Having read the first 2 books in this trilogy, I was looking forward to continuing this Irish- American story. It seemed a bit of a letdown after the other 2 books. It is not a book that makes me want to read more by this author. ( )

Readers first met Ellie Hogan in Kate Kerrigan's novel Ellis Island. We followed Ellie as she married the love of her life John, came to America to make money for an operation John needed, and was emotionally torn as she built a life in New York while missing her husband back home.

The second book in the trilogy, City of Hope, covered Ellie's life back home in Ireland with her husband. It was a difficult adjustment, moving back to a farm in rural Ireland after living in an exciting, vibrant city. After John's death, a grieving Ellie comes back to New York and opens a home for people who lost their homes during the Depression, eventually building an entire community.

The third book in the trilogy, set in 1942, is Land of Dreams, which finds a middle-aged Ellie living on Fire Island working on her art. Ellie is a painter, and she has a bit of a following. She has two sons, Leo, the sixteen-year-old son of her second husband Charles, and seven-year-old Tommy, who was left as a baby by his mother in Ellie's care.

When Leo runs away from his boarding school, Ellie tracks him down in Hollywood, where he hopes to find a career as an actor in the movies. She intends to take him back home, but after finding him, she decides to give him a chance at the screen test his young agent Freddie has set up for him.

Leo gets a small role in a war movie, and Ellie doesn't have the heart to make Leo give up his dream. As an artist, she understands Leo's desire to express himself. She brings Tommy and Bridie, the elderly woman whom she first met when they both worked as household staff years ago in New York, to Hollywood.

The family sets up in Hollywood where they seem to enjoy the sunshine lifestyle. This is a different Ellie than we have seen before. In the first two books, she was working and struggling to build a life for herself and her community. Now Ellie is middle-aged, and responsible for her two sons.

Ellie had miscarriages during her marriage to John, which brought her great sadness. She never thought she would have children, and now her life revolves around her children. Many women who have children will understand Ellie's feelings about her children growing older and needing her less.

This Ellie is more contemplative, more reflective about her life. She doesn't have to work so hard, she has more time to think. She met an older man, a music composer, on the train to Hollywood, and they continued their relationship in Hollywood.

Kerrigan's characters are so multi-dimensional, even the minor ones. Stan, the composer, loves Ellie, but he is not willing to pine for her if she will give him no chance. Freddie, the agent, is not some sleazy Hollywood type, but a young man with a goal and he becomes a part of Ellie's family. Even Freddie's actress-girlfriend, who could be a golddigger, is interesting.

Many times in trilogies, the main character remains stagnant from book to book. In Kate Kerrigan's Ellis Island series, we experience the growth and depth of Ellie from young girl desperately in love with her husband and willing to move to America to save his life, to grieving young widow who channels her grief by building a community for those in need to middle-aged mother who loves her children enough to give them their dreams and in turn find her own. ( )

I read this book as an ARC, and totally forgot to write a review about it then. So, here is my short but sweet opinion. The story was a good read. The subject matters and events could hold your attention, but I had a hard time really getting past either the character personalities or the writing style.used to describe and develop them. Everyone seemed to be over dramatized and a little shallow in a way. And there was just way too much past and present comparisons for my taste. BUT like I said, the story was a good one. ( )

It’s 1942 and sixteen year old Leo has run away from boarding school. Actually in his mind, he’s running to his chance to become famous and not away from home. A year before, he’d gone with his friend, Julian Knox, and stayed with Julian’s family in California. While Leo was there, he had been introduced to Freddie Dubois who is a talent scout for movie studios. Freddie handed Leo his card, promising he could make him a movie star. So, Leo takes off by himself by train cross country from Fire Island, NY to Los Angeles, CA. Ellie Hogan leaves her youngest son, Tom, with close friends and heads by train after Leo.

Ellie Hogan was a celebrity in her own right as an artist (Irish impressionist). When she realizes how disappointed Leo becomes if not allowed to audition for a part, she begins to think it doesn’t matter where they live. Leo hardly ever asks for anything. She can be an artist anywhere. Her best friend, Bridie, and her son, Tom, make their way out to join Ellie and Leo in Los Angeles, CA. She had been married twice; both John and Charles are deceased by the time she moves. Leo and Tom had both been adopted. She meets a few men while in Los Angeles. However, Stan, older and mature, is someone she finds very charming; he often found ways to help her.

This is more Ellie’s story than that of Leo and Hollywood glitz. Historically accurate, it conveys the early establishment of Hollywood studios and movie agents. The tagline for this novel had read, “In 1940s Hollywood, not all that glitters is gold…” However, I felt the Hollywood glitter was a bit glossed over. There was a lot of background about Ellie’s life in Fire Island including her marriages, the adoption of her sons, her art endeavors, and even her homosexual neighbors. We do see some of the effects of WWII in Hollywood. Ellie is a very strong woman with very liberal ideas for the 1940’s time frame. Land of Dreams was actually the third in a trilogy. The first two were Ellis Island and City of Hope. The background was complete enough that I didn’t feel I missed too much from the earlier two books. I rated Land of Dreams at 3 out of 5.

http://www.fictionzeal.com/land-dreams-kate-kerrigan/ ( )

This is the intriguing story of a very bright and talented young woman who is trying to raise her two children. It is unique in that they are not her biological children. It is the story of her life and friends and her experiences during the 1940s. I thought that this was a well written book with interesting characters that held my attention. It is not exactly action packed. It starts off slow, but then picks up. I think I read the whole book in 3 days. I was touched by part about Suri and the internment camp. I would like to see a whole book about this subject. It is interesting what this country did to Japanese American citizens. This is something you don’t hear much about.

I liked Ellie she is a strong woman and very independent for her time. Ellie doesn’t seem to show much remorse or reflection in regards to her actions through out the book. She did what she felt she needed to do and she did not look back. I enjoyed this book. I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars. ( )