The gruesome truth hung in the air, and none of us wanted to go near it. Not yet. Ireland, 1848. Fourteen-year-old Rosaleen watches her mother die. Her country is reeling from the great potato famine, which will ultimately kill more than one million people. Driven by a promise and her will to survive, Rosaleen flees her small coastal town. She eventually arrives in America at the birth of the industrial revolution and is filled with hope and a new sense of independence. Yet the more Rosaleen becomes a part of this new world, the more she longs for a community she lost and a young man she can’t forget. Through a series of both heartwarming and tragic events, Rosaleen learns that she can’t outrun the problems that come along with being Irish. And maybe, she doesn’t want to.

Massachusetts, 1854. The anti-foreigner American Party, better known as the “Know-Nothings,” take power throughout the state. The city of Lowell elects Leonard Ward, a member of the party, as its mayor. Suddenly the “Know-Nothings” are everywhere. And they’re going after the Irish. Rosaleen is ready to fight back. Emboldened by strange conspiracies about the Catholic Church, violent mobs and corrupt government officials are making life nearly unbearable for her people. Lowell’s newly formed police department is committed to ridding the streets of “Irish filth,” beating and arresting anyone who crosses them. When Rosaleen uncovers a horrific truth, it will test her in ways she could never have imagined. Targeted by dangerous opposition, she needs help. But are her friends as loyal as she believes?

Massachusetts, 1861. The American Civil War has been raging for almost a year when Emmett joins the 28th Massachusetts Infantry with the promise of serving his country under the green flag of the Irish Brigade. But soon he finds himself struggling to reconcile the piles of dead Irishmen with his own motivations for fighting. In Lowell, Rosaleen seizes the opportunity to write for a newspaper funded by Boston's business elite. She needs to convince the Irish of Massachusetts that emancipating the slaves is inevitable and just. When letters from Emmett stop coming, Rosaleen cuts a deal with a powerful businessman that will take her deep into the underbelly of wartime economics in New Orleans. Told from dual perspectives, the third book in The Paddy Series is the story of a family forced to choose between what they thought was right and what they know is irreplaceable. Words: 90,930