The Peacock’s Heritage: A Victorian Tale of Love, Loss, and Resilience by Sasha Stephens; An All-Encompassing Historical Fiction Novel of An Irish-American Woman’s Eventful Life

 The Peacock’s Heritage: A Victorian Tale of Love, Loss, and Resilience by Sasha Stephens; An All-Encompassing Historical Fiction Novel of An Irish-American Woman’s Eventful Life

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers:   Sasha Stephen’s The Peacock’s Heritage A Victorian Tale of Love, Loss, and Resilience is one of those Historical Fiction Novels in which you follow the protagonist through several important events and various stages of their lives. 

In this case, said protagonist is Brigid Power McGrath Hayes Lansdowne. The book sees her through poverty, English Rule over the Irish, the Potato Famine, the creation of the Fenian Brotherhood, immigration to England, United States, and the Caribbean, political rebellion, women’s rights, her careers as an accountant, writer, and philanthropist, three marriages, three children, four grandchildren, many close friendships, deaths of friends and family members, and a change in status from poverty to wealth.

We first meet Brigid in the 1830’s as a tenant farmer’s daughter. She endures life with an abusive father, a gentle vulnerable mother, and five noisy siblings. She already shows a resourceful and independent nature. When her father abandons the family, originally periodically and then permanently, Brigid takes care of the household and joins her brothers in gathering peat. She also shows a keen mathematical analytical mind when she manages the family budget (a skillset that proves to be useful in her later career as an accountant and bookkeeper).

Some of the emotionally hardest passages to read are those concerning the Potato Famine and the impact that it has on Ireland, particularly on Brigid’s family. She and her siblings reveal all of the physical and psychological pain that comes from starvation including emaciated bodies, inaction, fever, hallucinations, and weakened immune systems. In one particularly scary moment, one of Brigid’s brothers succumbs to fever while he hallucinates demons attacking him. It is nightmarish as families are forced to eat dirt from the ground, what remains of animals, and fight one another for the few meager scraps that they can get. It takes a strong person to survive such an ordeal but fortunately Brigid is that kind of person.

Brigid’s independence and bad temper shine through when she calls a priest out on his platitudes that speak of lofty thoughts but little practical assistance. She also rails against her father over 

 his relationship with his mistress whom he eventually lives with. Brigid is someone who certainly knows her own mind and isn’t content in taking a submissive subordinate role to anyone.This resourcefulness and independence come in handy when her father arranges a marriage with a much older farmer and she runs away to Dublin where she carves out a life of her own.

In Dublin Brigid begins a bookkeeping career and makes many friends including an interfaith couple, Irish rebels, and various other citizens. One of the most important is Niall McGrath, a banker who is part of the Saor-Eire (Free Ireland) Movement. It is Niall that inspires Brigid to become part of a group that wants Ireland to break free from English rule and become an independent country. For someone who is as independent minded as Brigid, the thought of a life without English rule is quite appealing, especially since she personally saw how wealthy landowners treated people like her family and many of the English laws and backhanded assistance that prolonged the Famine. 

Brigid’s marriages symbolize her ascension and stages in life. Her marriage to Niall is youthful and passionate and is shared between two people who are looking forward to starting their lives. They are in the early stages of their careers and jump headlong into the Rebellion cause by attending protests and demonstrations, eventually moving to England to take an even more active part. They are in a higher place than Brigid was previously, though not yet wealthy. There is almost a careless giddy demeanor that carries over into their marriage as Brigid and Niall become part of the larger world and try to define what concepts like “freedom,” “love,” “sacrifice,” and “independence” really mean. 

Brigid’s second marriage comes from a different place. It is to Finnbar Hayes, a college professor and  leader of Saor-Eire then the Fenian Brotherhood, which is more drawn to violent actions against English oppressors. By the time that she and Finn begin courting, Brigid has experienced loss and is trying to rebuild her life with two small children. Though young, she is more aware of loss and pain and is desperate to hold onto those she loves knowing that she could lose them. There is less recklessness and more caution in her feelings towards Finn. Finn being a leader of the Movement rather than a member like Niall shows awareness of responsibility and larger stakes in his actions. If Niall went down, the Brotherhood would lose a dedicated member but if Finn went down, an entire Movement would fall along with all of the member’s friends, families and sympathetic allies. This involvement widens Brigid’s circle of friends as she empathizes with their plight.

Brigid’s marriage to Finn also changes her status as well. When they emigrate to the United States, Brigid and Finn pursue careers that bring security and respectability. For the first time, Brigid is in a financially secure position and is not only able to care for herself and her family but others as well. Finn obtains a professorship and remains involved with politics and the Fenians while Brigid helps various people by donations and volunteer work such as tutoring and mentoring. She also writes various articles and books that illustrate her views. Both she and Finn now become leaders and spokespeople of their communities as they embrace mid-life. 

Suspense plays a large part of Brigid’s life during her first two marriages. There are many secret meetings between characters that have code names. There are demonstrations and revolutionary acts which result in violence and prison sentences. While Brigid is in England, a young boy becomes her eyes and ears giving her warnings about raids or betrayal. These exchanges remind the Reader that lives hang in the balance and it takes a lot of courage and resilience to take action against an authority that thrives off of economic divide, rigid class distinctions, and imperial ambitions.

Brigid’s early marriages are filled with the tension of people who are caught up in causes that are greater than themselves. Sometimes that involvement requires them to sacrifice much: the chance of marital serenity, time with loved ones, trust of others, and even a long life with the one whom they love.

Brigid’s final marriage to John Lansdowne, a retired sea captain, is borne from loneliness and a desire not for passion or respectability, but for companionship. John is sympathetic to various causes but is not politically involved which is probably a relief for her. Since Brigid had been politically active in her youth and marriages, she is more than willing to embrace the serenity that comes with age. She has the finances to care for herself and those that she is close to and does not have to live with the political tension and financial insecurity that hounded her younger years. 

In response to that security, many of the conflicts in Brigid’s life are more personal particularly when she and John settle in Barbados. She discovers some things about herself and uses that information to continue helping others. She becomes personally involved in the lives of friends and family members by helping them move forward in their paths in life. It becomes just as much their journeys as it is Brigid’s. She is helping them in their early steps when she was forced to navigate hers in Dublin by herself. She wants to be the mother, mentor, and friend that was unavailable to her. 

 In some ways. The Peacock’s Heritage is reminiscent of Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell, which was also about the Irish immigrant experience in the United States and covers an extensive historical period from the Irish Potato Famine to the early 20th Century, however the presentations couldn’t be more different. Captains and the Kings was about a man who claws and connives his way to the top, becomes embittered by his wealth, faltering relationships, and deceitful colleagues, and ends up surrounded by the trappings of his riches but utterly alone. The Peacock’s Heritage is about a woman who is also an Irish immigrant who climbs to the top of high society but instead is enriched by her widening circle of friends and family and becomes more involved with her community that carries over into four countries. It reminds us that true wealth is remembering where you came from and lending a helping hand to those who are going through the same struggles and haven’t reached that point yet. 

Reading a book like The Peacock’s Heritage is a dizzying and at times overwhelming experience. When the book is closed, the Reader is exhausted as they felt that they lived a whole life with Brigid, but they are also glad that they got to know such a fascinating dynamic character during such interesting times.