Joseph O’Connor’s ‘Star of the Sea’ is set on a ship bound for North America during the Irish potato famine. The date is 1847 as the boat sails for New York from an Ireland torn apart by injustice and natural disaster.
On board is a crowd of socially disparate passengers, including hundreds of fleeing refugees, seeking to escape the grinding poverty of home for a new life in America. On board, also, is a shadowy figure hungry to enact a vengeance that will bring him absolution from his past.
Much of the story during this perilous journey focuses on the intertwining lives of the passengers, highlighting the brutal class system of the day and divisions between the entitled first class passengers and those in steerage.
Verdict:
I do not recommend this novel for Leaving Certificate students. It is a harrowing account of life aboard the ‘coffin ship’ and much of the subject matter, apart from occasional flashes of humour, is likewise dark, murky and unsavoury.
There are many violent acts, and numerous references to brothels, syphilis and long term effects of sexually transmitted diseases.The style, deliberately ‘old fashioned’ and framing the layered stories of the main characters, would prove too off putting and sophisticated for pupils of this age. I would find it a chore to teach and students, a challenge to read.
Reviewed by Heather C, teacher and parent, Co. Donegal
As an avid reader and English teacher, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I struggled to finish reading this -in my very honest opinion- oh so boring book! I won't be choosing to teach "Star of the Sea" in my classroom any time soon as I think my students would snore their way through it hehe!
M.K. Co. Wexford