Book Review: 'Til Morning Light by Ann Moore

Goodreads Summary: With her two children, Gracelin travels to post–Gold Rush San Francisco to meet the sea captain who has proposed to her. But when she arrives, he is nowhere to be found. Although destitute in a dangerous city, Gracelin vows to make a secure life for her children and find her brother
Goodreads Rating: 4.59 stars with just under 350 ratings (for the trilogy set)
Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Irish Culture
Previous Trilogy Reviews: Gracelin O'Malley, Leaving Ireland
Goodreads Challenge: 33/50
2019 Reading Challenge: #27 Read the third book in a trilogy (See the full challenge here)

Book Review:

Yay. I finished a trilogy for the reading challenge. I totally expected these three slots to end up blank by the end of the year. I'm happy that I found the Gracelin O'Malley trilogy and gave it a shot. This very closely ended up being something that I passed up because of the cover. I know... I know... bad bookworm.

As you can probably already tell, I really enjoyed 'Til Morning Light. It takes off some years after Leaving Ireland, I believe. Gracelin O'Malley finds out that her son Jack is alive, and is brought over to America by her friend Julia and Julia's husband. After some time in Boston, Gracelin brings Mary Kate and Jack to Kansas to go west in hopes of finding her brother Sean and meet up with Peter, who has proposed to her. She thinks she's ready to let her late husband Morgan go.

As in the other two books, Gracelin is a strong female character. She's a no-nonsense woman who gets things done. I felt like she really came into herself in 'Til Morning Light. Peter's missing, she doesn't know where her brother is, and all of her friends are on the East Coast or back in Ireland. It's really just up to her to make a life for her and her two children. Luckily, she's able to put her cooking skills to use and finds employment in a doctor's household as the cook.

A lot of the 'Til Morning Light is the day to day stuff, which can get tedious to read, but I enjoyed it. We get introduced to her son Jack, who at four is the absolute best part of 'Til Morning Light. He's funny, curious, and just makes the story a bit lighter. We also get introduced to Hopkins, who is the doctor's head maid. She is VILE. I think at one point, Gracelin actually slaps her across the face, and it is so deserved. I may have cheered. I can't decide if she's the worst villain in the trilogy or not. Regardless, I despised her.

'Til Morning Light brings all of Gracelin O'Malley's story full circle, which was enjoyable. There weren't any cliff hangers that could be doors for more books. It pretty well closes the door on the character. I could see there being a spinoff about her daughter Mary Kate, but I find it pretty unlikely. There's an Epilogue that takes place several years later, which brings all of the living characters together for an event. It gives an overview of what they've been up to. I may or may not have cried. It was really well done.

If you are a historical fiction fan, I definitely recommend this trilogy. It definitely needs to be read in order as each book is a different part of Gracelin O'Malley's life. It'd be hard to really get into if you read it out of order. It covers a lot of really controversial topics, so while there is romance, it's kind of secondary. I think overall, I'd give the trilogy a 4/5.