TransAtlantic

A Novel

By: Colum McCann

Narrated by: Geraldine Hughes

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-seller. Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus Review.

In the National Book Award-winning Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann thrilled readers with a marvelous high-wire act of fiction that The New York Times Book Review called "an emotional tour de force". Now McCann demonstrates once again why he is one of the most acclaimed and essential authors of his generation with a soaring novel that spans continents, leaps centuries, and unites a cast of deftly rendered characters, both real and imagined.

Newfoundland, 1919. Two aviators - Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown - set course for Ireland as they attempt the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, placing their trust in a modified bomber to heal the wounds of the Great War.

Dublin, 1845 and ’46. On an international lecture tour in support of his subversive autobiography, Frederick Douglass finds the Irish people sympathetic to the abolitionist cause - despite the fact that, as famine ravages the countryside, the poor suffer from hardships that are astonishing even to an American slave.

New York, 1998. Leaving behind a young wife and newborn child, Senator George Mitchell departs for Belfast, where it has fallen to him, the son of an Irish-American father and a Lebanese mother, to shepherd Northern Ireland’s notoriously bitter and volatile peace talks to an uncertain conclusion.

These three iconic crossings are connected by a series of remarkable women whose personal stories are caught up in the swells of history. Beginning with Irish housemaid Lily Duggan, who crosses paths with Frederick Douglass, the novel follows her daughter and granddaughter, Emily and Lottie, and culminates in the present-day story of Hannah Carson, in whom all the hopes and failures of previous generations live on. From the loughs of Ireland to the flatlands of Missouri and the windswept coast of Newfoundland, their journeys mirror the progress and shape of history. They each learn that even the most unassuming moments of grace have a way of rippling through time, space, and memory.

The most mature work yet from an incomparable storyteller, TransAtlantic is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with each passing year.

Praise for TransAtlantic:

“A dazzlingly talented author’s latest high-wire act.... Reminiscent of the finest work of Michael Ondaatje and Michael Cunningham, TransAtlantic is Colum McCann’s most penetrating novel yet.” (O: The Oprah Magazine)

©2013 Colum McCann (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"This novel is beautifully hypnotic in its movements, from the grand (between two continents, across three centuries) to the most subtle. Silkily threading together public events and private feelings, TransAtlantic says no to death with every line." (Emma Donoghue)

"A masterful and profoundly moving novel that employs exquisite language to explore the limits of language and the tricks of memory...epic in ambition...audacious in format." (Kirkus Reviews)

"A beautiful writer... This is what interests McCann: lives made amid and despite violence; the hidden braids of places, times, and people; the way the old days ‘arrive back in the oddest ways.’" (Publishers Weekly)

Irish Lives Matter

Which seems to be major theme here. The small, quiet conversations, chores, choices and memories of 3 generations of a northern Irish family. Mostly about the women and how hard luck shaped all of their lives. I listened to the lovely Irish cadences of the narrator on a Long car ride and found this story surprisingly compelling and was sad to leave the characters behind when it ended. Loved the device of "what's in the secret letter" near the end and the realization that it wasn't the letter that mattered or brought any luck to Hannah but the people she met because of the letter who made the difference in her life.

Be patient.

Where does TransAtlantic rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of my top books.

Any additional comments?

I am so enamored by McCann's ability to turn a phrase, I would probably appreciate anything he wrote. In this case, the historical subject matter, aviation, slavery, Irish peace talks, and the famous personages so beautifully portrayed, captured my interest immediately. As he did with Let the Great World Spin, McCann told disparate stories and then proceeded to tie them together over time. Readers new to McCann's work may need some patience to finally see the point of it all.

Moments in history

This is a compelling, action packed book which highlights moments in history that stand as individual stories in their own right but are connected through their transatlantic history. Starting with the first plane flight from Canada to Ireland and concluding with George Mitchell and his work on the Irish peace process it is well written and fascinating.

A beautifully crafted story flawed only by the narration

Unfortunately, the narrator's practice of emphasizing practically every other word kept me from giving this 5 stars throughout. It was distracting to say the least & I thought several times of sending it back. But the story and the writing kept me with it and I'm glad I stuck with it. When she got to the first person narration of Hannah near the end, her Irish accent truly found its voice, the constant emphasis on words was gone and I really connected with Hannah's character and her story.
Weaving the story of the Irish women through several decades & across continents, the author deftly tied in their stories with the historical events of Frederick Douglas trip to Ireland, the transatlantic flight of Brown & Alcott and George Mitchell's peace talks in Ireland. He brought the fictional characters to life & gave us glimpses into the inner struggles of the historical ones that I found both touching & thought provoking, as well the way he tied the plight of the Irish to that of the African American slaves.

Fantastic book!!

I have never read this author before but I will read everything he has written after this. The story is very, very well written. The narrator does a great job making the story come alive and contextualizing it (good Irish accent).

Beautiful in every way

Trans Atlantic is an intricate, intimate story. McCann’s prose is gripping poetry. I listen to Audible books because I spend much of my time quietly doing rather than sitting. Toward the end of TransAtlantic I sat as still as possible to savor every word. I cannot think of any male writer whose voice as a woman is so utterly on point. It will remain on my list of unforgettable novels.

These stories pull you in!

What did you love best about TransAtlantic?

TransAtlantic takes you by the hand and leads you through history. Simple lives, likes all of us have, are laid out before us, complete with the connection to the lives that came before them. You get pulled in by a great story teller! A completely enjoyable novel!

What was one of the most memorable moments of TransAtlantic?

The final sentence wraps up everything that has been told in this story and brings a smile to your face.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes!

Any additional comments?

Geraldine Hughes has a lovely voice. She did a fantastic job on this one.

One of the best books I've ever "read"!

So beautifully written. The reader did such a great job of capturing the Irish accents and emotions of the characters. I was sad to have it end.

Brilliant

Run, don’t walk, to get this story in your life. I loved every word. And pause.

Disappointing

I hardly dare disagree with all the rave reviews, but this book takes me back to college assignments to read excellently written books that bored me out of my skull. I can't be sure if the problem is the narrator's repetitive, choppy rendition that rolls through every phrase and sentence at the same pace or if the pace of the writing itself is the same throughout. I suspect the problem is the narrator and plan to read the text instead.

The research is meticulous and accurate, the writing as precise as you would expect from McCann. This book lacks the deep involvement with each character that Let the Great World Spin had. I read about each character from a distance, more like a newspaper report racing through events. In a novel, I want to live with the characters, be right on the ground with them rather than peering down from above.