"An Early Wake" by Sheila Connolly
“An Early Wake” by Sheila Connolly tells the tale of Maura
Donovan, who is figuring out a way to keep Sullivan’s Pub alive. When she finds
out that the pub is a music hotspot, she has to figure out how to keep the pub
alive.
As someone who loves Irish music, I love the plotline of the
Trinity College student studying Irish music in terms of Sullivan’s Pub. I
would love to do a deep dive into the history of Irish and Celtic music, which
I have done a bit of.
A part of me is also jealous that Maura got to work in such
a place where Irish music was strong. She grew up in Boston, but she was not
aware of, nor could she fully appreciate, the history of Irish music. It is
okay that people are not into music, but she should have known at least
something about Irish music. This is especially true since music is so much a
part of Irish culture and history.
In my opinion, and this is nothing against the author, but
one would think that Maura would have been briefed on the history of the pub
before she became the owner. You would also think that someone would have
taught her how to do basic accounting beyond what she learned in Boston. However,
I do love that Maura had the chance to learn these things as she went along. It
is cool to see the journey she goes on to learn and to see her progress as the
story unfolds.
The audiobook was an incredible listen. It was only about
seven hours long, and the narrator, Amy Rubinate, was engaging. I looked
forward to listening to the book while getting things done and could easily
multitask without missing anything in the book.
Overall, this book was decent. Personally, I loved that it
focused on Irish music and showed Maura’s learning process. It is easy to be
frustrated that Maura did not already know a lot of things about running a pub
and about its history, especially with some information we find out about how
others could have been chosen. However, seeing her grow and learn as she
handles difficult situations is phenomenal. We love a woman-owned business,
especially a pub!
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