In her determination to save her children, Ginny relies heavily on help from her eleven-year-old daughter Maire. Is it fair for Ginny to place so much responsibility on Maire? Is there some part of Ginny that just wants to escape from the harrowing circumstances at home, or are her motives for leaving her children entirely pure? Does her leaving constitute abandonment?

The Crooked Branch Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens : The Crooked Branch

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. How are Jade and Majella similar? In what ways are they different? Does either of these women represent a typical, new-mother experience, or are they both somewhere beyond the conventional ideas of what it’s like to become a mother for the first time? Are those traditional concepts of new motherhood still changing, or have they become static? The last time I felt this way about a past-present story line was reading The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy. I hope you get a chance to read this one!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a fan of alternating timelines or viewpoints, but this book is the exception that proves the rule.

The Crooked Branch – Jeanine Cummins

Cummins weaves an exploration of the fierce, primal love of motherhood that connects us all through generations.”— Margaret Dilloway, author of How to Be an American Housewife Exploring the effect of a secret from the past on a woman who is truly on the edge—of motherhood, of her future, of sanity, of happiness—Jeanine Cummins has written a story that truly resonates. Insightful, suspenseful, and sometimes bitingly funny, with characters the reader will think about for weeks, this bittersweet novel is emotional and immensely satisfying.” In alternating chapters, we follow Ginny Doyle, in Ireland in 1846-7, during the famine and Majella, her great-great-great? granddaughter in current day NYC as each struggles to figure out how to be a good mother, what you should be willing to sacrifice, and what you should not. Majella has recently given birth to her first child and is upset to find she is not a natural at the whole mothering thing. She has always been the best at everything so assumed this would be true for parenting as well. Instead she feels isolated and insecure. She overhears her husband tell his brother that everything is pretty much the same except now there's a baby. No lost sleep, no C-section incision, no loss of identity. Keywords: Gaskell, Plot, Empathy, The Crooked Branch, Short Fiction, Victorian Short Story, Suspense

The staff and residents at Springhill House live largely beyond the reach of the famine and, while some experience occasional glimmers of guilt, they mostly carry on as if everything is normal. Is this kind of “willful amnesia” immoral? What, if anything, could they do to help influence the events around them? What could any of the staff at Springhill do to save some of the starving population beyond the gate? What about Murdoch? Or Alice Spring? What is their moral imperative, and how does it differ from the people who work for them? Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature.

The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins | Hachette UK

From the national bestselling author of American Dirt and A Rip in Heaven comes the deeply moving story of two mothers from two very different times. When Majella learns the truth about her ancestor, she feels absolved and rejuvenated. How are Majella and Ginny alike? In what ways are they different? What about Majella’s mother? Are there family characteristics that all of these women share, despite the generations that have passed between their stories? How much of motherhood is passed down, either through observation and experience, or genetics? To what degree is it possible for a woman to overcome poor examples of parenting and create her own path as a mother? A common assumption is that readers’ sense of intimacy with fictional characters carries with it feelings of emotional sympathy with those characters. In fact, there is no necessary connection between the two; intimacy in itself implies only familiarity, not affection, let alone love. Gaskell’s “The Crooked Branch” is a case in point. This paper first examines the story’s shifts in viewpoint that establish intimacy with the reader. The central focus, however, is the subsequent narrative. As Gaskell was well aware, the most powerful emotional responses that fiction is capable of producing are frequently plot-driven: the most memorable Victorian fictions are often works in which, once an atmosphere of intimacy is created, a strong element of suspense appears — and, as it dissipates, is replaced with a quite different emotion, one akin to love. Such is the case, the paper argues, with “The Crooked Branch.” Eventually, Dr. Zimmer suggests a prescription to help ease Majella’s anxiety. Should she take those pills? Why or why not? Zombie Parents Guide (Alice in Wonderland)59. a barmy bookworm (Mrs Dalloway)60. Janie (Ireland)61. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (The Crooked Branch)62. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (The […]The Crooked Branch is a story of a family, of mothers, of women. It’s a story of grief and loss. It’s a story of hope and sacrifice. It’s a story of the costliness of love. Sometimes it will take your life. Sometimes it will take your heart. Sometimes it will take others to enable you to survive. 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? Farmers Nathan and Hester Huntroyd haben recht spät geheiratet. Sie haben daher nur einen Sohn, Benjamin. Sie überhäufen Benjamin mit ihrer ganzen Liebe. Niemand ist so perfekt wie ihr Sohn. Ein sehr modernes Verhalten, das auch die gleichen Folgen hervorbringt, wie so manche heutige Nichterziehung. Benjamin wird sehr eigensinnig und ist nicht er – sondern verzogen. Seine Eltern arbeiten schwer, um ihm ein Studium zu ermöglichen, Benjamin hat jedoch andere Pläne und genießt das Londoner Leben weit über seine finanziellen Möglichkeiten.

THE CROOKED BRANCH – Reading Group Choices THE CROOKED BRANCH – Reading Group Choices

Alice Spring is decidedly eccentric, but is she crazy? Are her peculiarities the product of her situation in life (her childless abandonment by her husband, her sheltered detachment from the real world), or are those peculiarities just symptoms of her preexisting insanity? At the beginning of the book, Majella’s relationship with her mother is a source of frustration, rather than a comfort. Why is Majella angry with her mother? Is her anger justifiable, or is her attitude toward her mom unfair? Is theirs is a typical, modern mother-daughter relationship? Why or why not? What could Majella do to improve their relationship?I just heard about this book, and it sounds marvelous. The premise is great, and I like the double narrative approach–weaving two stories and one family together, and, of course, the age-old dilemma regarding how to be a good mother and a good daughter. When Majella reads her ancestor’s diary, she begins to worry that she may have inherited some bad mothering genetics. Is she right to worry about this, or is it meaningless? Are parenting skills hereditary, or can women learn how to be patient, calm, and nurturing with their children, even if that sort of temperament doesn’t come naturally? Is Majella looking for an excuse for her shortcomings? And those who dare to have children or long to have children open themselves to the potential of heart rending suffering and grief and loss.