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!