Culture Cabinet

By Nicole Ackman

I studied abroad twice while doing my undergraduate degree: a month-long summer term in Brighton, England, and a three-month spring term at the University of St. Andrew’s. So when I saw a new book about an American doing a semester abroad in Ireland, I was immediately hooked. While I might have been studying in the UK rather than Ireland, I knew that there would be much that I could relate to in the story of an American setting out to spend months in another country.

In A Match Made in Ireland, E.D. Hackett does a great job of exploring the ways in which living in a new country – even one whose people speak the same language – can be disorienting, but also offers opportunities for reinventing yourself. Rory is an American girl from Boston who is excited to escape her less-than-perfect college experience and her difficult home life across the ocean.

However, her semester gets off to a rocky start when she has an annoying seatmate on the flight over who turns out to be her roommate. There’s a switch-up with housing that results in the young Irish man, Jamie, being placed in the suite of three American study-abroad students. Rory is horrified, and worried about what her boyfriend back home will think, but her other flatmates Zoey and Marissa are excited to have an Irish friend to help them learn the ropes.

Rory and Jamie are true opposites. Rory’s an obsessive planner, determined to control everything she can in response to her parents’ messy marriage and her boyfriend’s lack of interest in her. Jamie is much more laid-back, content to explore things as they come to him and close to his equally charming parents. Rory discovers a new way of life, despite struggling to let go of her over-the-top planning, and falls for Jamie along the way. But can she open her heart to him, especially when their relationship has an expiration date at the end of the semester?

I had some qualms with the book, as I felt that Rory was, at times, a frustrating main character, and some of the other characters feel underdeveloped. I loved her flatmates Zoey and Marissa, but wanted to see a lot more of them and learn more of their stories. Jamie was definitely the best formed character and his and Rory’s love story was sweet. I felt that the backstory with her parents was sprinkled in somewhat lopsidedly. The writing also left some things to be desired at parts, as did Rory’s attitude towards other women.

My favorite part of the book was its setting in the early 2000s. As someone born in 1994, I can’t imagine going abroad to a foreign country without the use of a smartphone or the ability to communicate easily with my family back home. So seeing Rory’s struggles on nights out and traveling around Ireland was really interesting, and definitely gave me a new perspective.

I also appreciated that the book is essentially a love letter to Ireland and the Irish. Hackett’s love for the country shines through every chapter, in her loving descriptions of the people and sites. It renewed my interest in traveling to Ireland as Rory’s love for the country was infectious.

I was given an ARC of this book by Xpress Book Tours, Net Galley, and E.D. Hackett in exchange for an honest review and for participation in the Book Blitz. You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon and find it on Goodreads. You can also download it on Kindle Unlimited.