Feeney
Michele M. Feeney
Award-winning Author of Like Family
Latest Release
Like Family
Mollie Crowley, a 26-year-old Irish unmarried teacher at a one-room schoolhouse in rural Michigan, and 8-year-old Cecilia Pokorski, a Polish girl orphaned after the deaths of her family during the 1918 influenza pandemic, are an unlikely pair.
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While Cecilia is grieving the loss of her beloved Mamusia, Mollie leans on her own mother, Catherine, for assistance after taking the girl into their home. Mollie loves teaching, but Cecilia hated having Mollie as her first teacher.
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Readers will see challenges they faced during COVID-19 as similar to the ones people faced nearly a hundred years earlier. Like Family explores themes of prejudice related to ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion; foster care and adoption; feminism; education and teaching; language and cultural differences; family factions; death and grief; loneliness; and ultimately, the power of love, family (biological and intentional), and community.
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"Michele Feeney's Like Family is a warmhearted, well-told tale of the loving bonds that can arise when good people reach across the barriers of prejudice, and limiting societal roles in response to human need. Set during the flu epidemic of 1918 in a rural Michigan town, Feeney expertly draws the characters as they cope with an orphaned girl, a frightening epidemic, cultural differences, and rigid expectations of a young independent teacher. The fears, and the divisions sustained by powerful people in a small town ultimately give way to the bravery and loyalty of its best citizens in this timeless story . A wonderful read."
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- Barbara Stark-Nemon, Author of Even in Darkness
Reviews
"This is a heart-warming story about the different ways family can be defined. The story follows Mollie, a strong independent woman during a time when women were not seen or appreciated as such. She is ambitious and complex as we get insight into her struggles to make challenging decisions regarding Cecilia, her mom, and the community at large. I loved getting to live within her perspective and watch her fight for what she cared about. I would highly recommend this book, especially to those interested in history, strong women, and unique ways to define a family."
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- Anna, Reader
"This was a wonderful story about relationships of a teacher, her mother and an orphaned girl during a troubling time of sickness (not unlike what the world experienced with Covid). The book explores sicknes, death and love. There is also an aspect of a male doctor trying to protect his power and thereby showing his prejudices. The author writes in a very descriptive manner and it is very easy to picture the small farming community in Michigan with it's farmhouse, cemetery, etc. I was sad for the book to end and look forward to reading another book by this author."
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- Pete, Reader
Upcoming Events
Mark your calendar for these upcoming events featuring Michele Feeney. Don't miss the opportunity to engage with the author and delve into the world of Like Family.
