ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael K. Reynolds is a writer with more than two decades of experience in crafting fiction, non-fiction, journalism, copywriting and documentary production. He is the author of a series of Irish historical novels published by B&H Publishing Group. These highly acclaimed books are available in bookstores and libraries across the nation and beyond.
Michael is the writer and producer of an Emmy and Telly award-winning series of documentaries titled, Crystal Darkness. These thirty minute anti-meth films have been heavily promoted and broadcast in cities and states throughout the United States and Mexico. They have been viewed collectedly by more than 10 million people and the message has reached more than 30 million to date.
He also has wide experience as a speaker and on-air personality and has been interviewed on a variety of newspapers, radio stations and televisions networks throughout the nation.
Michael earned his B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California, San Diego and lives in Reno with his wife and three children. He is active in marketplace, marriage, small group and men’s ministries as a leader and speaker.
Learn more about Michael and his books on his Website.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
At the onset of the Civil War, Seamus heeds his wife’s wishes to return to her beloved family farm in the South, where he takes a post as chaplain for General Stonewall Jackson’s brigade. As Seamus ministers to the troops, his sister Clare ministers in a different way—by being a powerful voice in the Northern cause toward freeing the slaves. All this while their youngest brother Davin, who became wealthy during the Gold Rush, struggles to find love and identity in a fallen world. It’s a clash of loyalties and beliefs that threaten the entire family, each of them trying to hear God’s encouragement in the midst of the tragedy of war. The dramatic conclusion to the acclaimed Heirs of Ireland Series.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Songs of the Shenandoah, go HERE.
MY REVIEW:
I am thankful that I have had the privilege to read and review all three volumes of Michael Reynolds’ Heirs of Ireland series. To be honest I probably would not have taken more than one glance in the bookstore because of their covers – probably because I am a woman and I tend to be a visual person. The covers, while historically accurate, did not attract me in the least. Perhaps they would be more appealing to male readers. However, once I began to read each of these books, I immediately recognized an author with a tremendous talent for telling a great tale.
Songs of the Shenandoah continues the saga of the Irish immigrant Hanley family. In this final book, younger brother Davin has returned to New York, Seamus and his wife have taken up residence at her family plantation in the South just in time for the Civil War, and Clare and her husband are fighting a losing battle trying to keep his family newspaper alive. In this story of courage and sacrifice, the reader will find a little intrigue, plenty of action, and a bit of romance, but mostly a story that will linger in the memory long after the last page is read and the book is closed. Within these pages are found more than just the rudimentary facts about the War Between the States. Real human experience and emotions are related as brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the battle, Irish volunteers for the Union Army find themselves expendable, and freed slaves in the North are persecuted because of their skin color.
At first I thought Songs of the Shenandoah was too long but by its end, I wanted to keep reading. The entire Heirs of Ireland series is a must read for history buffs, especially those who enjoy reading about Irish immigrants and/or the Civil War. Personally I believe that the entire series could make a film to rival even Gone With the Wind.
