Review ⟶ Celestial Land and Sea by Amy McLean

[Sparrow]

TITLE: Celestial Land and Sea

AUTHOR: Amy McLean

RELEASE DATE: February 20th 2015 by Open Books

GENRE: Historical Fiction

TAGS: Historical Fiction, 16th century, England, Ireland, Queen Elizabeth I, Gráinne O'Malley, Pirates, Time Travel

RATING (1-5): ★★★

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A copy of this book was provided to me, free of charge, by the publisher. It has in no way impacted the content of this review.


This book would be better marketed as a young adult novel, than historical fiction. While it certainly does contain historical characters & settings, the protagonists (one Grace Byrne, modern gal, and one “Gráinne O'Malley”, 16th-century pirate extraordinaire) are actually both the same person (modern gal, parading herself as Gráinne after falling through a time traveling door that appeared in her apartment). It's a short book that could perhaps have been a novella, and at best is a beach read.

To be fair: not a big fan of time travel, me. I do however, love historical fiction, and it was the purported protagonist Gráinne O'Malley that got me interested. But as it turns out, it's not Gráinne, it's Grace- so I felt a bit cheated. Sure, she's walking in her steps, fighting her fight, but Grace Byrne was the kind of girl who sits in the bar sipping cosmo's and gossiping about celebs with her “besties”- I'm sure there are a lot of people who will relate to her, but I'm just not one of them, and I'm even less able to relate to her “search for meaning” in her 20-some year old life.

The course of the book covers Elizabeth I's capture of O'Malley's son, Tibbot ne Long Bourke, and his involvement over a revolt regarding clan succession. Under the reign of Henry VIII, England declared Ireland “The Kingdom of Ireland”, and attempted to govern while still involving the ancient clan system in place, by way of bullying & threatening chieftains. A complicated disagree over succession and rent paid to the crown ensued, and Gráinne's son Tiboot, a central figure, was captured by Elizabeth I's men preceding the Nine Years Revolt, during which the real Gráinne petitioned the queen for a pardon on behalf of her son. By this time, the real Gráinne was well on in her years (by the standards of the era), and well known as an indomitable & formidable woman whose exploits as a pirate & chieftain were already becoming the stuff of legend. The meeting of O'Malley- a woman manning a ship in a time when just the presence of a woman on a boat was considered ill-luck, and Elizabeth I- an equally formidable woman ruling a country, against all odds- is the kind of history that makes box office gold. O'Malley is pirate, for one- a career which Elizabeth was ambivalent about, at best; she refused to bow to the queen (she didn't recognize her as it), & even secreted in a dagger despite being told not to (though it was not with ill-intent). But in the book, even that meeting fell a little left of exciting.

Outside the anachronistic writing & speech, and outside the fact that the book was really more novella than novel- the author admits much of what she wrote didn't happen in real life. Obviously with historical fiction, there are gaps to fill in, but with something this short, how necessary was that? But the thing I think I had the hardest time with was just the personality of the protagonist. The things she was interested in, the observations she made; the motives and machinations (the few she seemed to have)- none of it really jived for me.

As I said before, I think as a young adult novella, this would do fabulously. The flow & the modern feel that was jarring to me would probably be engaging to someone younger, and be an excellent introduction to historical fiction for that genre. It wasn't a bad book, per say, so much as I think it was just marketed wrong. The author herself is young, and judging by her bio, quirky (“niece of a spiritual messenger, Amy often focuses on the Spiritworld in her writing... Her debut novel Walk On explored the concept of the guardian angel.... can be found indulging in the cinematic careers of Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton, uploading videos on YouTube, and dangling toy mice for Medora the cat.”). I don't know if she had any role in the choosing of her cover, but she does get extra points for having such a lovely, time-appropriate one. I've given it three stars instead of two, because I think there's promise here, and for the right audience, this book will do well- unfortunately, I just wasn't it.