Publication Date: September 19, 2014
CreateSpace
Paperback; 252p

Genre: Historical Fiction

The year is 1887 in Leeds County, Ontario. The O’Connor clan is gathering to mourn the loss of its patriarch Daniel O’Connor, an Irish immigrant. The story of Daniel and his wife Brigit is one of great hardships, including illness, ill-starred romances, war and political upheavals, as well as undying love and persevering faith. As Daniel is laid to rest, his grandson Fergus receives a piercing insight into what his own calling in life will be.

Praise for The Paradise Tree

“With this marvelous immigrant saga, Elena Maria Vidal reminds us why our forebears left the Old World for the New: for Faith, family, and freedom! Through three generations of an Irish clan in Canada, she invites us into their home for struggle and triumph, celebrations of joy and sorrow, music, feasting, and dancing. The Paradise Tree makes ‘the past and present mingle and become one’ for the reader’s great delight.” –Stephanie A. Mann, author of Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation

“Elena Maria Vidal’s latest book, The Paradise Tree, is the fictionalized true story of the author’s devoutly Catholic ancestors who immigrated to Canada from Ireland. It is filled with rich detailed history recounting the hardships and joys of the 19th century O’Connor Family. Beautifully written with great attention to historical, geographical and religious accuracy, this fascinating and moving family saga is a treasure that I highly recommend!” ~Ellen Gable Hrkach, award-winning author of In Name Only and four other novels.

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About the Author

Elena Maria Vidal grew up in the countryside outside of Frederick, Maryland, “fair as the garden of the Lord” as the poet Whittier said of it. As a child she read so many books that her mother had to put restrictions on her hours of reading. During her teenage years, she spent a great deal of her free time writing stories and short novels.

Elena graduated in 1984 from Hood College in Frederick with a BA in Psychology, and in 1985 from the State University of New York at Albany with an MA in Modern European History. In 1986, she joined the Secular Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Elena taught at the Frederick Visitation Academy and worked as a private tutor as well as teaching children’s etiquette classes. During a trip to Austria in 1995 she visited the tomb of Empress Maria Theresa in the Capuchin crypt in Vienna. Afterwords she decided to finish a novel about Marie-Antoinette she had started writing ten years before but had put aside. In 1997 her first historical novel TRIANON was published by St. Michaels Press. In 2000, the sequel MADAME ROYALE was published, as well as the second edition of TRIANON, by The Neumann Press. Both books quickly found an international following which continues to this day. In 2010, the third edition of TRIANON and the second edition of MADAME ROYALE were released.

In November 2009, THE NIGHT’S DARK SHADE: A NOVEL OF THE CATHARS was published by Mayapple Books. The new historical novel deals with the controversial Albigensian Crusade in thirteenth century France. Elena has been a contributor to Canticle Magazine, Touchstone Magazine, The National Observer, and The American Conservative. In April 2009 she was a speaker at the Eucharistic Convention in Auckland, New Zealand. In August 2010 Elena spoke at The Catholc Writers Conference in Valley Forge, PA. She is a member of the Catholic Writers Guild and the Eastern Shore Writers Association. She currently lives in Maryland with her family.

For more information please visit Elena’s website and blog. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Other Titles by Elena Maria Vidal

Trianon: A Novel of Royal France
Madame Royale: A Novel
The Night’s Dark Shade: A Novel of the Cathars

My Thoughts

The Paradise Tree by Elena Maria Vidal is a story inspired by the author's great-great-great grandfather Daniel O'Connor. He is a young man who immigrated from Ireland in 1821. A very sad time I think for those left behind, even though I am sure most of the families wished the people good luck with the hopes that the person who immigrated sends for them. Doesn't always happen that way though. Daniel does not know if he will ever see his siblings and mother again. Daniel immigrated to Ontario, Canada and worked hard and saved what he earned so he could purchase land to start a homestead. After a few years, when he felt that he is established enough to marry, he meets a 16 year old Irish girl, Brigit Trainor. Of Catholic faith, there is no escaping the persecution of Catholics by Protestants, Daniel sticks to what he believes in and raises his family of 11 children to also stay true to their faith. The enforcement of the Penal Code to the Irish, in Ireland and in Canada was a terrible thing but the Irish persevered and learned to love and respect the land they had and lived their lives as such according to their faith.

This is a story full of love, laughter and sadness. This is a telling of a great Irish stories of a virtuous man who became the patriarch of the O'Connors. I love to read any stories of Irish immigrants, I often wish I knew more about mine, and this story was no exception. This is not only the story of the O'Connor family but of every person, man, woman or child that immigrated in these tough times.

Did you know that

Under the Penal Laws the Irish Catholic was forbidden the exercise of their religion. It.....
was forbidden to receive education.
was forbidden to enter a profession.
was forbidden to hold public office.
was forbidden to engage in trade or commerce.
was forbidden to live in a corporate town or within five miles thereof.
was forbidden to own a horse of greater value than five pounds.
was forbidden to own land.
was forbidden to lease land.
was forbidden to accept a mortgage on land in security for a loan.
was forbidden to vote.
was forbidden to keep any arms for his protection.
was forbidden to hold a life annuity.
was forbidden to buy land from a Protestant.
was forbidden to receive a gift of land from a Protestant.
was forbidden to inherit land from a Protestant.
was forbidden to inherit anything from a Protestant.
was forbidden to rent any land that was worth more than 30 shillings a year.
was forbidden to reap from his land any profit exceeding a third of the rent.
could not be guardian to a child.
could not, when dying, leave his infant children under Catholic guardianship.
could not attend Catholic worship.
was compelled by law to attend Protestant worship.
could not himself educate his child.
could not send his child to a Catholic teacher.
could not employ a Catholic teacher to come to his child.
could not send his child abroad to receive education. ..source.. Irish Memorial Stones

Wow, what a terrible way to have to live because of your faith. I think that Elena Maria Vidal in doing the amount of research that she did into her families background, and end up telling the story with the grace and respect that she did is truly the mark of a great storyteller. Give this awesome book a read!

I received the book for review and was not monetarily compensated for this review.