The Crooked Branch

By: Jeanine Cummins

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon, Patricia Rodriguez

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

After the birth of her daughter, Emma, the usually resilient Majella finds herself feeling isolated and exhausted. Then, at her childhood home, 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.

©2013 Jeanine Cummins (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Rich and intricately drawn...luminous prose." (Carolyn Parkhurst)

Delightful

The story is so human and so tender. The human courage and fears are so vividly described that you can almost associate certains elements in your own life to the characters.
However, the voice of the American woman is so annoying and over-dramatised that I fought to keep on listening.
If you can look past the awful narrator then I’d say this is a fabulous story!

Could have been 5 stars

I have given this book 3 stars, the book is in two parts historical and modern, the historical part I would give five stars, it is truly brilliant, unfortunately the modern part is far from brilliant, I found myself wanting to skip these chapters to get back to the other story.

Enjoyable read

I have really loved Jeanine Cummins other books and I enjoyed this one too overall. However I agree with some of the other reviews in that I loved the Irish chapters but found the New York ones a bit tedious and I really didn’t like the character of Magella and found the narration of her voice hard to listen to!

loved it

I nearly didn't listen to this because there were some negative reviews about it, I've loved Jeanine Cummings other books and was worried I'd be disappointed but in the end I thought I'd give this a go. I'm so glad I did as I loved it and thought it all tied in well together. She's such a clever and diverse writer.

Another cracker from Cummins

Cummins has captured the spirit of motherhood during the Irish genocide impeccably. This author is extremely talented. Having read American Dirt and finding it so authentic, I wasn't sure she could capture an entirely different culture in the same way. However I was impressed yet again and I particularly loved the Irish reader.

A tale of two halves

After reading American Dirt and the equally compelling Outside Boy I looked forward to this novel. However whilst the Irish sections provided a great story brilliantly narrated by Aoife McMahon, the New York present day sections were really annoying and made me want to skip them.

2 very different mothers

I love the difference between the two female lead characters lives. Gripped by both 🙂

Mixed

Two very different stories. The all too familiar tale of the family’s destitution during the famine was well researched and sensitively written and narrated. But the melodrama of Magellan, ranging at times between manic and genuinely trying to be funny just didn’t work for me sitting alongside the other tragic tale. And don’t get me started on the American narrator….at times it was very painful listening

Sensitively written

Loved the story, two stories about motherhood 200 years apart that couldn’t be more different yet were so intimately connected too. Both narrators were excellent. Told with great empathy, very moving.

Disappointing

I found the historical elements very well written and well narrated. But the modern American parts jarred on me.
I was disappointed because both other books by this author were exceptional and gripping.

really irritating reader of New York section.

heart breaking story of potato famine in Ireland. caused by blight and harmless English landlords
don't read if pregnant as labour story is traumatic!