Reviewed by Emma Crowley
When warm-hearted Hannah Barry’s father passes away, her life is turned upside down when she discovers he wasn’t her biological father, and the only family she’s ever known are not related to her at all. Now their tiny farmhouse overlooking Roone Bay feels unfamiliar and cold. So when a handsome, dark-haired stranger turns up on her doorstep, his kind eyes and shy smile are a welcome escape.
Justin Sanders is searching for clues about his long-lost grandfather, whose last letter home came addressed from the area. Justin is certain Hannah’s own grandfather is connected to the story somehow, and that the men knew each other years ago. Hannah can’t help but be drawn to Justin and his mystery – they both have a painful past to solve. Will helping Justin lead to the answers about her real family that she desperately longs for?
But Hannah is shocked when nobody in the village will speak of Justin’s grandad. What secret could be so terrible that a whole community turns their back?
Justin’s caring nature makes Hannah feel so safe, and she can’t ignore the way he makes her stomach flip. But when they discover the truth about the events of a tragic evening decades ago, it threatens to tear them apart for good… Can Hannah and Justin find a way to forgive and move forward together? Or will Hannah lose the only real love she’s ever known for good?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Irish Daughter to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Irish Daughter is the third in Daisy O’Shea’s Emerald Isles series and once again another fantastic read. Daisy has a natural storytelling ability and her love for Ireland, its landscape, history and the people shine through. I love that in each book the characters have so much depth to them and the societal constraints of the time are highlighted as it shows how far we have come in the present day. I can never quite put my finger on the actual timeline that the books are set in but certain things make me think it’s the late 70’s or 80’s as quite often I am surprised at some of the things the characters do or say. Or that the small town that features seems a bit backwards in some ways as if full blown modernity has not quite reached them yet. I don’t mean this in any negative way at all I would just be interested to see when is it specifically set or is the author purposefully not saying? But one thing is for sure the history of Ireland, the good, the bad and the ugly, is here and has clearly being very well researched and fits in perfectly with the overall themes and issues being explored.
The story opens with a very interesting prologue as we are introduced to Esther who was once taken in by the sisters of Mercy as an orphan when her parents died within a year of one another. She grew up and married Adrian, a farmer from West Cork. He is a dour man who works all hours and there is never a civil word spoken. Their young daughter Hannah has spent months in hospital with polio and she can barely walk. Esther finally gets to collect her from the hospital after only being able to see her once or twice and when she returns to the family farm her husband asks what have you done? I knew from the outset what had occurred as it was obvious really and within a few chapters it had come to light. The fact that this happened so early would normally ruin a story for me. I prefer the element of surprise to be kept for as long as possible. But here it didn’t detract from the plot at all. In fact it only added to it and made Hannah more determined than ever to uncover the truth.
Fast forward many years and Hannah’s father has just died and she isn’t really all that sorry considering the man he was. She was the one out of all the siblings who had been left to care for him and work on the farm given that she can’t walk very well due to her illness. Her mother had died several years before. In ways, I thought she was seen as being weak and a bit stupid but she was anything but that. She has a kind heart and possesses a quiet inner strength which is about to come pouring forth as her fathers will leaves a lot to be desired. She was left nothing and will soon be out on her ear. Not that the farmhouse offered any modern comforts or conveniences, but she did expect to be looked after given she was the one who did the caring. Her eldest brother Mark returns from America expecting to inherit everything but on the proviso that he lives there for ten years. This is a shock to him as he expected to sell the land and get out of Ireland as quickly as possible. One other problem remains - the deeds to the farm are missing and nothing can happen with it until they are found.
I thought Hannah didn’t put up much of a fight when it came to the farm and a sense of her being an outcast in the family or the one, they look upon with shame really came through. But when she learns some very surprising news which I won’t divulge here as I think it would ruin everything, well that sets the cat amongst the pigeons and her focus is turned elsewhere. She questions every little aspect of her life and she was right to do so. She also holds a secret close to her chest and I felt those that could help her didn’t. Instead local millionaire Noel and his family (whom we have met in the previous books) almost took her on like a surrogate daughter and I was glad they were there to help Hannah navigate through stormy waters. She was like a butterfly emerging from the cocoon. She had led a sheltered and isolated life but now events were forcing her to become the person she was destined to always be. She had a quest, a need, a longing deep within her and her father’s death spurred her on to push herself outside her comfort zone and boundaries as now was a pivotal time when her life could branch off in an unexpected direction. If she didn’t tread said path very carefully things could have been disastrous.
The arrival of Justin, an Englishman, to Roone Bay Hannah soon finds herself involved in another story but she never lets her own fall to the wayside. I thoroughly enjoyed how the two strands of the overall plot worked together. Justin is on a mission to find out about his grandad Jack’s past as a member of the Black and Tans. He amongst many others was sent from England in 1920 to keep the peace in Ireland. He found himself stationed in Roone Bay but the results of this posting were not favourable. Now Justin wants to fulfil a promise to his grandmother and discover the truth as to what actually happened to Jack and to lay a wreath for him. But people are keeping secrets in the village and Hannah and Justin will have to be very mindful of upsetting people. But the truth after laying fallow for all these years needs to come out.
Interspersed with Hannah and Justin in the present were chapters set from 1918-1920 and they focused on Jack. It was brilliant to get an insight into his life as a soldier during World War One and what were the effects of this for him. What led him to deciding to go to Ireland to become a Black and Tan? How was he affected by his experiences? What actually happened to him in Ireland that caused his disappearance? Was it something very sinister? The reader was given a fascinating insight into Jack’s situation and what his state of mind was. I was completely enthralled and without reading of Jack’s viewpoint I felt the story as a whole could have fallen flat. His viewpoint wove the strands of the story together very well and really made the last quarter or so of the book exciting to read and it became a real page turner. I thought I had it all worked out regarding Jack and I was quite smug regrading a certain character as although they made a fleeting appearance I felt they were there for a significant reason. Well, I was completely wrong. Yes they were there for a reason but not for the one that I had presumed and I was pleasantly surprised by the eventual outcome. I loved the twists and turns for all the characters, Hannah in particular, but on the whole there were surprises for everyone and of course some romance thrown in too for good measure.
The Irish Daughter was another fabulous read and thoroughly enjoyable. You are transported to a part of Ireland steeped in history and culture and the characters demonstrate this with every turn of the page. The issues they face are just enough to get your teeth into without the book becoming too heavy. The two stories come together perfectly and the ending was fantastic. I read this in two sittings which is a compliment as these days my attention when it comes to reading very much comes and goes. Hopefully Daisy O’Shea has lots more stories to tell about Roone Bay and the intriguing people that reside there.
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