Reviewed by Claudia Taller
No one leaves the Island of Tory. When you end up there, you don’t know how you got there, and the memories you have of your former life fade just like the lifeline on the palm of your hand. Time is running out as the lifeline gets shorter and shorter. You race quickly to save your life.
The secrets of the Irish island that time left behind unfold smoothly in Island of Tory, a book of mystery and fantasy filled with Irish lore. Berea author-teacher Regina Geither, author of Swamp Stallion and a fourth grade teacher, published Island of Tory in 2012 with Loconeal Publishing.
Loconeal released the second book, Cursing Stone, in March 2013. The second book in the trilogy takes Arella Cline back to Tory, which seems almost impossible to the reader—why would she go back to a place she worked so hard to escape? And if she undid the curse the first time she was there, why does she grapple with ending the curse in the second book?
Geither does a great job of taking her audience with her to a dark-secret island with ancient landmarks and a curse that keeps people in limbo. The writing seeps mystery on page 22 of Island of Tory, when Aunt Fi says, “Once ya become bound ta it, ya never think of leavin’.” Bound to it? Somehow the binding is connected with the Cursing Stone or Cloch na Mallacht, which was brought to the island by St. Colm Cille or the druids and used as part of the pilgrimage of An Turas Mor.
Our heroine, Arella, brings the stories and the An Turas Mor song together at the end of the book when she is fighting for her life. And, like most mysteries, Arella doesn’t know who she can trust until the very end, and that’s when she’s able to move to the conclusion. The plot moves along at a fast clip. Like many YA (young adult) novels, Island of Tory and Cursing Stone are also meant for adults who want a good escape.
Gina said the Irish lore was an inspiration for the series. “Myths, legends, the Old Country, hidden history, all of it contains a seed of truth and becomes fantasy in the retelling,” she explains. She loves sharing folk tales with her students and tells them that the kernels of truth are the lessons to be learned.
She has always been intrigued by the Arthurian legend and writing seems to be in her blood—she wrote her first book, about a horse, on a manual typewriter, with her own illustrations, when she was twelve.
Her biggest challenge in writing Island of Tory? “Writing and finishing and wondering whether it was going to sit in a drawer,” Geither said during an interview. She chose Loconeal Publishing in Amherst because it’s a local publishing company. When they decided that the book would be just the first one of a trilogy, she had to dig more deeply into Irish lore and mystical characters.
“While working on the second book, I was thinking about the third book,” she explained. The writing changes when one knows that the story will go on after the end of the book. “I had to decide how to leave it open,” Gina said, and that shaped the second book. She hasn’t decided on a title for the third book—that will evolve as the book unfolds.
Writing the books has been an adventure for Geither. Most of the writing is done during her long summer breaks from teaching. While researching, she has befriended people online who have provided her with pictures and given her a sense of the places and people of Ireland. She tries hard to be accurate about the mythology.
The characters in these books and the way they interact with each other and respond to the action works well. There’s a lot of showing and not a lot of telling, which is what pulls us into the plot, but some of the action is driven by emotions that we aren’t privy to and wish we were. Is Arella more attracted to Declan or Cannon and how does she feel when each of them kiss her? We’re not sure. It’s interesting to see the growth of the writer in book two as she feels free to get more into the emotional development of her characters. Where will she end up in the last of the series, to be published next year? Watching the writer grow is almost as good as reading the books.
Writer Gina Geither’s books ask the reader to think about what reality is. “Is our reality really our reality?” she asks. “How do you know that this isn’t just a movie or a play?” As a reader, you’ll ask those questions when you read her books of Irish lore.
Get the book on Amazon or from Gina. If you want to meet the author, she’ll be at the Spring Shopping Boutique at Westlake Christian Church, Westlake, from 10AM-3PM on Sat 4/27. She’ll also be at a craft fair at Bethany Lutheran Church in Parma on Sat 5/5 from 12-4PM.
Claudia Taller is the author of Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries and has been a Cool Cleveland contributor for many years. She helps writers and other creative people discover possibilities for their lives through Igniting Possibilities events, including Word Lovers retreats. She has written articles for numerous publications over the last decade and blogs at http://ClaudiaTallerMusings.blogspot.com. Her book can be purchased at http://OhioLakeErieWineries.blogspot.com and makes a perfect gift for history buffs and wine lovers.