Emma's Review: The Letter Home by Rachael English

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

A faded letter. A mother lost. A daughter found...

When journalist Jessie Daly loses everything she holds dear, she travels home to Ireland's west coast, and helps an old friend researching life during the famine. Jessie becomes drawn into the heartbreaking story of a brave young mother, Bridget Moloney, and her daughter, Norah.

On the other side of the ocean, in Boston, Kaitlin Wilson is researching her family tree. She unearths a fascinating story, but her research forces her to confront uncomfortable truths about the past, as she uncovers an unexpected connection to Ireland in famine times.

Generations before, in the small town of Boherbreen, a young mother faced a heart-wrenching choice: to watch her baby girl perish with hunger, or to start out for a new life in America, alone, in order to protect the one she loves most...

Book Link: Kindle 

Emma's Review: The Paper Bracelet by Rachael English

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

For almost fifty years, Katie has kept a box of secrets.

It dates from her time working as a nurse in a west of Ireland mother and baby home, and contains a notebook with details of the babies and young women she met there. It also holds many of the babies' identity bracelets.

Following the death of her husband, Katie makes a decision she has long kept at bay. She posts a message on an internet forum, knowing that the information she possesses could help reunite adopted people with their birth mothers.

Soon, the replies are rolling in, and Katie encounters success, failure, heartache and joy as she finds herself in the role of part-detective, part-counsellor - chasing down leads, piecing together stories, and returning many of the bracelets to their original owners.

But there is one bracelet in the box that holds the key to a story that may never be told ...

Amazon Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The American Girl by Rachael English

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Boston 1968. Rose Moroney is seventeen, smart, spirited - and pregnant. She wants to marry her boyfriend. Her ambitious parents have other plans. She is sent to Ireland, their birthplace, to deliver her daughter in a Mother and Baby home - and part with her against her will.

Dublin 2013. Martha Sheeran's life has come undone. Her marriage is over, and her husband has moved on with unsettling speed. Under pressure from her teenage daughter, she starts looking for the woman who gave her up for adoption more than forty years before.

As her search leads her to the heart of long-buried family secrets, old flame Paudie Carmody - now a well-known broadcaster - re-enters the frame.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Irish Fiction Week Giveaway: Win a copy of Each & Every One by Rachael English

The fun continues this Irish Fiction week with another fantastic book giveaway.  Today one lucky follower will win a copy of Rachael English's latest book Each & Every One, which I reviewed last year, direct from Rachael herself.

Your family are always there for you...aren't they?

For Tara, Vee, Niall and Damian, the children of the Shine family, their parents have seen them through thick and thin. In fact, Gus and Joan's lifetime of hard work has given their children the luxuries they never had when they were growing up - a comfortable home in a leafy Dublin neighbourhood, gap years that never seem to end and an open chequebook for life's little emergencies. Unfortunately, although the children have grown up, they have got a little too comfortable with the well-feathered nest: now it's time to learn a few home truths. 

When a twist of fate means the bank of Mum and Dad can no longer bail out the younger generation, suddenly the whole family must find out who they really are - but sometimes the truth isn't easy to face. Uncovering the secrets they all hide will show them a different side to the city they call home and mean finding allies in the most unlikely places. 

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below.  The winner will be selected at random on 27th March and contacted for their postal address to be passed onto Rachael to post your prize to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Books Read: Rachael English - Each & Every One

Your family are always there for you...aren't they? 

For Tara, Vee, Niall and Damian, the children of the Shine family, their parents have seen them through thick and thin. In fact, Gus and Joan's lifetime of hard work has given their children the luxuries they never had when they were growing up - a comfortable home in a leafy Dublin neighbourhood, gap years that never seem to end and an open chequebook for life's little emergencies. Unfortunately, although the children have grown up, they have got a little too comfortable with the well-feathered nest: now it's time to learn a few home truths. 

When a twist of fate means the bank of Mum and Dad can no longer bail out the younger generation, suddenly the whole family must find out who they really are - but sometimes the truth isn't easy to face. Uncovering the secrets they all hide will show them a different side to the city they call home and mean finding allies in the most unlikely places. 

 Amazon link: Kindle or Paperback

Books Read: Rachael English - Going Back

How do you know where you belong? 

 In June 1988, Elizabeth Kelly's parents think she belongs at home in Ireland. Her boyfriend is certain of it. Unwilling to settle down just yet, she decides to spend the summer in Boston with her college friends. But the next four months change all of them, especially Elizabeth. Quiet and dutiful at home, she surprises herself and everyone else by falling for Danny Esposito, a restless charmer with a troublesome family.

More than 20 years later with opportunities in Ireland scarce once again, a new generation looks to America, awakening memories of a golden summer for their parents. When a crisis occurs, Elizabeth returns to Boston where she is drawn back into the life she once lived. But will she be able to reconcile the dreams of her 20-year-old self with the woman she has become?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Giveaway: Win a copy of Going Back by Rachael English

Today I have a surprise giveaway for you after receiving a second copy of Going Back by Rachael English, this one from the author direct but I'd also received a copy from her publicist Lucy yesterday.

Ireland, 1988, Elizabeth Kelly's parents think she belongs at home; her boyfriend is certain of it. But, unwilling to settle down just yet, Elizabeth decides to spend the summer in Boston.

Quiet and dutiful at home, she surprises herself and everyone else by falling in love with Danny, a restless charmer with a troublesome family - and everything changes.

More than twenty years later, with opportunities in Ireland scarce once again, a new generation looks to America awakening memories of a golden summer for their parents. When a crisis occurs, Elizabeth returns to Boston where she is drawn into the life she once lived.  But can she reconcile the dreams of her twenty-year-old self with the woman she has become? 

To enter, simply follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below (sorry due to financial reasons I am going to have to restrict this to Europe residents only) but my current other giveaway is open Internationally.  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Debut Spotlight: Rachael English

Today's it's my stop on the blog tour for Rachael English's debut novel Going Back which is published tomorrow. 

Rachael English is a presenter on Ireland’s most popular radio show, Morning Ireland. Going Back is her first novel. It spent seven weeks in the top ten when first released in Ireland last year and was shortlisted in the Newcomer of the Year category in the Irish Book Awards. She lives in Dublin with her husband.

You can contact Rachael on Twitter: @EnglishRachael or via Facebook: RachaelEnglishwriter

In the summer of 1988, Elizabeth Kelly and her friends leave recession-hit Ireland for a summer of adventure and opportunity in Boston. The next four months change all of them, especially Elizabeth. Quiet and dutiful at home, she surprises herself and everyone else by falling for Danny Esposito, a restless charmer with a troublesome family.  

More than twenty years later with opportunities in Ireland scarce once again, a new generation looks to America, awakening memories of a golden summer for their parents. When a crisis occurs, Elizabeth returns to Boston where she is drawn back into the life she once lived. But will she be able to reconcile the dreams of her twenty-year-old self with the woman she has become?  

Going Back is a story of family, friendships and love, of difficult decisions and lifelong consequences.

Can you tell us a little about your debut novel Going Back?
It tells the story of five young Irish people who go to Boston in the summer of 1988. Four of them are desperate for adventure. But, as is often the way, it’s the quietest of the group, 
Elizabeth, who has the wildest time. The first part of the book is about what happens that 
summer. The second part picks up on their lives more than twenty years later when the 
repercussions of decisions they made back in 1988 start to hit home.