Some great novels about the experience of the Irish famine have come out in recent years, such as Kevin Baker's "Paradise Alley" and, more recently, "The Law of Dreams" by Peter Behrens. However, "The Prendergast Letters: Correspondence from Famine-Era Ireland, 1840-1850" (from the manuscript collections at Boston College's John J. Burns Library) offers readers the actual words and experiences of a single family from Kerry. Not unlike "The Diary of Anne Frank," the details of the letters seem mundane (weather reports, check cashing and gossip appear alongside comments of a more political nature), but because we know of the looming horror, these observations seem all the more striking. James and Elizabeth Prendergast raised six children in Milltown, County Kerry. These 48 letters were sent to children who left Ireland for Boston. "What comforts I anticipate at the thoughts of embracing each and everyone of you so long parted from me," Elizabeth wrote in 1850. The Prendergast Letters also includes essays by historian Ruth-Ann Harris and genealogist Marie Daly, which provide valuable context. ($29.95 / 202 pages / University of Massachusetts Press)