A Lyrical Look at an Irish Secret
Modern times meet the past in this women’s historical fiction by Kathleen McGurl. You will meet two characters you will love, Clare and Ellen, and you will see just how close the past is in this lovely story. I am pleased to share my review and all the book information about this new release.
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.
…and 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.
“You can research ancestry all you like, but how people actually felt and what they thought is lost in the mists of time.”
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forgotten-Secret-heartbreaking-gripping-historical-ebook/dp/B07H2PMPR3
US – https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Secret-heartbreaking-gripping-historical-ebook/dp/B07H2PMPR3
Jena’s Review
The Forgotten Secret by Kathleen McGurl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“You can research ancestry all you like, but how people actually felt and what they thought is lost in the mists of time.”
This quote from The Forgotten Secret is why I enjoy reading historical fiction. Fictional stories let us part the curtain to the past, to a past that is more than dates and monuments, to show us a time filled with real people trying to live their real lives. Author Kathleen McGurl succeeds in giving us two different women, living at two different touchpoint times in their lives.
Clare is our modern-day guide. She is about to turn fifty and hopes that “being 50 will be the start of a wonderful new phase in my life.” When she inherits her Uncle Padraig’s dilapidated farmstead in Ireland, a desire awakens in her to live in the place in Ireland. Her adult son encourages her to leave her home in England. He quotes W.B. Yeats to her, “I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there.”
Arise and go now becomes Clare’s mantra. And she has good reason to leave- her husband of twenty-five hears has become increasingly controlling. Many changes await Clare as she begins her new life, but the most interesting is that she finds a hidden secret in an old chair by the fireplace of her farm in Ireland.
And that is how we meet Ellen O’Brien, from the Ireland of about 1919. Ellen’s story is told in the third-person, and alternates chapters with Clare’s first-person accounts. Ellen has also reached an age milestone- she has recently turned eighteen. Changes await her as well, as she begins a new job as an upstairs maid and as she learns about love with her childhood friend, Jimmy. The Author uses Ellen and Jimmy to bring to life the struggles of the Irish Republicans.
Both women have fascinating stories and the author writes in an engaging and readable style, with a few twists along the way. There are helpful historical notes about the history of Ireland in a preface to the book, which helped me, as I didn’t know the details of Ireland’s history. I enjoyed this book, and if anything, I wish it had been longer, as Clare and Ellen both have complex stories, that would have been richer with a slower unfolding.
Thanks to NetGalley and Rachel’s Random Resources for a review copy. This is my honest opinion.
Author Bio
KATHLEEN MCGURLlives near the sea in Bournemouth, UK, with her husband and elderly tabby cat. She has two sons who are now grown-up and have left home. She began her writing career creating short stories, and sold dozens to women’s magazines in the UK and Australia. Then she got side-tracked onto family history research – which led eventually to writing novels with genealogy themes. She has always been fascinated by the past, and the ways in which the past can influence the present, and enjoys exploring these links in her novels.
Social Media Links –
Website: https://kathleenmcgurl.com/
Twitter: @KathMcGurl https://twitter.com/KathMcGurl
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/KathleenMcGurl/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmcgurl/
About the Author
