My Top 3 Favorite Series: The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor by Angela Hunt

Welcome for the third and final installment in my “Top 3 Favorite Series” blog post series!

By this point in my reading journey, I’ve read lots of book series that I enjoyed just as much as these books. But what keeps “The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor” series on my list of all-time favorites is the fact that it was the first adult-level Christian fiction series I ever read! This series opened up a whole new world of historical romance to me and captured my early teenage imagination so fully that I’ve been hooked on the genre ever since!

I was twelve or thirteen at the time (my memory is a little fuzzy on the exact year) and after a night spent at the mall with my family, we made a stop at the home of our close friends, who were also my youth pastors at the time. My then youth pastor’s wife, Amberly, and I got to talking about books since I purchased one that night at Barnes and Noble. At some point in the conversation, she told me I needed to read a series called “The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor” by Angela Hunt. They had been favorites of hers for years now and she just knew I would enjoy them too.

She graciously let me borrow her personal copies of the four books that night, and I immediately started reading them. I can still remember reading the prologue and first chapter of Book 1, The Silver Sword, and being instantly sucked into the story. I’m not sure how long it took me to read the entire series, but I do know that I devoured it and found every chance I could to read at school. Haha! I would work fast to complete my work and then sit and read until it was time to leave class. 

Not long after giving the books back to Amberly, I ordered my own copies on Amazon and have reread them a couple times through the years. I have recommended this series to so many friends through the years and it will always be one of my top recommended reads.

WHAT IS “THE HEIRS OF CAHIRA O’CONNOR SERIES” ABOUT?

The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor series tells the story of the ill-fated medieval Irish princess Cahira O’Connor and her extraordinary descendants that each made a difference in the world that they lived in throughout history.

In the prologue of the first book, The Silver Sword, Kathleen O’Connor is doing research for her college thesis at the library in 1999 (this cracks me up because what was considered a contemporary story/character when this series was released is now considered a historical story/character). Kathleen has lived her life despising the odd white streak coursing through her red hair, and on this day she catches the attention of yet another stranger with this distinctive genetic trait. Except this stranger isn’t some creepy old guy like she first assumes; he is a professor from her college that is familiar with the legend of Princess Cahira and her deathbed plea that God would bless her descendents and lead them to do great things with their lives. At first, Kathleen is extremely skeptical of the outlandish story, but her curiosity gets the best of her and she decides to do an internet search for Cahira.

What she finds is not only the story of Cahira but of three women who all lived two-hundred years apart, yet possessed the same distinctive red hair with a white streak at their left temple: Annika O’Connor of 15th century Prague; Aiden O’Connor who lived in 17th century Java, Indonesia; and Dr. Flanna O’Connor from Civil War era America. What starts as mere curiosity morphs into an in depth research and writing project on each of the women, and more importantly, a search for Kathleen’s own destiny as an heir of Cahira.

WHAT BOOKS ARE IN THE SERIES?

Book 1, as I’ve already said, is The Silver Sword. After the opening of the story that I described above, the book goes back in time to tell Annika’s story.

Growing up under the love and tutelage of her father, a scribe in 15th century Prague, Annika is content in her happy, quiet life. But when she gains the attention of a lecherous young nobleman, Annika’s world turns upside down and she ends up hiding as a page in the castle of the honorable Lord John of Chlum. With her desire for revenge against those who destroyed her family as her motivation, she rises to the rank of a knight and becomes involved in the religious uproar caused by church reformer and alleged herritic Jan Hus.

Book 2, The Golden Cross, continues Kathleen’s research into the lives of the famous O’Connor women and delves into the story of Aiden O’Connor. 

