I'll Take You Home Again: An Irish Girl in America Visits Her Roots

You'll enjoy and be surprised in this tale of a first-generation Irish American girl growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s in the City of Brotherly Love. A tightly-knit neighborhood where everyone knows everyone else's business, its colorful residents influence young Kathleen in positive and negative ways.

There is old-fashioned Mrs. Quinlan as a substitute grandmother; the handsome young painter Chucklin' Chuck, her first heartbreak; Theresa of Connemara and her wild gypsy ways; Nora, the mother, whose love and good humor stabilize the household; and men, on and off the wagon, who populate McCrory's Cafe and show up at the Flanagan home at all hours, to name many you'll remember.

At the core of the story is the father, Francis Joseph, who regales his children in the wee small hours with ancient myths, and whose shenanigans sometimes cause pain and resentment but who is, nevertheless, loved and respected. The story begins with a trip to Ireland when the author is very young; the second in 1965 as a woman with her father when she comes to understand the mystery and magic of the island that holds his soul.

I'll Take You Home Again is a story of family and friends, efforts and disappointments, loves and sorrows, and the host of unforgettable characters who come through the doors of the house on Camac Street. You will thrill, cry, gush, cringe, wonder, and romp with Kathleen as your guide.