Trans Atlantic

What would you do if you got a letter in the mail and the letter asked, "Would  you mind if I used my imagination and wrote a book with you as a character?" Who would agree to that?  George Mitchell would agree, that's who. George brokered a peace accord in northern Ireland and he is at the end of this book. This book has a strange set up of six chapters. The first three chapters are about men and the second three chapters about women. The stories weave back and forth from the time of the Civil War and Frederick Douglass and ending with George Mitchell. If you like stories about brave and strong men and brave and strong women, I think you will like Trans Atlantic by Colum McCann. The people in my book club liked this book and that is how I found out the George Mitchell in the story was a real person. I figured Frederick Douglass was real on my own. I liked the book from the beginning because it starts off with an engaging story about two pilots flying from Newfoundland to Ireland. I wondered why the story felt so real and so alive. I read further and discovered, on my own, that the author was tweeting. He wrote in short phrases instead of sentences. He broke the rules of grammar! I like people who break the rules. I should rephrase that.  I like some people who break some rules.