The Book

In 1920, Ireland stands on the brink of civil war. Lucie returns to her familial home to settle the estate, where she uncovers an abundance of handwritten letters—a lifetime’s worth of cherished memories and guarded secrets between her mother and aunts—as well as her grandfather’s diary. As she reads through her findings, Lucie begins to wonder just how well she knew her relatives and the circumstances of their lives. Norah, a close childhood friend and the daughter of a former family servant, helps her work through the notes, and their conversations remind Lucie that she and Norah lived in very different worlds. Norah is Irish; Lucie is Anglo-Irish. As the two women look back into the past, it becomes evident that Norah has always known more about Lucie’s life than Lucie ever understood of Norah’s. And Lucie realizes that she had been unaware of the disquiet in Ireland’s streets—but then again, the elder members of her family, so completely involved in their own lives, didn’t appear to notice either…

Whispers Across A Sea is a compelling novel that traces three generations of Lucie’s Anglo-Irish family as they navigate the nuances of life in their adopted country of Ireland. Within the home, the family’s Irish servants make sure the lives of the Youngs remain comfortable while silently observing their employers’ detachment from the realities of life in Ireland—a country where a lengthy, violent, and divisive struggle is beginning. How long will the Youngs be able to close their eyes to the shifting world outside their door?

Based on a true story, Christina Holloway’s carefully researched and vividly imagined historical novel opens a window into Ireland in the late 1800s—a time of vast privilege, inequality, turmoil, and change.

“Dublin Bay” by Thomas Young