Author(s): Jim Gilson

Fiction

It is 1845 and the situation in Ireland is dire. Hunger and typhus are killing people by the thousands. Through no fault of their own, Joseph and Grace Connelly find themselves and what is left of their seven children living a life they never could have imagined three years earlier. Fin and Helen Denny and their two surviving children are neighbors of the Connelly's. Fin, who has always looked up to Joseph, has also suffered the devastating effects of the potato famine. He is desperate to relieve his hunger and save his family. Soon, both families decide to relocate to Little Ireland, a slum in Manchester, England, with the hope of finding a better life. Although a family member's great fortune should end the suffering of the Connelleys and Dennys, the lure of money is too much to resist in a time of greed and suffering for many. Unfortunately, those with more power will stop at nothing to get what they believe they deserve. In this historical story of love, trust, honor, and betrayal, two families who must escape the potato famine to survive must face a host of new challenges in the Irish slums of Manchester, England.