The Throwback Thursday meme was created by Renee over at It’s Book Talk. She made this meme to share some of her old favorites. Although all bookbloggers have an endless TBR pile, we seldom take the time to reflect back and post about some of the great reads from a few years ago. I decided to join in because sharing book recommendations is one of my most favorite things to do!
I originally reviewed “The Stolen Child” in March of 2017.
“Steeped in Irish history and lore, The Stolen Child is a mesmerizing descent into old world beliefs, and a captivating exploration of desire, myth, motherhood, and love in all its forms.”
We’ve been told that the Irish are a superstitious lot. This is even more true of rural Ireland of sixty years ago, when this novel is set. A fictional island of fishers and farmers, with no running water or electricity, St. Brigid’s Island is almost as antiquated as the Celtic saint whose name it bears. A three-mile long island that houses just eight families, myriad sheep, and no trees. The islanders have suffered many loses and the graveyard is on a point of land near where the boats dock.
“The first thing you see when you row a boat to this island is all the children who have already gone.”
“living here is like being slowly drowned, held down on a rock and left for the tide to come in”
The island has a well, a holy well, said to have magical powers attributed to Brigid. The islanders hold an odd juxtaposition of beliefs. They are Roman Catholics, but they also believe in the ‘fairies’ or little people. They all have a St. Brigid’s cross adorning their cottage walls. When they are in need of succor they pray to the Catholic saints, then, to cover their bases, they pray to the fairies…
There are two female protagonists in “The stolen child“, a story that tells of women who are stretched to their limit both physically and emotionally – and then called upon to endure even more.
Emer uses her hands to do damage. Leaching away other people’s happiness is the only thing she has ever been able to do.
Emer, a caustic, dour and joyless woman of twenty-three years. Twin sister to the joyful and sunny Rose, mother to Niall whom she adores. She has never had a friend and has always felt ‘alone’. Emer lost one of her eyes years ago to an infection brought about by myriad bee stings. 
Though the islanders believe in the holy healing powers of the sacred well, the waters failed to save Emer’s eye. Emer and her twin sister have known unimaginable hardship in their short lives. When they were just twelve years old, their mother had a stroke and they’ve been doing all the work ever since. Girls on this island were born to work and help their mothers. Boys were born to please their mothers. Emer lives in fear that Niall, her son and the light of her life, will be ‘stolen‘. She fears that the fairies will seek retribution.
Emer had such low expectations and then watched,
time and again, as they were realized
Rose is the ‘good’ sister married to the hard-working Austin, the good brother. Emer is the ‘bad’ sister married to the lesser brother, Patch, a drunkard. Emer has never known happiness and she spreads her bitterness to whomever she meets – until she meets Brigid.
“They would never be pure,
but they were expected to attack the tarnish daily.”
peat fire with kettle
Brigid uses her hands to heal.
Brigid, nearing her fortieth birthday, has come to the island from the American state of Maine. The daughter of a lighthouse keeper, Brigid is no stranger to hard work and hardship herself. Her mother’s family were from this island, and now she has returned… A widow who has suffered many miscarriages, she longs for a child of her own. She hopes that the island’s holy well will bring about a miracle and bring her a child and the peace she has craved all her life.
Brigid befriends a stray and half starved dog whom she names Rua. She is her constant companion. “She loved that stupid creature as if it were her own child and not a dog at all”.
But Brigid has come to an island with a dying way of life, one that is soon to end, for the islanders are to be relocated to the mainland.
“the sea looks like a calm blue walkway pretending as though it never tries to trap them in rage.”
Two men in a curragh circa 1960
This is a story rich with Irish folklore about strong and resilient Irish women. A novel which poses the question: If you want and crave something strong enough… can YOU MAKE it happen? Historical fiction liberally doused throughout with magical realism – with themes of motherhood, superstition, betrayal, suspicion, endurance, loneliness, and grief.
“When something is stolen from you, it is sometimes easier to act like you never wanted it in the first place.”
As a background tale, the novel also tells of the history of the Celtic saint Brigid, and her colony of medieval pagan nuns that once inhabited the island. The nuns lived a harsh and brutal existence, residing in pairs in beehive-shaped stone huts called clochans. Like the protagonists of the novel, they too were women fending for themselves in dire circumstances. 
“There is a striking similarity between anticipation and dread”.
Written with beautiful language and turns of phrase, the story causes the reader to become enraptured by the women, the island, and even St. Brigid herself. The author took five years to write “The stolen child” which was inspired by Kieran Concannon’s documentary film, “Death of an island“. Highly recommended!
Lisa Carey‘s award-winning novels have been translated into a dozen languages and optioned for film.
Born in Massachusetts, Lisa Carey lived in Ireland for five years and now resides in Portland, Maine, with her husband and their son – and returns to Ireland whenever she can.
Most readers will acknowledge that some words reappear time and time again in titles. Often these words are associated with a particular genre. Case in point: “The girl on the train” and “Gone girl” spawned countless thriller titles with the word ‘girl’ in the title.
