THE HOLE MADE BY A WATERFALL

A history of one woman’s family that doubles as a modern travel guide to Ireland.

In writer and environmental nonprofit founder Lee’s introduction, she notes that after a period of feeling lost, she wrote this book as part of an attempt to reclaim her Irish heritage. She did so by taking multiple trips to Ireland, traveling there from her home in Michigan. In her latest in a series of works devoted to that country, she accompanies the text with her own full-color, hand-drawn maps, her photos of Irish landmarks, and her small, painted illustrations of landscapes, people, places, and things she encountered in her travels. These drawings and pictures give the work a personal tone that’s often touching, and it serves to make the reader feel closer to Lee and to her ancestral homeland. The first, quite lengthy chapter reads as a sort of diary from 2010, with the author detailing her movements and new knowledge about the places and people she visited in County Clare. Some of these entries are more compelling than others, as some simply discuss quotidian events like driving to the airport and drinking coffee, while others focus on more emotional moments and unusual landmarks, such as the Muckross House at Killarney National Park. The second chapter also uses a journal format but is set in 2019; readers will note the inclusion of fewer images in this section, as it focuses more on the author’s search for her own maternal ancestors rather than general Irish customs and settings. Lee details how she found her family and discovered various connections, and she includes family photos that put faces to names. An appendix of pronunciations is helpfully included, as are glossaries that focus on the meanings of Gaelic words, a timeline of Irish history, and a list of references for future reading about Ireland. Overall, she manages to make a very personal travel memoir that will still be compelling to outsiders.

A warm and fun recollection of the author’s experiences on the Emerald Isle.