03 Sunday Feb 2019
Posted in Books
My publisher sent me a set of promotional banners so I should use them I suppose!
Actually it’s now less than a month until publication. You can preorder here. There are some lovely reviews for it popping up on Goodreads and Netgalley, which is pleasing.
I’ve a blog tour booked too, beginning on 11th March, and will be shouting about that when the time comes too!
21 Monday Jan 2019
Posted in Books, Uncategorized
Today, 21st January 2019, is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first Dáil – Ireland’s parliament. The Dáil was not recognised by Britain, and thus the Irish war of independence began.
The war ended in 1921 with a signing of a treaty that split six counties of Ulster away from the rest of Ireland – creating what we now know as Northern Ireland (although those in the republic tend to refer to it simply as ‘the north’).
Many in Ireland were not happy about that treaty, and civil war ensued (1922-3) between the pro and anti-treaty forces.
And of course some anti-treaty forces (the IRA) continued fighting over the decades until the Good Friday Agreement finally brought peace in 1998. (Peace that Brexit may endanger, but this isn’t supposed to be a political post so let’s not go there!)
My new book, currently available for preorder, is partly set during the war of 1919-21, telling the story of Ellen, young and in love with an idealistic Republican fighter. In the present day, Clare inherits a farmhouse in county Meath, and discovers long-forgotten secrets that allow her to unearth Ellen and Jimmy’s story…
02 Sunday Dec 2018
Posted in Books
Here it is! My new book, The Forgotten Secret. Set in Ireland during the war of independence, and in the present day. Here’s the blurb:
A country at war
It’s the summer of 1919 and Ellen O’Brien has her whole life ahead of her. Young, in love and leaving home for her first job, the future seems full of shining possibility. But war is brewing and before long, Ellen and everyone around her are swept up by it. As Ireland is torn apart by the turmoil, Ellen finds herself facing the ultimate test of love and loyalty.
A long-buried secret
A hundred years later and Clare Farrell has inherited a dilapidated old farmhouse in County Meath. Seizing the chance to escape her unhappy marriage she strikes out on her own for the first time, hoping the old building might also provide clues to her family’s shadowy history. As she sets out to put the place – and herself – back to rights, she stumbles across a long-forgotten hiding place, with a clue to a secret that has lain buried for decades.
For fans of Kate Morton and Gill Paul comes an unforgettable novel about two women fighting for independence.
And here’s the Amazon links to preorder: UK US
This was the most difficult book I’ve ever written but probably the one I am most proud of. It will be released as an ebook on March 1st 2019, and in paperback later in May. I can’t wait to find out what readers think of it!
