A message from Maura about The Keeners

"How could any book be sadder than Angela's Ashes?" my publicist asked, sniffling. Set in the Ireland of the 1840s Famine and the bustling city of Troy, New York, The Keeners is a gut-wrenching tale of tragedy and hope, love, loss, and redemption. But I hadn't meant to make people cry--I just wanted to tell a story about the Ireland many of our ancestors came from and the feelings we have carried down in our bones. A novel about a young woman who wails laments for the dead and flees to America with her rebel husband can still be full of hope and courage and love and humor, in my book.

Publication date for The Keeners is scheduled for March 1, 2005. If you want to be sure to have books available for St. Patrick's Day browsers, order early from your distributors. Ingram and Baker & Taylor will carry the book.

If you would like to schedule a book talk and signing event with Maura, please email her at maura@mauradshaw.com

If you have a book group that would like to read The Keeners, watch for the Book Group Discussion Guide that will be posted on this site in March.

Maura will be a guest of Medallion Press at Book Expo America in June, with two author signings scheduled. Please contact her if you'd like to say hello in New York.

For early reviews, please check the Press Kit.