A Dance in Donegal - Jennifer Deibel

Grieving the recent loss of her mother, Irish-American Moira Doherty leaves Boston to take up the post of teacher in the small Irish village of Ballymann in Donegal, a place her mother had often spoken of with deep affection.  But the welcome extended to Moira is far from friendly and it seems a secret related to her mother’s past is going to impact Moira’s present with increasingly devastating results.  Yet among the suspicious locals are people who become Moira’s close friends – and a green-eyed thatcher who she may just come to love.

Jennifer Deibel writes an engaging story with a real sense of place and some beautifully developed characters.  It’s a bit of a shame that the school and most of the children feature very little, but the community itself is well described, and it’s not surprising to learn that it’s based on the Irish village where the author lived for two years.  I could ‘see’ the village and nearby countryside in my mind’s eye as I read, and I loved the characters of Brid, Peg and Colm especially.  

This is a book which is very strongly ‘Christian fiction’.  In fact, it’s much more direct with the faith elements than many inspirational novels of the last several years.  I liked the way Moira heard God’s voice/His prompting, and although I personally found some of the other elements a little more heavy going at times I can see this being appealing to many Christian readers.  

There’s much here of how actions have consequences which can be much bigger than expected, and there are also strong themes of forgiveness.  Almost the entire story shows the dangers of making assumptions about other people, for good or ill.

There are a few oddities – duvets are mentioned frequently, but were not used at all widely until the 1950’s, we don’t call carts, traps, carriages, gigs or wagons ‘rigs’ on this side of the Atlantic, and the final scene while lovely seems at odds with much of the rest of the story where what would be considered ‘proper’ in the 1920s is often mentioned.  

I’d give this 4 stars.  It’s a comfortable read to while away a winter evening and I look forward to the author’s next novel set in Ireland.

Note: for transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.