Reviews
The slow unfolding of Maire's story is well-done as Guadagnino reveals details morsel by morsel...The careful explanations of life in the Walden house are well-drawn, and anyone who has watched Downton Abbey will feel right at home...Guadagnino should be commended for tackling a much-ignored piece of our past and giving voice to those who didn't have one in 1837., Set in nineteenth-century New York, Guadagnino's erotically charged debut novel is packed with intrigue, confessions, and betrayal. Fans of Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures (2009) and Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See (2014) will be impressed by Guadagnino's vivid portrayal of female companionship and the blurred boundaries of friendship, love, and something deeper. Exploring class mobility and identity, The Parting Glass is an impressive debut., Well-researched historical details lend authenticity to Guadagnino's captivating work, right down to the diction of the dialog. The limited opportunities afforded to women and immigrants by society colors this tale of passion and lies, which will appeal especially to fans of Sarah Waters., Knotted thickly with secrets both fervid and calculating, to read The Parting Glass is to enter a jungle of passions and lies. Immaculately researched and gorgeously written, this book is noteworthy for its grasp of the agony caused by hiding cracks in the human heart. A thoughtful, lyrical, sensuous, moving tour-de-force., Downton Abbey meets Gangs of New York in this darkly compelling debut. In a world where high-society debutantes and industry titans live oblivious of the immigrant poor and desperate on their doorsteps, proud and clever Irishwoman Mary Ballard moves easily between both spheres, acting by day as prim lady's maid to society heiress Charlotte Walden and letting loose by night in the company of her reckless twin brother and his gang of none-too-savory compatriots. Mary harbors a secret passion for the beautiful Charlotte, who only has eyes for Mary's brother, and this claustrophobic love triangle of stifled desire and class warfare plays out to deadly, devastating effect. A gem of a novel to be inhaled in one gulp., Read The Parting Glass for its rich tapestry of 1830s lower Manhattan, where the stately drawing rooms of wealthy WASPs on Washington Square are sustained by the cheap labour drawn from the tenements nearby. Or read it as a fascinating study of immigration and social class, race and ethnicity, religion and sexuality in early New York. Or as the tale of Maire O'Farrell and her twin brother Seanin, fresh off the boat, who help each other lie to get work in a wealthy household--until they both fall in love with the daughter of the house. Or read it as a tragedy of lies and a triumph of love, or a delicious subversion of the marriage plot. But read it., Delectable....Guadagnino's story of the sumptuous world of the privileged and the precarious, difficult environs of the immigrant working poor is highlighted by vibrant characters and a well-paced plot, which will pull readers into the tangled tale.
