The story of three Irish families is a genealogy effort with a different spin. The recorded and oral histories of three real families are intertwined in story form with special attention focused on perception.

The book spans eight generations and is singular in its approach to reconstructing settings when hard evidence is scarce. It could prove an invaluable tool for the many Americans caught up in genealogy and anxious to discover the humanity of those who preceded them.

Joan Sutton and her husband, Jim, live in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and are the parents of five daughters. She enjoys reading, walking, and traveling but most of all, spending time with the six grandchildren.

I find it quite plausible that the original destination of the Wards was Easton, perhaps because of the Burns connection or perhaps because there was a viable Irish community in place in that town with the added attraction of ample employment opportunities.

There are no clues as to the financial status of the Wards when they arrived in Canada. Did they have extra clothing with them, which could be washed, in the river? Did they have sufficient funds to purchase tickets on one of the small steamers to Quebec City or Montreal? Did they work for local farmers to provide for their needs along the way? Many Irish did this as they moved through Canada.

Likewise, no clues survive as to their emotions. Did their spirits rise when they sailed through the St. Lawrence and glimpsed the silver steeples of the many Roman Catholic churches along the river, knowing that whatever their destination, being Catholic would not bear the stigma that it did in their native land. In the midst of disease and death did they ever feel despair and question the advisability of this voyage? The answers exist only in our imaginations.