Geraldine O'Neill

A better book than expected, this is the story of 3 sisters dealing with a huge family secret & dysfunction in 1960s Ireland. It should have been the story of 2 sisters--the plot is advanced mainly by their stories, the 3rd feels like a distraction. The main stories are well-told, one leading to discovering the secret. The end tidied up too quickly. I would have preferred a 2nd book. A light read good for a pandemic.

En jätte fin roman som utspelar sig på Irland under 1937 till 1956. Tara Flynn är en rödhårig skönhet som kommer från en rätt så fattig familj, hennes mor dör när Tara är liten och hon uppfostras av sin farfar då henns far snart gifter om sig. Biddy är en annan viktig karaktär i boken, hon är en fattig och hemlös flicka som blir Taras bästa vän och följer med Tara från Irland till England. Boken tar upp klassfrågan, hur svårt det är att komma upp sig från att vara show more fattaig eller medelklass till förmögna överklassen. Tara Flynn är underhållande läsning och det är lätt att glömma bort sig under några timmars bra läsning. show less

This book was a Kindle deal so I went ahead and bought it. I had not heard of this author before but the premise of the story interested me. I do like armchair traveling to Ireland.

The setting is 1968 in Tullamore Ireland with occasional chapters taking us to Dublin. We meet the Tracey family who own a pub and grocery store. The daughters have different goals in life and we get to meet each one. The youngest girl, Bridget, is training to be a nun and lives at a Catholic school for women who show more want the same vocation.

Angela Tracey is the middle daughter and lives in Dublin. She is very independent and loves her life in the city. Angela doesn't feel close to her family as she was striken with polio as a young girl and pretty much grew up in a hospital in Dublin. She had visitors from family with the exception of her mother. Whaaat? All is revealed later about that situation. I very much liked Angela's character.

Fiona Tracey is the oldest and much of the story focuses on her life and interactions with family. The title Letter from America refers to her weekly correspondence with her good friend Elizabeth. Her friend now lives in New York City and has managed to hook Fiona up with a job. The plans are set, Fiona is excited but a family tragedy changes her plans and she has to postpone the trip. (This is in the book jacket so no spoilers)

There is a secret and animosity between Fiona's mother and her Aunt Catherine which is brought up fairly frequently as they argue or give the cold shoulder. The daughters don't know what it's about but it is finally revealed close to the end. This book is classifed as historial Irish fiction but there a bit more romance than I expected, though not enough to classify it in that genre.

For a light read I would look for more by this author. There was quite a bit of food and drink mentioned in the story.

Homemade Shepherds pie, chicken salad, cooked ham and fried potatoes, cold ham and brown bread, lamb chops, boiled potatoes and peas.

Cod with parsley sauce, floury potatoes and vegetables, Chicken with Dauphinois potatoes and broccoli, hot Apple tart with custard, trifle , lemon meringue pie.

Banycham, Tullamore Dew, pints of lager , Sherry and white wine.

The mention of fried potatoes had me craving them so, I saved some of the roasted potatoes from a previous chicken dinner, sliced them and fried them up. They made an excellent accompaniment to last evenings dinner.



For more about Geraldine O'Neill check out her webpage HERE. show less

The last of the Tara Flynn trilogy- a fitting end, it was good to see how all the characters ended up. Tara can come across as being inflexible at times, but the author prevents her from becoming completely unlikeable by balancing her story with Bridget and Angela's.