A Dance in Donegal by Jennifer Deibel

 

All of her life, Irish-American Moira Doherty has relished her mother's descriptions of Ireland. When her mother dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1920, Moira decides to fulfill her mother's wish that she become the teacher in Ballymann, her home village in Donegal, Ireland.

After an arduous voyage, Moira arrives to a new home and a new job in an ancient country. Though a few locals offer a warm welcome, others are distanced by superstition and suspicion. Rumors about Moira's mother are unspoken in her presence but threaten to derail everything she's journeyed to Ballymann to do. Moira must rely on the kindness of a handful of friends--and the strength of Sean, an unsettlingly handsome thatcher who keeps popping up unannounced--as she seeks to navigate a life she'd never dreamed of . . . but perhaps was meant to live.

Jennifer Deibel's debut novel delights the senses, bringing to life the sights, sounds, smells, and language of a lush country and a colorful people. Historical romance fans will embrace her with open arms.

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About The Author

 Jennifer Deibel is a middle school teacher and freelance writer. Her work has appeared on (in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic Magazine, and others. With firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona.

Debut novel, A Dance in Donegal, releases February 2, 2021 from Revell. Follow Moira Doherty to the wilds of rural Ireland in 1921. Available for preorder wherever books are sold.

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My Review

 We walk the countryside in the village of Ballymann in Donegal, Ireland through the eyes of Moira Doherty as she takes in the beauty of what was formerly her mother’s home.
Young Moira has left Boston with the ink barely dry on her teaching certificate, and has taken a job in the small village in Ireland, as the new teacher.
We see how these people live, with the domes over their beds and learn why, the thatched roofs, and the superstitions they all seem too possess.
There are a couple of young men whom Moira takes a fancy too, but she is just enjoying being in the home of her roots, but there are some that begin tormenting her, and one of her students is not very nice to her, but keep reading!
There are some sweet happenings here, and others you will need the tissues handy for, but I loved the strong Love of God these people have, and how they shared their love with others.
I received this book through LibraryThing and was not required to give a positive review.