Reginald Manley – an accountant before WWII, he attains the rank of officer during the time he spent overseas. He was instrumental in the 
Henry Eastman – the son of a couple who run a confectionery shop in 
Henry’s story was my favourite of all and it is through Ralph’s interview of one of Henry’s childhood acquaintances, coupled with a mysterious old photograph, that acts as a catalyst for the entire book. Reg’s experiences during the war were also very memorable – especially his reminiscences of the British liberation of the Belsen concentration camp in April of 1945. Also during the war years, Reg was acquainted with a fellow soldier, George Tanner, who comes to play a part in Henry Eastman’s life story.
Windfalls – is the wonderful old stone farmhouse where the Sorrell sisters grew up. Situated on the banks of the river Avon amidst an apple orchard, the house fairly reeks of atmosphere. Near the bottom of the orchard there is an old iron gate that opens onto the towpath of the river.
What happened all those years ago to make Margot leave home? Why can’t her mother forgive her? We are drip-fed the details of what happened via periodic flashback chapters.
This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from 
I can feel that “It’s almost the end of the year” panic begin to build. I have at least four reading challenges that I haven’t yet finished and there are some stellar sounding books that I want to get read in their publication year. Yikes!
The Throwback Thursday meme was created by Renee over at 
The Invisible Girl aka Saffyre Maddox – lives with her Uncle Aaron as her other family members are either dead or uninterested. Traumatized when she was only ten years old, Saffyre has dark thoughts and self harms. She once saw a psychologist named Roan Fours for an extensive period of time but now at the age of seventeen she is trying to cope on her own. She was bereft when he discontinued her therapy and now she secretly follows him as he goes about his life. She likes being outside more than inside and sometimes spends her nights sleeping rough.
The Hampstead area has had several sexual assaults recently and Cate is afraid for her teenage daughter who often walks alone after dark.
Now Lane is an adult herself. She is the newly widowed parent of six-year old Henry. Although she doles out advice for a living, showing just how wise she can be… her own life has always seemed to be on the precipice of disaster. This time though, she has Henry, and she comes to realize that for him she must face her past, her own dysfunctional upbringing, and her own flaws and insecurities. Lane is not coping too well at being a single parent, and she doesn’t have much of a support system to help her along. Although she has the best of intentions and is compassionate, others often think she is rude because she keeps to herself.
We follow Lane and Henry from an apartment in New York, to a old house in New Jersey, to a seaside house on Martha’s Vineyard.
Nancy Star is the bestselling author of six novels which have been translated into many languages, optioned for television, and chosen as Literary Guild and Mystery Guild Signature Series selections. In addition to her novels, Star’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Family Circle, among other publications. Before turning to writing fiction full-time, Star worked for over a decade as an executive in the movie business. She now lives with her husband in New Jersey. Visit her 
The Throwback Thursday meme was created by Renee over at 
There has been a brutal murder on 
A single mother of a seventeen year old daughter, Zoë, Alex faces challenges in both her work and her home life. At work, she is constantly battling to do justice to her many cases while the police are serious short-staffed. She still feels as though she is an ‘outsider’, having transferred to Kent after a personal, very awkward relationship in London.
from the author’s Goodreads bio:
Michael – the newest member of the Gordon family is insecure of his place in the family’s dynamic. He has had a very dysfunctional upbringing and has recently nursed his own mother until her death. Now he cannot believe his luck that this wonderful family would want him to be a part of their clan. Also, he feels very attracted to Ann Gordon – and it is not a completely ‘brotherly‘ attraction.
The setting was for me quite idyllic. I have a personal strong affinity for settings near the ocean, so found the Cape Cod setting sublime.
Sky – ten years old, grieving and fearless. She finds it a huge adjustment when Leo moves into her family home to care for her. His husband doesn’t seem to like her, and when he comes to the island on the weekends, Sky runs away and sleeps in her tree-house. Sky has many friends on the island – her best friend Frankie, her neighbours Maggie and Joe being her favourites.
Ichabod Island as described by the author: “Some say it sits in the shadow of the Vineyard like a disobedient child, wild and untamed, fog rolling over the land like a tantrum in wait.”
Lisa Duffy
Visit 
Heart-breaking, heart-warming, and compelling literary fiction. This book is a must read!
Next we meet Clare. A resident of a nursing home, Clare is nearing her one hundredth birthday. Astoundingly, her mind is sharp as a tack. Sadly, she is quite alone in the world and never has any visitors. We come to know Clare better as she relates her ‘story’ to Gloria, another nursing home resident, which she tapes. Her long life is fascinating. She was the Catholic daughter of a bookshop owner in Providence. When the Great Depression hit her family suffered many financial setbacks along with the rest of the country. She worked in a weaving mill where she eventually met her husband. Yes, although her adult years were mostly solitary, she was once married, and the mother to a baby son. This all ended during the hurricane which struck Providence, Rhode Island in 1938.
Markus Thomson – handsome, charming, and self-involved, Markus comes across as unlikable. Pompous, sexist, critical, and self-centered, he distances himself from his wife and child by deeming parenting ‘mother’s work‘.
I read the novella “
