Review

Title: Lara’s Story
Author: Diane Merrill Worthington
Publisher: www.jeweleddaggerpublishing.com
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Year Published 2019
Number of Pages: 308
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 9781946146908
Price: $19.99

Reviewed by Trudy Thompson for the Association for Mormon Letters

Lara is a twelve-year old girl living in rural Ireland with her parents, three brothers, and two sisters in the 1840’s. The Flannigan family lives very simply, in a small two room house made from rocks, mud, and grass. They consider themselves lucky to have potatoes and fish to eat, and are able to get by until the next crop of potatoes is ready to harvest.

Lara never considered her family poor, and their home is filled with love, joy, laughter, and much happiness.

But Lara senses that a wind of change will soon come upon them, that not everything will stay the same, and that a storm of sorts will soon come into their lives.

Lara’s mama is pregnant and her mother and father seem very concerned about this particular pregnancy. Her mother looks and acts very worn out and is in a great deal of pain. Lara and her sisters are concerned that their mama is giving up her portions of food to make sure the children have enough.

Then, Flannigan and his sons discover that the potato blight has hit their crops. Every single potato was rotten and could not even be fed to the farm animals.

The disaster spreads throughout the entire country, but Lara and her family are able to stay on their farm, while Mr. Flannigan and the boys are gone for weeks at a time to stay near town to obtain work. They avoid staying in the crowded workhouses where so many become seriously ill and die from either the conditions there or starvation.

The family are more fortunate than most. They have a few livestock and the sea to sustain them, while the entire country waits for aid to come from England.

But the aid never cp,es. Mr. Flannigan and his sons are home for two days when Mrs. Flannigan goes into labor early. A doctor, midwife and a neighbor are sent for, but only the midwife is there when, with a great deal of difficulty, the baby girl is delivered. Mother is terribly weakened by the ordeal, and after speaking to her husband and the children, quietly passes away.

As shock and grief overcome the family, Lara remembers the words of her mother to her: ” I need you to promise me you will be strong and live.” “Sometimes things must come undone, before they can be put back together in a different way.”

Little could Lara imagine how profound those words would come to be in her life, and what gut-wrenching heartache lay ahead for her and her family.

Lara’s father is forced to make a terrible decision in order to save the children from starvation. Their world is turned upside down as the family is torn apart, leaving Lara abandoned and separated from everyone and everything she has ever known.

When Lara finds herself forced into indentured servitude, she must find the strength and faith to endure unspeakable hardships and abuse. With grit and determination, she forges ahead, believing that things will get better, no matter what life throws at her. When she finds herself thrust into life in a totally different society, she must grow and learn to fit in.

This is a rags to riches story of love, betrayal, perseverance, forgiveness, and survival. The strength and ultimate growth of Lara through her trials is shown, as are insights into the importance of remaining true to yourself, and having faith that you can endure and survive.

There are fascinating facts relating to the time period and locations that the story is set in at the end of the book. This adds to the authenticity of this well researched and very well written volume.

This is a wonderful book for ages seventeen and up. I found it to be a compelling and gripping historical tale.