To read Keegan's diary is to re-live the nightmare he is retelling. A schoolteacher, he had to live with the fact that his students couldn't concentrate because they were literally starving to death. In shutting down the schoolhouse he was performing a humanitarian service, but admitting defeat as well.

He then takes his bride on a journey to the new Promised Land -- America. His horror at seeing hundreds crammed into the hold of the ship, food withheld by the crew, and larceny performed constantly, comes across with such alacrity that the reader wants to rush up and punish the offenders.

The gripping tale spares no one -- the British, the greedy Irish landowners, the uncaring ship's crew -- all are painted with the honesty needed -- no Emperor's new clothes here.

Although the ending is known, throughout the book the reader keeps hoping that history will change, that the circumstances will suddenly alter, and that the suffering passengers will somehow, miraculously be comforted.

This is a very disquieting book if you have believed all the stories that the Famine was somehow brought on by the Irish, and that the emigration to America, Canada and Australia was a voluntary one.

Those of Irish ancestry (like me) should read this to weep over lost loved ones, and ensure that nothing similar ever occurs again.