Sunday 15 January 2012

Books Read: Ali McNamara - Breakfast at Darcy's

Source - Won in a competition

When Darcy McCall loses her beloved Aunt Molly, she doesn't expect any sort of inheritance - let alone a small island!  Located off the west coast of Ireland, Tara hasn't been lived on for years, but according to Molly's will Darcy must stay there for twelve months in order to fully inherit.  It's a big shock.  And she's even more shocked to hear she needs to persuade a village full of people to settle there too.

Darcy must leave behind her  independent city life and swap stylish heels for muddy wellies.  Between sorting everything from the plumbing to the pub, she meets confident, charming Conor and sensible, stubborn Dermot - but who will make her feel really at home?  


I loved Ali McNamara's debut novel, From Notting Hill With Love... Actually, when I read it last year so I added this book to my Amazon wishlist as soon as I knew it was being released.  Fortunately I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book in a Christmas competition so I couldn't wait for it to arrive so that I could start reading it and I wasn't disappointed.

Not surprisingly the main character is Darcy, a journalist who enjoys the fast paced life in London, who finds out at the reading of her Aunt Molly's will that she has inherited an Island and a substantial amount of money but there's a catch ... she has to live on the Island for a year and persuade 14 complete strangers to come and live with her!  

At first Darcy does not even consider this as an option but following an encounter with a work colleague and a flooded ceiling in her flat, she takes these as a sign to leave and take up the challenge.

With the help of her solicitor Niall, who decides to take a year out and join her on the Island, they recruit builder Dermot who also joins them and together they begin interviewing for people to come and join them on the Island including charming boatman Conor.  

After a few initial hick-ups, including a few of the original islanders choosing to leave, Darcy and the others come together to decide how they are going to make living on the Island a success, both personally and professionally.  

One thing I loved about the book, but reading other reviews others did not, was the Celtic myths and legends mentioned throughout the book.  I thought that it was just the right amount and that they did not distract from the story of life living on the Island of Tara.  Overall this was a really enjoyable book to read and I cannot wait until her next novel is released.

No comments:

Post a Comment