with great emotional intesity . . . Keane’s first novel is as powerful as it is relevant. Enthusiastically recommended.”
—LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Richly moving . . . Sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes joyous and tender – one of those stories that lingers in the reader’s memory as a lived experience.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Keane creates characters as believable as they are quietly decent and wise. Never heavy-handed, she allows us to journey with them as they slowly accumulate bits of life knowledge.”
—CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR