Prologue

This chapter explains Katherine's current situation. (Comments appreciated!)

Prologue

Skibbereen, 1845

        Papa says the crops will fail this year. He paces our small kitchen.

          “Katherine, what’re we goin’ to do?” he says over and over. “Without our potatoes we’ll have no money, no food!”

          “What about our wheat, Papa?” I ask. “And oats?

          Papa scolds, “Hush, child. Ye’re womenfolk. Ye cook and clean and mend clothin’, not meddle in the matters of men.

          “But, Papa-”

          “I said hush, Katherine. Now leave me be so I can think.”

          “Yes, Papa.”

          Quickly and quietly, I make my way outside into the garden. The day is humid and gray, as it always is after a heavy rain. I look out over the fields of potatoes. The crops are changing color, their leaves turnin’ black. The townsfolk blame it on the rain. They call it “wet rot”. But they’re wrong. It ain’t the rain.

Reviews

[Echo]

I like this! The Irish dialect that you put in is incredibly readable and gives your writing a bit of flair. I do have one suggestion, though. Instead of Katherine calling him "Papa" it's more time-period accurate for her to call him "Da." Other than that, this was very good, although I could have used more description of the rotting potatoes. I hope you can find the time to review my own historical fiction story, which is incidentally about an Irish girl who leaves Ireland because of the effects famine. I look forward to reading more of this!

[Bare Trees]

Very well written and readable. Nice job.