Gracelin O'Malley - Softcover

"Ireland was a predominantly Catholic country in 1845. Why did you choose to make Gracelin a Protestant?"

As a Catholic, Gracelin's options in 1845 would have been much more limited, so part of that decision was about providing a more complicated storyline for her. But I also wanted to show that this historical struggle, which is so often portrayed as religious, is really about centuries of poverty and oppression. And, as in any moral struggle, there are representatives of good and evil on both sides; to be English or Protestant did not mean that one was devoid of all decency, nor did being Irish or Catholic ensure an honorable character. By allowing Gracelin O'Malley to be the Irish daughter of a disillusioned Catholic and a devout Protestant, with a child who is half English, and a lover who is Catholic, with friends and enemies in all camps, I hoped to represent the real participants in history as the complex individuals they were rather than simply good or bad.