history and historical fiction

This book is actually a 2-in-1 and the way it's told is absolutely great.
The first part, "The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan", tells of an Irish immigrant girl with her brother caught up in the Civil war and her father losing his mind. She is the one making the living working in a bar in the Irish slums of Washington D.C. She waits for her dear brother to return from the war...but when he doesn't she is broken. Her only choice is to turn to help the wounded in war.
This first novel leaves you sad and feeling sorry for Mairhe and at times I had put this book down because it was dragging a little.
But the second novel, "Mary Mehan Awake", is superb. This one I couldn't even stop to eat until I had read the entire thing. This is where, told not in her point of view as the first was, told in a narrative form. And as the author puts it, "I knew she could not narrate the sequel because sleepwalkers cannot narrate stories." The war has cut her deeply and she seeks refuge in New York, a pleasant setting compared to the bloody soldiers in Washington D.C. Here she works as a servant in a household. But it's a great place where she even finds someone to help her become awake again.
This is an amazing story with even a more amazing ending. It will leave you happy and contented, just like Mary.