The Emerald Ballad Series
Song of the Silent Harp (#1)
Book One of BJ Hoff’s acclaimed and bestselling Emerald Ballad series begins the five-book saga of three friends raised in a tiny Irish village devastated by the Potato Famine of the mid-1800s, as they struggle to survive and hold onto their faith during Ireland’s darkest days.
Nora Kavanagh has lost her husband and young daughter, and now lives in fear of losing her home. She and her young son, Daniel, have only one hope for survival, the poet/patriot–and love of Nora’s youth–Morgan Fitzgerald. But his dangerous involvement with a band of Irish rebels keeps him in constant danger and puts the possibility of a future for him and those he loves in jeopardy.
Michael Burke, a close childhood friend of both Nora and Morgan, left his homeland for America and is now a New York City policeman. A widower with a difficult, rebellious son, he still remembers Nora with love and fondness and wants nothing more than to help her escape the cataclysmic famine and build a new life with him.
This panoramic epic of love and faith and adventure spans an ocean to follow three of BJ Hoff’s most memorable characters in their quest for survival and courage and hope.
“All the color and imagery of a film enliven this story as it unfolds against a background of aborted revolution, disappointed love, and the elemental struggle for life fulfillment in a harsh society.”
Heart of the Lonely Exile (#2)
In Book Two, readers will find heroine Nora Kavanagh struggling to build a new life for herself and her son Daniel in America. With help from a wealthy American family and friendship and support from a British gentleman, Nora nevertheless finds herself caught in a conflict of the heart.
Michael Burke, a strong, dedicated Irish policeman, desperately wants to keep his promise to his best friend Morgan Fitzgerald to marry Nora and protect her. But Nora’s instincts urge her to resist Michael’s proposal and follow her heart in a different direction. More troubling still, in the midst of her personal struggle, the heartaches from her homeland continue to plague her.
Heart of the Lonely Exile continues the saga of the Kavanagh pilgrimage–a journey of the soul in a strange new land, where all those who are exiles and aliens seek to finally find their true home.
“A brilliant picture of the excitement and drama of life in New York City a century ago.”
Land of a Thousand Dreams (#3)
Morgan Fitzgerald, wheelchair-bound poet and patriot, seeks to restore his ruined life and bring hope to the next generation by establishing a school at Nelson Hall, while providing a home for Belfast orphan, Annie Delaney, and the beautiful, mute Finola. On the other side of the ocean, Morgan’s friends Michael and Nora discover that the “Land of Opportunity” teems with poverty and corruption. From the opulence of Fifth Avenue to the squalor of the Five Points slum, the city of New York and its people stagger under the injustice and degradation brought on by crime and the exploitation of the flood of immigrants pouring into the nation.
“A big, colorful novel, full of the type of upbeat Christian values to be found in much of Hoff’s fiction.”
Sons of an Ancient Glory (#4)
Through tragedy and triumph, Morgan, Michael, and Nora see a divine purpose unfold. But even as they settle into their new lives, they are destined to be forever changed by the wounded people who come to them. An epic that sweeps across the vast expanse of two nations with a saga of birth and death, heartache and victory.
“These characters will march right off the pages into your heart. The courage, perseverance, and faith portrayed in this tale will inspire the reader to a sense of the victory the Irish immigrants experienced as they struggled to overcome the adversities of bondage, religious persecution, and ethnic prejudice.”
Dawn of the Golden Promise (#5)
In the fifth and concluding volume of her bestselling The Emerald Ballad Series, BJ Hoff brings the exciting Irish-American historical drama to a climax with all the passion and power readers have come to expect from her.
The saga finds Morgan Fitzgerald adapting to life in a wheelchair as a result of an assailant’s bullet to his spine. Meanwhile, his wife, Finola, must face the dark memories and guarded secrets of her past. In New York City, policeman Michael Burke is caught in a conflict between his faith and his determination to bring a dangerous enemy to justice.
This unforgettable series began with the promise of an epic love story and an inspiring journey of faith. The finale delivers on that promise.
“Hoff is a master at sustaining interest in her characters over the long haul…she has a gift for writing about day-to-day spirituality.”