Fiona O'Brien

Those who know me are going to say I’m biased because I’m reviewing a book by one of my own people so of course I’m going to think highly of anything written by an Irish woman. Everyone knows I think all the Irish have been gifted supernaturally to be excellent storytellers AND it’s being put out by an Irish publisher on top of it.

BUT! You would be wrong, well a little bit wrong. Of course I wanted to review it because it’s by one of the most amazing women to set the gold standard for Women’s Fiction in Ireland. Thankfully though, I don’t have to use a thesaurus to look up the antonyms of whatever I think to provide a glowing review just to keep up the idea that the Irish can’t write bad books. Thank you Ms. O’Brien for saving my butt by writing a worthy novel that is perfect to have at the ready as the summer holidays approach.

She writes about relationships, love, heartbreak, grief, parenting, faith, family and how fragile everything can be. It is definitely a character driven novel with a whole lot of them but she develops each of them with ease from the beginning and keeps them and their stories from falling over a cliff. I loved how she set up the relationships between the various family members because I could see a lot of similarities with my own family which caught me laughing and shaking my head at times.

Overall this covered the emotional spectrum with the perfect twist to keep you wanting to read til the end. You can’t help but get pulled into and ride out the journey with laughter and tears as you discover O’Brien has earned her reputation for being one of the best Fiction writers of the Emerald Isle.… (altro)

Set on the southwestern coast of Ireland, ‘The Summer Visitors’ by Fiona O’Brien tells a story about communication and mistakes of the past. The fictional town of Ballyanna is the seaside community which hosted the first undersea telegraph cable between Ireland and Newfoundland, Canada. Daniel O’Connell and his twin sons are spending a few months in Ballyanna while he researches the old cable station for a documentary he is making. Annie Sullivan is returning home to Ballyanna to rest from her life in London but also to help her family. Each family lost someone/something and they want to change but don’t know how. As in any small town, friends and neighbors assist with a romance, help resolve problems and support the families as they come to terms with the own frailties.

For the first half of the book, I wondered where the story was going: summer romance, drunken Irish stereotypes, cute twins & their new friend, etc. If that was the case, my 2 star rating was ready. Then came a significant story point that changed the book for me and improved the overall story arc. It became an emotional read (I admit that I cried a few times) and touched a few points that most people could emphasize with. You can tell the author knew the real Kerry County because the environment and land descriptions made me want to immediately book a flight. Points for the Force Awakens reference ☺

My biggest fault with this story is the multitude of characters with little or nothing to do. The kindly golf pro, the physic neighbor, the parish priest – what is the point and why were they taking up space on the page? Each of these ‘characters’ could be reference points without having to actually meet them. The best friend seems to be cross-over from her own story but I don’t think this is a sequel, more of a continuing story line for Ballyanna.

Overall, an unexpected read that gave more of an emotional punch than I expected from a light hearted beach read. I recommend to anyone looking for a few enjoyable hours and not looking for an in depth character analysis.

This book was provided by the publisher (through Net Galley) in exchange for an honest review.… (altro)

This is an interesting book to read. The way the author narrate the story with its main character tell their side of story in each chapter is very unique and is very well written. The book basically tells the story of the aftermath dissappearance of Charlie; on how Shelley and their kids deal with his absence, and having to stay with his mother; Vera. There was subplot in the main story where Caroline, supposely to be Charlie's mistress keeps her presence known and the other women with a kid; Annika whom Charlie choose to be. At first, i really thought Charlie is a playboy what with Caroline and Annika in the picture and the way their story was told by themselves in the chapter, one would not have resist but assume on their real relationship. ;)

Overall, i find this book very exciting to read and the author's writing refreshing!… (altro)