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Title: Away by Jane Urquhart, Seana McKenna ISBN: 0-86492-211-6 Publisher: Goose Lane Editions Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 3 List Price(USD): $19.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.11 (18 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: An intricate weaving
Comment: Extending backwards and forwards in time a hundred and forty years, Away, a novel by Canadian writer Jane Urquhart, begins with one of the female characters discovering the shoreline near her Irish home has been changed forever. Stones resembling new potatoes have replaced the sandy beach, a grim joke in this impoverished area. Then "thousands of cabbages nudged one another towards shore," followed by many silver teapots and barrels of whiskey, a semi-conscious young man the final offering. Thus begins this amazing tale, weaving together the lives of four generations of women, Ireland and and Canada, past and present, land and sea. Water becomes a character in itself, each of these women drawn to it like lemmings, lives unfolding near a stream that ebbs and flows with the seasons, a Great Lake, and the Atlantic Ocean. For readers who appreciate lyrical writing, a compelling story, and subtly evoked magic realism, this book is for you

Rating: 5
Summary: Provoking,lyrical prose that winds through generations
Comment: After reading "The Underpainter" by the same author I was urged to read "Away". This book completely engulfed me and carried me away to Ireland; to the lonely, wind swept, rocky beaches, the cold, hungry nights, and into the small, mean cottages. Jane Urquhart weaves a tapestry of language that forms vivid images in the mind of every reader . We are transported onto the coffin ships to make the long voyage to Canada, that most unforgiving of lands. Following the lives of Mary and Brian and their children, as seen through the lense of memory, was my daily gift to myself. I mourned their loss when I finished reading the book, but can still bring them to life as I continue to reflect upon this poetic novel.

Rating: 4
Summary: Intense/abnormal love stories
Comment: I enjoyed the historical aspect to this book, particularly the description of the potato famine in Ireland. I read up on it a little on the Internet while going through the book and it seems Urquhart describes it accurately. The story, although partially fictitious, of D'arcy Mcgee was also interesting. I thought the obsessive love Eileen had for Aidan was over-emphasized and was dwelled upon for too long. I got the point long before she wrapped up the story. Considering we had already encountered an obsessive love through Mary in the first half of the book, it seemed somewhat redundant to go into that much detail of this obsessive type of love again through Eileen.