Longing for Home: Hope Springs

The second installment of Eden’s historical romance series (after Longing for Home) is an intriguing mix of personal morality and social justice, masquerading as romance and bound with historical twine. In the late 19th century, the American-born farmers of the small Wyoming community of Hope Springs are at war with their Irish-born neighbors. The primary force for peace is Joseph Archer, a neutral local land baron who’s in love with his housekeeper, young Irishwoman Katie Macauley. Tavish O’Connor, Katie’s Irish sweetheart, must work with her and Joseph to save the people of Hope Springs from themselves. Tenderly written but sometimes emotionally manipulative, this novel explores and to some extent exploits the plight of the Irish after the great famine. Eden puts poor Katie through one ordeal after another, underlining a portrayal of the Irish as unfailingly good-hearted despite endless suffering. Agent: Pam van Hylckama Vlieg, Foreword Literary Agency. (Mar.)