It May be Forever

Hi All,
I'm late getting my book choice to you because I'm such a slow reader and hadn't finished Safari yet.
The book I've selected for June is It May Be Forever by David M. Quinn. (Review below)
not that we always agree with them, but it seems interesting and I read a few pages online to have a glimpse at the author's style.
I hope we enjoy it.
Chris Laws

Let it be said first that It May Be Forever: An Irish Rebel on the American Frontier is an excellent, very enjoyable book which would win the highest rating if we did that kind of thing at SPR. The problem is that is resists classification. Is it a history, a non-fiction novel, a biography, or historical fiction? It works best as the latter, but one does not normally find photographs and other illustrations in such text, nor a bibliography.
The protagonist is Michael Quinn grew up hard in Ireland and England, immigrated to America, was drawn into the Fenian movement, later took part in the abortive post-Civil War Fenian invasion of Canada, and took his parole as a prisoner not back home to the girl he loved, but out West to seek his fortune. He entered the overland freight business at the lowest level, as a bullwhacker, organized his own company, and prospered, but his girl, to no one’s surprise but his, did not wait for him and married his brother instead. He did not take this well, and never returned home, losing all contact with his family and leading a lonely life that made him rich but ultimately unsatisfied .
It is a fascinating tale and the depth of the author’s research is evident, although he avoids the rookie trap of becoming hostage to it and boring the reader. The writing is first rate. I am not sure that the photographs and other documentation are really needed, but that may simply reflect my personal tastes. I like to read without interruption and I found them distracting rather than a value enhancement. In terms of the story itself, the blow-by-blow account of Quinn’s childhood could have been compressed or perhaps even eliminated entirely without any real violence to the main story, but what’s done is done.
Anyone who enjoys a good read will enjoy this book.