A Sea of Sorrows

A Sea of Sorrows
The Typhus Epidemic Diary of Johanna Leary, 1847
Norah McClintock

A Sea of Sorrows is a Dear Canada book about a Irish immigrant girl who was travelling from Ireland to Canada because of the "Great Hunger," an Irish potato famine from 1845-1851.  About three thousand immigrants left on ships for Canada because of this famine, and many died on ships on the way to Canada.


Johanna Leary is the main character in the story and an example of those who came to Canada with families searching for a better life. Her younger brother Patrick died of Typhus during their voyage, and her mother and father died of the same fever after they arrived in Canada. Johanna became an orphan.

I like this story because it shows how hard it is to be a orphan and how they coped. It also shows what different people thought about the Irish. In this story I stayed up late reading because everything was so sad and I kept reading because I kept hoping for it to get better. And it did, eventually, but not without heartbreak in between.

I don't like what Johanna said about Mrs. Johnson, even if Mrs. Johnson said that the Irish are lazy. I also don't like how Johanna slapped Mrs. Johnson even if Mrs. Johnson slapped her. Slapping back would not be the right thing to do. Turning the other cheek (literally!) would be a better thing to do. But it shows how difficult and emotional time it was.


The author, Norah McClintock, is best known as a young adult mystery novelist, but she did a very good job on this book. In fact, the author's great great grandmother Mary Ellen O'Leary traveled on a ship from Ireland to Canada during the same time period but died some time after she left. It was because of her mother's research that she learned about her ancestors and how they came to Canada. Ms. O'Leary had at least three children, two of which were born Ireland and another was believed to be born in Canada. The author doesn't know much more than that, and said she has still many questions she wants answered.

Maybe she tried to answer some questions by researching and writing this book.

A Sea of Sorrows really is a sea of sorrows. There is just no end to all the sad things happening in this book. But even though it is sad, it is still worth reading, so read it. You will be glad you did.