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Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Marian O'Shea Wernicke was a teacher there as well as in Lima, Peru, Madrid, Spain, and at Pensacola State College, where she was a professor of English for 25 years. She was married to Michael Wernicke for 46 years, until his death in 2022. Marian has three children, Kristin, married to Max Benitez, Tim, married to Sarah Wernicke, and John. She also has two grandsons, August Michael Benitez and Riley Michael Wernicke.
Her first novel, Toward That Which Is Beautiful, was published in September 2020, by She Writes Press. It's the story of a runaway nun who has been working in the high plain of Peru called the Altiplano in the early 60's. Why would she leave one day without telling anyone where she is going? Look for this exciting, moving account of her journey, both external as she meets people along the way, and internal as she discovers who she really is.
Her second novel, Out of Ireland, was published by She Writes Press on April 25, 2023. Set in Bantry, Ireland, in the late 1860s, this novel was inspired by the life of her Irish great-grandmother. The two main characters, Eileen O'Donovan and her brother Michael make the heart-wrenching decision to emigrate to the United States, hoping to find a better life. Best-selling author Stacey Swann, calls the novel "a love-letter to the strength of women who came before us, full of beauty, pain--and most of all--perseverance."
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Set in 1867 in Bantry Bay, Ireland, Out of Ireland by Marian O'Shea Wernicke follows sixteen-year-old Eileen O'Donovan, who, due to her family's financial hardships after her father's passing, is reluctantly married to a 40-year-old widower named John Sullivan. The prospect of an arranged marriage shatters her dreams of romantic love. Meanwhile, her brother Michael becomes involved with the secret Irish Republican Brotherhood with consequences that impact their already troubled lives. Amidst crop failures and a storm of trouble, Michael and, later, Eileen and John, decide to immigrate to America in search of a better life. Their journey to a new land presents its own fresh set of challenges, leaving lasting impacts on their identities and experiences.
Out of Ireland by Marian O'Shea Wernicke is a gorgeously written historical saga that does more than tell a great story; it immerses readers in the life and times of a family and the tumult of their era in a tale that depicts the realities of 19th-century Ireland and the exodus journey. Religion and culture are integral parts of what it means to be Irish and these are richly depicted in scenes when a loved one is dying and Eileen sets up a small table with candles and a crucifix as a priest arrives to perform the Extreme Unction. It's somber, emotional, and visually beautiful. The evolution of characters is the most important part and the author delivers this as they all transition from one life to the next. My favorite part is when Eileen is in a position where she wishes to help someone who is, by nature of her skin color, in more dire circumstances than even she is. Eileen decides to teach Bess to read and chooses Little Women, which is so appropriate. I have no doubt that readers will reach for Out of Ireland with the same earnest feelings, and be heartened to have done so. Very highly recommended.