Aiden has grown up in the Dutch colony of Java, Indonesia with a prostitute for a mother. Though Aiden’s mother has done all she can to guard her daughter from the horrors of the slums and prostitution, this difficult upbringing has made it’s mark on Aiden’s life nonetheless. But light breaks through the clouds of Aiden’s world when her talent for drawing catches the attention of a famous cartographer, who invites her to join him on a voyage to discover and map lands unknown. This daring adventure not only leads Aiden away from her life of poverty, but opens the door to a love and future beyond her wildest dreams.

In Book 3, The Velvet Shadow (which is my personal favorite of the series), Kathleen discovers the journal of Dr. Flanna O’Connor.

When the Civil War breaks out, trapping southern belle Flanna O’Connor at her medical college in Boston, the young doctor is determined to find a way across the border and home to her aging father in Charleston. The union army has no interest in enlisting the services of a female physician, so finally, Flanna decides to take drastic measures and enlist herself as a soldier. The biggest problem she faces isn’t the Rebel army, however. It’s the fact that her fiancé, Roger Haynes, is in her regiment, and his older brother, Alden Haynes, is her commanding officer-and draws her heart more than the man she has agreed to marry.

Book 4, The Emerald Isle, is a true time-slip novel, telling both Kathleen’s story of finding her own love and destiny as an O’Connor, and the story of the woman who started it all-Cahira herself. 

Kathleen journeys to Ireland for the wedding of her best friend, Taylor, and to finish her research on Princess Cahira. But more than just research is waiting for her on the emerald isle.

Meanwhile, in the 13th century, Princess Cahira O’Connor strains against the confines of her life. When she steps out of the mold of a proper king’s daughter, Cahira finds herself caught directly between two opposing forces-her own Irish kingdom of Connacht and the Norman rulers from England. 

WHY DO YOU LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH?

I mostly answered this question at the beginning of this post, but I will elaborate on it a bit here.

Like I said, I read this series at a time when I was just starting to move away from children’s books and on to young adult and adult books, particularly in the Christian Fiction genre. I may have read a historical Christian novel before this point, but the first ones I distinctly remember reading are these books. The way Angela brought the historical detail to life captured my attention so fully that I found myself researching the historical facts myself after reading each book. I can particularly remember reading all about Jan Hus after finishing The Silver Sword, and I still dream of going to Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where Jan Hus really pastored/preached. 

I also fell in love with the love in these books. Each of the love stories made me swoon and sigh in happiness-and they still make me feel that way! These books set the standard for me on what makes a good romantic tale.

The concept behind this series may seem a bit far-fetched, but I can get on board with it even all these years later. The way that Angela weaves the stories of each of these women together, combining the fanciful folklore aspect of the Cahira legend with the realistic and even gritty history of each of the different eras, makes it feel believable and distinguishes this series as unique from a lot of other things I have read.

BONUS INFO ON THIS SERIES!

1. I actually have two copies of The Silver Sword-or I did before I gave one of them to my sister. When I first purchased my own copies of the books from Amazon back in the day, I ended up with new editions of the first two books, and first editions of the last two books. The new edition covers are beautiful (much more so than the original 90’s versions) but I am pretty partial to the original covers since those are the ones I borrowed from Amberly. So when my family and I were vacationing in Georgia and I happened upon an original edition of The Silver Sword, I HAD to buy it. Haha! If I ever find an original copy of The Golden Cross, you best believe I will be buying that one too!
2. Piebaldism is the genetic trait that causes the O’Connor women to have that distinctive white streak of hair. Basically it is where a section or sections of your hair do not produce pigment. This is apparently a pretty rare condition, but it turned out not to be quite so rare as I originally thought. I know a girl who is about my age and has a natural white streak in her hair! I nearly died the first time I met her because I recognized the trait from the Cahira stories! Haha! And speaking of people with white streaks of hair-when I saw the first poster for Frozen (circa 2013!) I got so excited because Anna had red hair with a white streak at one temple! I can’t remember if I sent it to Amberly or if she sent it to me first, but we both were freaking out. Of course, Anna’s white streak turned out to be the result of her sister Elsa’s magic and not genetics.