The Crooked Branch

By: Jeanine Cummins

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon, Patricia Rodriguez

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

From Jeanine Cummins, the national best-selling author of American Dirt and A Rip in Heaven, comes The Crooked Branch - the deeply moving story of two mothers from two very different times.

After the birth of her daughter, Emma, the usually resilient Majella finds herself feeling isolated and exhausted. Then, at her childhood home in Queens, Majella discovers the diary of her maternal ancestor Ginny - and is shocked to read a story of murder in her family history.

With the famine upon her, Ginny Doyle fled from Ireland to America, but not all of her family made it. What happened during those harrowing years, and why does Ginny call herself a killer? Is Majella genetically fated to be a bad mother, despite the fierce tenderness she feels for her baby?

Determined to uncover the truth of her heritage and her own identity, Majella sets out to explore Ginny's past - and discovers surprising truths about her family and ultimately, herself.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

©2013 Jeanine Cummins (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Meh

I loved the Ireland storyline but I found Magella to be extremely annoying and whiney.

Genius Work by Ms. Cummins

I didn't think I was going to like this book because I was irritated by Majella: too young, crying baby, whining new mother, yadayadayada. But I loved Majella's Irish great-grandmother and couldn't get enough of her story and the torture endured during the worse time of her life. However, as Ms. Cummins always does, she weaves the lives together, so that, while I didn't love Majella, I grew to understand her plight. And, as in her previous works, especially Outside Boy (God, I didn't want that book to end) I was sorry for this story to also end. I'm now listening to her own personal story (a work of non-fiction) "A Rip in Heaven" and my heart is breaking over the anguish that her family has been through. I'm not done yet, but I literally have started crying listening to the details of a horrific, tragic crime.

Half great!

narration was great. Half of the story was very intriguing and entertaining (the Ireland half) the NY now half was way over descriptive, over dramatic boring and way too melodramatic.

Such a good story

I love the parallels of 2 mothers in completely different eras. Def a must read

Interesting historical fiction

I liked listening to this historical fiction of Ireland during the famine and then the modern story of new mother, Magella. Magella finds one of her ancestor's diaries and wants to know if she too is destined to have a difficult time being a mother because Ginny Doyle did. I liked the Ginny Doyle parts better, but I could also relate to being a new mom, even though it was a long time ago. Magella sometimes sounded whiny by this narrator, but I also laughed out loud at some of her sections.

Wonderful Characters and performance

The story and two readers were amazing, captivating. Just so compelling and relatable. Made me need some Fritos!

Wish it was better, loved another one of her books

The story had a pretty good plot, but it had so much unless, wordy, filler sentences, paragraphs. It could have been written in 3 chapters and been just as entertaining. I would’ve like to hear more relevant or relatable events rather than so many words that say not that much. The actor reading the book was awesome though. She made me think of my dads Irish family.

A Jekyll & Hyde of a Book

The Ireland portion narrated by Aoife McMahon is well-rendered and enjoyable. Set in 1847 during the Great Hunger, the story’s characters are interesting and multi-dimensional, the plot moves along, and the narrator’s voice is musical and well suited to the narrative. The other story line is set in modern-day Queens, and centers around a young mother with post-partum depression who is impossible for the listener— even empathetic people—to care about or sympathize with...she’s whiny, self-centered, and 99% intolerable. Patricia Rodriguez’s reading is difficult to listen to— I white-knuckled it through those sections, because I was motivated to know what happened at the end, and how the contrapuntal storylines eventually coalesced. I loved this author’s American Dirt and its narrator, but this was a mediocre book with one Set of characters and a narrator who made it bearable and another cast of characters and narrator one who really weighed it down. There are better books and better listens out there.

Beautiful Story of Motherhood

This was a beautiful story of the highs and lows of motherhood, but beware that it has some raw descriptions of postpartum anxiety and depression. It touched a nerve, but overall is a beautifully told story of the strength and triumph of motherhood.

powerful historical elements

Good story, maybe a little over the top on the mother-daughter relationship thread. Powerful description of the history of the Irish famine. narration was a little cheesy, one actor doing all those voices.