Charles Paul Collins's Blog: Media & Reviews

"The Remembering" by Charles Paul Collins, currently available at Amazon Books

BOOKS: Through the eyes of three pioneers, the hard road to the American dream reimagined.

"All morning, I sat on deck with everyone else, staring at the buildings on the shore and imagining a new life just out of reach.” — Cornelius Collins

The Irish Echo - The Oldest Irish American Newspaper in USA, established in 1928, has published a significant excerpt of Charles Paul Collins' debut novel The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone.

"Through the eyes of three pioneers, the hard road to the American dream reimagined," writes The Irish Echo. The excerpt introduces its modern-day readership to the events of Monday, November 22, 1852, when the American passenger ship Clara Wheeler, approaches the city of Boston after forty-one days at sea from Liverpool, England."

Read the complete excerpt on The Irish Echo

"The Remembering" by Charles Paul Collins, currently available at Amazon Books

Reader Views, a widely known book review service and leading book awards program, today released a 4 star review of Charles Paul Collins' debut novel THE REMEMBERING: Of Leather & Stone.

Reviewer Chrissy Very writes: “The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone” is a compelling read for fans of historical fiction, ancestral exploration, and those interested in the early days of settlement in America. It seamlessly ties together two immigrant families, brought together to America by different relatable extremes to find the American dream." -Chrissy Very for Reader Views (12/2024)

Read the complete review on Reader Views

"The Remembering" by Charles Paul Collins, currently available at Amazon Books

"A richly imagined family legacy, The Remembering blends fact and fiction into a compelling American saga. Remarkable in scope, emotion, and timeliness, this generations-long portrait of the immigrant experience is layered with emotional and historical detail. Sensitive, creative, and transportive, this is a must-read for avid readers of historical fiction, as well as anyone who wants to implicitly understand the American immigrant experience." SPR Book Reviews

Read the complete SPR Book Review

Author's new book receives three 5 Star Reviews

"The Remembering" by Charles Paul Collins, currently available at Amazon Books

Reviewed by Andy Hutchings for Readers' Favorite

This week I’ve been thoroughly engrossed by Charles Paul Collins’ historical novel The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone. A fictional account of the lives of real members of the author's family throughout the ages, this book manages to give a compelling insight into the history of the Irish-American experience that is as deep as it is wide.

The real experiences depicted in the book can be heart-wrenching even when considered in the historical abstract, but here the author grounds these experiences in the lives of real and vividly depicted people, each with a journey of perseverance and growth.

Charles Paul Collins' prose is simply beautiful, faithfully recreating the world of his ancestors with an attention to detail and insight that often feels like pure poetry, turning words on the page into something I could see, hear, and smell in my mind's eye.

As each era passes and the narrative torch is passed along to the next generation, the accounts are filled with expertly crafted clues as to what has changed through the years and what has stayed the same -- we see not just the family and their situation but the world around them grow and evolve with the years.

The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone is an essential read for fans of historical fiction, painstakingly researched and effortlessly stunning in the sweeping tale it tells of generations trying to achieve the peace and prosperity that they were promised by the new world. I heartily recommend this book to all readers, whether a fan of historical fiction or new to the genre."

You can read all three Readers Favorite Reviews at: "The Remembering"

Reviewed by Lucinda E. Clarke for Readers' Favorite Book Reviews

Charles Paul Collins has traced his family through documents and heritage sites, but the official papers in the public domain told him little of their thought and lives. Thus, in The Remembering, he imagined how they felt and described their daily lives.

His description of Cornelius' journey on the coffin ship across the Atlantic is so realistic that I was there, experiencing the conditions he suffered, the seasickness, lice, and open sores. Many died on the journey. All were emaciated from the potato famine.

Much of the book is a historical account of life in America in the last century, a fascinating and informative read.

The hardships, the integration, and the fellowship of the Irish and later Italian immigrants are all recounted through the eyes of the immigrants. It was an age of wars, major advances, industrialization, cars, flight, and the wireless.

The author takes the reader into the minds of his family as their characters leap off the pages. I cared about them and enjoyed their triumphs and sorrows.

This is a history book, and a family saga wrapped in a novel and is an excellent read.

The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite



The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone by Charles Paul Collins is a historical novel that traces the intertwining lives of two immigrant families, one Irish and one Italian, in 19th and early 20th-century America.

Written as a fictional account based on personal journals, the story follows Cornelius Collins's journey from famine-stricken Ireland to Boston, and Giuseppe Ambrosini's pursuit of a fortune in America's granite industry. As they and their descendants endure challenges from economic shifts to social upheavals, the families' legacies merge, revealing the unbreakable threads of heritage.

Author Charles Paul Collins demonstrates remarkable skill in bringing historical America to vivid life through meticulous attention to detail and rich, evocative prose. I was immersed in the historical settings thanks to the multisensory detail, and the author's ability to weave together multiple generations of two families while maintaining distinct voices and personalities for each character. This shows masterful empathy and imagination.

I was deeply moved by how Collins captures the emotional depth of the immigrant experience, from the heartbreak of leaving home to the triumph of building a new life. It is beautifully told with narration that homes in on very poignant truths for specific characters at the right moment.

What I found most compelling was the author's ability to make the traditions and daily struggles of these families feel immediate and relevant, creating an intimate connection that spans centuries because we see them as real people, just like us.

Overall, The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone is an extraordinary achievement in historical fiction that will transport readers through time while touching their hearts.