On board are hundreds of fleeing refugees. Among them are a maidservant with a devastating secret, bankrupt Lord Merridith and his family, an aspiring novelist and a maker of revolutionary ballads, all braving the Atlantic in search of a new home. Each is connected more deeply than they can possibly know.

But a camouflaged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for the vengeance that will bring absolution.

'A triumph...A spectacular breakthrough' Sunday Times

'[Joseph O'Connor is] Ireland's most brilliant storyteller' Independent on Sunday

ISBN-10

0099469626
ISBN-13

978-0099469629
Edition

New e.
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

1 Jan. 2004
Language

English
Dimensions

12.9 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm
Print length

432 pages
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Product details

Publisher : Vintage; New e. edition (1 Jan. 2004)
Language : English
Paperback : 432 pages
ISBN-10 : 0099469626
ISBN-13 : 978-0099469629
Dimensions : 12.9 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 204,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 9,195 in Fiction Classics (Books)
- 12,505 in Adventure Stories & Action
- 16,814 in Historical Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews:
614 ratings

Product description

Review

A page-turner of a masterpiece. Don't miss it (Daily Mail)

Stunningly accomplished (Guardian)

A triumph...A spectacular breakthrough...it raises the bar for contemporary Irish fiction (Sunday Times)

A terrific story... A stealthily gripping narrative (Daily Telegraph)

This is Joseph O'Connor's best book. It is shocking, hilarious, beautifully written, and very, very clever (Roddy Doyle)

Synopsis

In the bitter winter of 1847, from an Ireland torn by injustice and natural disaster, the Star of the Sea sets sail for New York. On board are hundreds of fleeing refugees. Among them are a maidservant with a devastating secret, bankrupt Lord Meridith and his family, an aspiring novelist, a maker of revolutionary ballads, all braving the Atlantic in search of a new home. Each is connected more deeply than they can possibly know. But a camouflaged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for the vengeance that will bring absolution. The twenty-six day journey will see many lives end, others begin afresh. In a spellbinding story of tragedy and mercy, love and healing, the further the ship sails towards the Promised Land, the more her passengers seem moored to a past which will never let them go.

From the Publisher

'Ireland's most brilliant storyteller' Sunday Independent

From the Back Cover

The international No. 1 bestseller
'This is Joseph O'Connor's best book. It is shocking, hilarious, beautifully written, and very, very clever' Roddy Doyle
'A terrific story...A stealthily gripping narrative' Daily Telegraph
In the bitter winter of 1847, from an Ireland torn by injustice and natural disaster, the Star of the Sea sets sail for New York.
On board are hundreds of fleeing refugees. Among them are a maidservant with a devastating secret, bankrupt Lord Merridith and his family, an aspiring novelist, a maker of revolutionary ballads, all braving the Atlantic in search of a new home. All are connected more deeply than they can possibly know. But a camouflaged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for the vengeance that will bring absolution.
The twenty-six day journey will see many lives end, others begin afresh. In a spellbinding story of tragedy and healing, the further the ship sails towards the Promised Land, the more her passengers seem moored to a past which will never let them go.
'A triumph...A spectacular breakthrough' Sunday Times

'His most substantial and impressive novel to date' Irish Times

'A masterful storyteller...A thrilling tale...O'Connor writes with nothing less than incandescent passion...Unfailingly gripping' The Times

'A modern masterpiece...The language is absolutely gorgeous' Bob Geldof

About the Author

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. His books include eight previous novels: Cowboys and Indians (Whitbread Prize shortlist), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea (American Library Association Award, Irish Post Award for Fiction, France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, Prix Madeleine Zepter for European novel of the year), Redemption Falls, Ghost Light (Dublin One City One Book Novel 2011) and The Thrill of it All. His fiction has been translated into forty languages. He received the 2012 Irish PEN Award for outstanding achievement in literature and in 2014 he was appointed Frank McCourt Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.

www.josephoconnorauthor.com

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Customer reviews

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3 star		10%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

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L. Franklin

Again and again and....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2018

Verified Purchase

I have read with great fervour since aged ~5 when I stumbled upon Enid Blyton. Never without a book on the go.

I have also never wanted to read a book more than once. Until I first picked up The Star Of The Sea. I have read it four times now over the years and I know I will read it again and again. I love this book. Beautifully written. Exciting characters / plot. I get something new from it every time I read it. This book will last me my lifetime. Thank you Joseph O'Connor!

26 people found this helpful

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R.O. P

Awesome !

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2020

Verified Purchase

What a treasure it was finding Star of the Sea. Joseph O' Connor speaks with an advanced voice in this historical seafaring masterpiece. The story also covers the Irish potato famine , and introduces us to several superb characters, in a brutal class system, on this winter voyage from Ireland to New York in the bleak winter of 1847. The divisions between The first class passengers and The impoverished steerage class passengers is astounding ! In O'Connell's cleverly written novel , written in journals and viewpoints . A heartbreaking merciless read but yet complex and compulsive, and brings memories of two other British seafaring classics William Goldings Rites of Passage and Mathew Kneales English Passengers. Star of the Sea is an epic read !

4 people found this helpful

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Chantal Nicol

Fantastic read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 December 2018

Verified Purchase

Fantastic book, the only one I've ever read twice.. really brings to life the horrific suffering during the famine. Unfortunately I've leant this book out on both occasions and never got it back so don't have it anymore and may need to order again !

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

conjunction

Use Every Man According to His Desert and Who should Scape Whipping?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 April 2013

Verified Purchase

I don't usually write review of books that have already received 91 reviews for fear my review will never be read, or if it is, all its sentiments will be old news. But this book is special.

First this book is very entertaining, it is droll, and whilst taking itself very seriously, never takes itself seriously.

Secondly, the Irishman who wrote it, like many perhaps most Irish men and women, knows his history. He knows what happened in 1847 and in the many years before and since, knows the sins of the English, and the Irish landlords, and of all men and women, at least in some measure.

To be more prosaic this book tells you plenty about what life was like in the potato famine, and around that time, in Ireland and also about Early Victorian London.

It is a wonderful novel.

29 people found this helpful

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nicola power

Fantastic book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2021

Verified Purchase

I ordered this book for my best friend because she likes a good read. I read this book about 10 years ago. It took me through all my emotions. I laughed, I cried, I was very angry. It was poignant, sad, delightful, excruciating absolutely everything. I stayed up nights reading it and was late for work and read it on buses and when I should have been doing other things. I wished that the writer wrote more books about the characters in this book. It was fascinating! A bloody good read.

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Ian

Smouldering

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2020

Verified Purchase

I wasn’t sure until I finished this exactly in what period it had actually been written. It’s style is very “old fashioned “ but once adapted too I grew into it. It fleshes out its characters nicely and the chapters which do this were the most rewarding for me. Atmospherically it captures the mood of the time and it does finish with a twist. Certainly worth a read!

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Amazon Customer

Had me Gripped

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 September 2019

Verified Purchase

Loved this book. The overlapping, layered stories of the main characters coupled with the vividly described scenes of entitled wealth and killing poverty on the boat, and the claustrophobic stage that created where the stories linked was clever and engaging story-telling. The human drama, of course, sat alongside the tragic wider story of famine in Ireland,

One person found this helpful

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cebby

The real story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2017

Verified Purchase

Excellent story of the potato famine in Ireland. Expertly written with nothing left out. A weepy for anyone with connections or family in Ireland.

5 people found this helpful

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