Norah

Cynthia Neale

Feb 2014 · Fireship Press

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Follow the journey of Norah McCabe, a courageous young woman fleeing her Irish home devastated by famine and arriving in the rough and tumble world of New York City of the 1850s.  For the new immigrant every aspect of life is a challenge, negotiating a rapacious underworld, racism, poverty, and the struggle to find meaningful work.  But there are riches and opportunities here as well, and Norah is determined to thrive in her new country through grit, her skills as a dress maker, and her unshakable dream of a better life. Meticulously researched, filled with voices of New York City’s multitudes, and tinged with romance, Cynthia Neale’s Norah offers a compelling heroine in the classic tradition of American immigrant stories. 

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Cynthia Neale is an American with Irish ancestry and a native of the Finger Lakes region in New York. She now resides in Hampstead, New Hampshire. She has long possessed a deep interest in the tragedies and triumphs of the Irish during the Potato Famine or “The Great Hunger.”  She is a graduate of Vermont College in Montpelier, VT, with a B.A. degree in Literature and Creative Writing. Norah is her first historical novel for adult readers.

Neale is also the author of two young adult novels, The Irish Dresser, A Story of Hope during The Great Hunger (An Gorta Mor, 1845-1850) and Hope in New York City, The Continuing Story of The Irish Dresser. Her forthcoming book, Pavlova in a Hat Box, is a collection of essays and dessert recipes. She is currently researching and writing a novel about Queen Catharine, a Native American of New York whose village was destroyed by General John Sullivan in 1779.