Song of Erin

BJ Hoff

Description

Originally published to strong sales, this edition combines two of BJ's best novels into one sagalength volume! The mysteries of the past confront the secrets of the present in bestselling author BJ Hoff's magnificent Song of Erin saga.In her own unique style, Hoff spins a panoramic story that crosses the ocean from Ireland to America, featuring two of her most memorable characters. In this tale of struggle and love and uncompromising faith, Jack Kane, the always charming but sometimes ruthless titan of New York's most powerful publishing empire, is torn between the conflict of his own heart and the grace and light of Samantha Harte, the woman he loves, whose own troubled past continues to haunt her.';The Song of Erin contains some of my favorite characters. This storyand its peoplehold a very special place in my heart.' BJ Hoff

Sujets

• Sagas
• Romance

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736932837
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Cover by Koechel Peterson Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photos Keith Nolan / Fotolia.com ; Koechel Peterson Associates
BJ Hoff: Published in assoication with the Books Such Literary Agency, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370, www.booksandsuch.biz .
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
SONG OF ERIN
Copyright 1997/1999 by BJ Hoff
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hoff, B. J.
[Cloth of heaven]
Song of Erin / B.J. Hoff.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-2352-1
ISBN-10: 0-7369-2352-7
1. Irish Americans-Fiction. 2. New York (N.Y.)-Fiction. I. Hoff, B. J., Ashes and lace. II. Title. III. Title: Ashes and lace.
PS3558.O34395C57 2008
813 .54-dc22
2007044409
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Contents
Book One: Cloth of Heaven
Part One: The Big Wind
Prologue: The Silence
1. Terese
2. Brady
3. In Search of Shelter
4. Terror on the Wind
5. The Weary and the Wounded
6. Jack
7. An Encounter between the Strong and the Strong
8. Too Long Apart
9. To Catch a Thief
10. Angels Unawares
11. In the House of the Fisherman
12. Jane Connolly
13. Regarding Women
14. A Letter of Opportunity
15. Key to a Dream
16. Possibilities
17. The Woman is a Puzzle
18. The Princess and the Pirate
19. Quest or Conquest
Part Two: In the Crucible
20. Different Kinds of Men
21. A Cloak in Which to Wrap the Fire
22. Star of Destiny
23. Reverend Ruthless
24. A Moment Between Memories
25. A Meeting on Mercer Street
26. A Day of Surprises
27. Among the Shadows
28. Sad and Unexpected News
29. The Familiar Face of Despair
30. A Parting without Good-Byes
Part Three: The Storm s Edge
31. Price of Dreams, Penance of Folly
32. Lament of the Lonely
33. Storm in the Heart
34. An Unexpected Welcome
35. A Plan for the Future
36. Confrontation with Evil
37. Of Lawyers and Lawsuits
38. Cloth of Heaven
39. Samantha s Smile
40. Of Silence and Shadows
41. Into the Night
42. A Place for Memories, a Time for Secrets
43. Vigil at Bellevue
Epilogue: Gifts of Gold and Grace
Book Two: Ashes and Lace
Part One: Like Gold in the Fire
Prologue: Between Destiny and Despair
1. A Most Respectable Man
2. A Small Hint of Rebellion
3. Shadows of the Heart
4. What Kind of Welcome?
5. A Meeting in the Marketplace
6. Uneasy Lies the Heart
7. Between Friends
8. Encounter with Darkness
9. In the Harbor
10. A Bitter Hope
11. A Futile Search
12. Faces in the Crowd
13. A Shelter from the Storm
14. Tearing Down the Walls
15. A Divided Heart
16. A Plan Conceived in Darkness
17. Rogues Gathering
Part Two: Too Close to the Flame
18. Looking Past the Veil
19. An Unexpected Proposal
20. Samantha s Secret
21. David s Search
22. Children of Loneliness
23. Long Night s Vigil
24. A Meeting in the Mission House
25. Through the Eyes of the Beholder
26. Uneasy Dreams, Unholy Plans
27. An Ill Wind over the Claddagh
28. A Darkness in Heaven
29. Encounter with Evil
Part Three: On an Altar of Ashes
30. A Subtle Threat
31. Before the Storm
32. Suspected Enemies
33. A Procession of Visitors
34. Eye of the Storm
35. Truth and Betrayal
36. Darkness and Deception
37. I Would Give You the World
38. In the Crudble
39. Second Chances
40. Wise Men and Kings
41. Christmas Eve in the Claddagh
42. Out of the Ashes
Epilogue
About the Author
About the Publisher
-B OOK O NE -
Cloth of Heaven
PART ONE
T HE B IG W IND

