No stalwart example of Irish womanhood, the mother succumbs to despair, leaving her two children to pursue their quest alone. In Liverpool, where ships embark for the journey west, their paths intersect with that of Laurence Kirkle, younger son of the landowner who had evicted them. He, thanks to the machinations of a conniving older brother, has run away from his London home to seek asylum, like the O'Connells, in the land of opportunity. Similar to many stories in this genre, the emphasis is on plot and action with references to historical events setting it in time and place. Shifting back and forth between converging stories, the narrative, with its short, snappy chapters and unremitting suspense, is a real page turner.
Personalities representing all tones from virtue to villainy add color and intrigue.
The characters, types rather than unique, include a spinoff of Dickens's Fagin, an unemployed actor, and a conniving proprietess of a derelict boarding house. Maura and Patrick, particularly in their dialogue, come perilously close to stage-Irish stock, but the audacious use of coincidence and dazzling pace disguises these shortcomings. In the seething streets of Liverpool, the children share a fate played out against a cast of detectives, scalawags, and scoundrels worthy of any Victorian novel. It has history and adventure. An Irish brother and sister who have been kicked out of their home meet the son of their cruel landlord who is running away.