This is the true account of a remarkable Irish-American family, four generations of emigration and return, from Ireland to New York and back again. It is also the story of the author's sister, the late Deirdre O'Connell, founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed Focus Theatre in Dublin-her marriage to popular singer Luke Kelly, her successes and failures and her remarkable and long-lasting impact on theatre in Ireland. In many ways, the book tells a tale common to thousands of immigrant families who made new lives in the teeming metropolis of New York City and the Bronx between the Depression and the 1960s. It describes their ongoing struggles to walk a tightrope between two cultures-the home they left behind and the one they were creating-and brings into sharp focus the conflicts that millions of immigrants face when forced to choose between the two. At its heart the book is essentially a joyful story, one of faith and endurance, a story laced with a touch of madness and a spirit of adventure, told with love and affection. If you want a sense of Irish America and its roots and ties to Ireland, Cusack's book is compulsory reading.""-Gerry Adams