And a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper .
1 K INGS 19:11-12
P ROLOGUE
T HE S ILENCE

Deadly still was the heavy air, Horrible silence was everywhere
T HOMAS D A RCY M C G EE

IRELAND, JANUARY 6, 1839
On this day in Ireland there were those who searched the sky with anxious frowns, as if they half expected to see an omen or perhaps a hint of some dark, unnatural force lurking behind the clouds. The warm stillness of the winter day was unnerving, no matter how welcome a change from the bitter cold.
Epiphany Sunday had dawned upon a hushed world of white, blanketed by the heavy snowfall of the night before. By afternoon, the day had warmed to unthinkably mild temperatures. Men stood at the crossroads in their shirtsleeves, making conjectures about the odd weather and what, if anything, it might forebode.
The women across the island had no time for such speculation. Instead, they busied themselves throughout the afternoon preparing what few savory dishes they could manage, given their meager budgets. Cottages grew steamy from hours of baking, and children turned more restive by the hour in anticipation of the coming evening. If entire villages seemed to hum with excitement, it was to be expected, for festive occasions were all too rare in the Irish countryside. Of late, the sound of the funeral dirge had become far more familiar than the lively tunes of merrymaking.
On this day, even in the most remote and primitive counties, every warm moment seemed a gift, a respite from winter s gloom and the general climate of dread that had long clutched at the very heart of Ireland. For a few hours this evening, those families fortunate enough to still have a roof above their heads would gather around the hearth fire and enjoy their blessings, blessings all the more precious for their scarcity. Tonight, at least, Irishmen would lay aside their worries about rising rents and unnerving tales of eviction while their women donned brave smiles and bright colors as they, too, attempted to forget their fears. There would be laughter and songs and prayers for God s keeping, and at the heart of it all, the deep music of living-a music created from centuries of sorrow, a longing for freedom-and hope.
Yet there were some whose hope rested not in the evening s lighthearted festivities nor in the ancient land of their birth-nor even in the God of their fathers or in the faith that had sustained their families for ages past. Instead, their hope clung solely to the idea of escape.
These were not always the ones who spoke most often of leaving the poor old island behind. They did not necessarily shudder by the fire at the thought of forsaking home and country for a harrowing voyage across the sea in search of a better life. More often they had no homes or at least knew the threat of eviction upon the daily horizon, and they shuddered more from the reality of winter s cold and encroaching starvation than from any fear of crossing the great Atlantic.
For these, escape had become their hope. For many, it was their only hope.
1
T ERESE

But the haunted air of twilight is very strange and still, And the little winds of twilight are dearer to my mind .
E VA G ORE -B OOTH

INISHMORE, ONE OF THE ARAN ISLANDS
IN WESTERN IRELAND
Terese Sheridan stood in the hulking shadow of Dun Aengus, watching night gather over the ocean. The day had been warm, unnaturally warm, and so close that the flame of a candle wouldn t have flickered. But now a light breeze had picked up and was playing along the stones, while in the distance a random flare of lightning illumined the sky.
The huge stone fort towering overhead had been there forever-since long before the coming of Patrick, according to the Old Ones in the village. With its vast rings of stone walls and what must surely have been thousands of jagged stones placed upright to ward off ancient attacks, it loomed over Inishmore and the island s people like some colossal, magnificent creature risen from the sea, turned to stone by its long centuries of vigil.
In its permanence and hovering immensity, the fort had somehow become to Terese not only a sentry to the entire island but a kind of personal guardian as well. Dun Aengus was the only thing of any real stability in her life. But tonight she was bidding it farewell. She had walked out from her aunt s cottage in the village to say good-bye to the fort and to Inishmore; before first light dawned tomorrow, she would be gone.
She and her best chum, Peggy O Grady, had been planning their departure from the island for months. Tomorrow they would go. Yet, despite her eagerness to get away, Terese could not entirely ignore the heaviness of heart that had settled over her throughout the evening. There had been many partings in her life-too many by far-and for all the bitterness and sorrow she had known in this place, there