"A Sudden Gift of Fate" by
Mary Pat Hyland
The Irish are famous for many things -- music and dance,
beautiful linen, old
castles, whiskey --
but cultivating vineyards and making wine hasn't been one of
them. There is a fine Celtic concoction called Meade,
but you wouldn't be likely to find a Chardonnay or Riesling from
the Emerald
Isle. So when a newlywed Irish couple receives the keys
to a run-down winery in the Finger Lakes Region of New York it does
not bode to be the most successful grafting that's been
attempted. The new life of Fergal and Brídgeen Griffin is
only one angle in Mary Pat Hyland's new novel "A Sudden Gift of
Fate". There is
also the powerful relationship between Binghamtonians Maeve Kenny
and Andy Krall -- a relationship that was nurtured by Andy's rescue
of Maeve after her promising New York City public relations career
fell apart. She hopes to find her way back to personal
stability as much as she hopes for new stem
cell treatment that will free Andy from his paraplegia.
"A Sudden Gift of Fate" is the sequel to Mary Pat Hyland's 2008
debut novel "The
Cyber Miracles". She has again drawn on her own Irish heritage
and upstate New York upbringing to write of places and situations
she knows well. The novel is filled with descriptions of
procedures for growing grapes and making wine, familiar geography
of the Finger
Lakes and Southern Tier of New York and expressions in Irish
Gaelige, which Mary Pat speaks fluently (there is a glossary at the
end of the book). Fergal and Bridgeen rename their winery Lochmare,
Irish for "finger lakes".
"Wow, look at the size of their farmhouse!" [Maeve] said as they
pulled into the driveway. "Not too shabby for starting off a
wine empire, " Andy laughed. "That barn must be the
winery."
A red and white border collie rushed down the hill barking at them
as the side ramp extended for Andy to roll out of the van.
"Friend or foe?" Andy asked.
"Can't tell," Maeve said.
"Misty! Ná bí dána!" Fergal yelled from the porch
as he and Brídgeen came out to greet them. "Téigh
abhaile!" The dog stopped barking, muttered a bit, then
turned and ran back up the hill toward home.
"How'd you like that for a welcome," Fergal said. "Didn't
know the dogs speak Irish here, did yez?"
"Fergal the dog whisperer," Andy said, giving him a fist
bump. "How the feck are you?"
"Yer lookin' at a wine maker, mo chara. Can ye
believe it? I'm still waitin' to wake up from this and find I
was just langers after drinkin' a pint of Colm's poitín."
-- from "A Sudden Gift of Fate"
Just as "The Cyber Miracles" turned on creation of a website
that drew surfers seeking a miracle in their lives, and whose
wishes were granted, at Lochmere there is a well whose waters have
unexplainable healing powers. The success of Lochmare is
hindered by the delicate "living art" of the wine industry, even as
it's advanced through the cooperation of other wine growers.
The winery and the Binghamton bakery where Maeve finds a job are
caught up in the machinations of an ambitious State Senator from
downstate who comes on the scene with his own upstate economic
development scheme, and with eyes for Maeve. (Mary Pat's
senatorial sub-plot seems to echo some recent developments in
Albany). Maeve is further distressed when Andy leaves for
medical treatment in Belgium and unwittingly attracts the
attentions of an overaffectionate physical therapist.
Mary Pat is a former journalist and editorial page editor of the
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. In March she
will be teaching a non-credit course in Irish Gaelic at Broome
Community College. The BCC Catalog
(pdf file) has a description.
Mary Pat Hyland joins Bill Jaker on OFF THE PAGE to
tell about the novels that continue to unfold with their Irish
flavor and New York setting. To add your ideas post a comment
here to OffThePage@WSKG.ORG.
