Cindy Swanson

"Prelude," by B.J.Hoff

When I read something by B. J. Hoff, I expect to become involved in an absorbing tale about people I end up caring about...enough to keep me turning the pages. I just finished "Prelude," the first of Hoff's "American Anthem" series, and I'm pleased to say it lived up to my expectations.

Hoff seems to be at her best when writing about Irish people; specifically,Irish immigrants to America during the 1800's, as she did in her beloved Emeral Ballad series. In "Prelude," several characters are introduced whose stories I'm sure will be fleshed out in the two books to follow in the series.

There is Susanna Fallon,who has come to America from dire straits in Ireland to act as governess for her young niece...the daughter of her late sister and the blind composer and conductor,Michael Emmanuel. The puzzle: Susanna can't reconcile the gracious and kind Michael with the villain her sister Deirdre portrayed him in her letters to Susanna,written before Deirdre was killed in a mysterious carriage accident. While growing fonder of her little neice and steeling herself against her growing affection for Michael,Susanna is determined to find out the truth about Deirdre's death.

There is Dr. Andrew Carmichael, the altruistic Scottish physician,and his new partner,Dr. Bethany Cole. Dr. Carmichael has a consuming passion for helping New York City's poverty-stricken residents. He now finds himself more and more drawn to Dr. Cole, who is fighting her own battles against the prejudice aimed at the few female doctors of the day.

There is the Conn McGovern family, fleeing a desperate situation in Dublin to cross the ocean for a new and hopefully better life in America. Conn is an attractive,vibrant character,as his wife Vangie is both a strong and appealing one. You feel Vangie's pain as their teen-aged son Aidan refuses to board the ship with the family, and sympathize with her anguish when one of her children becomes deathly ill on the voyage. There's also the feisty busker girl,Renny Magee, who has her own reasons for wanting to escape the crime-filled Dublin streets.

Woven into the story are encounters with D.L. Moody,Ira Sankey and the blind hymn-writer Fanny Crosby. Hoff captures the spirit of Moody's revivals as well as the appeal of the fledgling genre called "gospel music," and her descriptions of New York life in the late 19th century ring authentically true. It's obvious she's well-versed in all things Irish,being a member of both the American Irish Historical Society and the Irish American Cultural Institute. She conveys the lilting dialogue of her Irish characters without the tiresome lingo some authors tend to over-do...instead,they sound like real people, not Irish caricatures.

Why does Hoff tend to focus on the Irish? This from her website:"Well, who’s more interesting than the Irish, after all? There’s no danger of ever running out of stories about them! Seriously, I love writing about the people who built our nation—our ancestors—and there’s really no way to do that without writing about immigrants. And since the Irish immigrants played such a hugely important role in settling America—and since my own family tree is exceedingly “green—" I chose years ago to focus on Irish characters. However, in Prelude, the first book of my American Anthem series, you’ll meet not only Irish immigrants, but Italian and Scottish as well."

"Prelude" is a great book to snuggle up with on a cold January day with a cup of Earl Grey tea or gourmet hot chocolate. And it served to whet my appetite for the next two books in the series. I'm looking forward to finding out what's in store for Susanna, Michael, the good doctors,and the McGovern family!