Blog Tour ~ The Ludlow Ladies' Society by Ann O'Louglin

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on


The Ludlow Ladies' Society Blog Tour

The Ludlow Ladies’ Society by Ann O’Loughlin is published 20th July by Black & White Publishing, price £12.99 

Connie Carter has lost everyone and everything dear to her. Leaving her home in Manhattan, she moves to Wicklow, Ireland hoping to heal her broken heart, and in search of answers: why did her husband plough all their money into the dilapidated Ludlow Hall before he died?

Although Connie initially avoids the villagers, she meets local women Eve and Hetty, who introduce her to the Ludlow Ladies’ Society, a crafts group in need of a permanent home.

Eve Brannigan is also struggling with pain from her past. After her husband’s suicide, it became clear that he had bankrupted them, and her beloved home Ludlow Hall was repossessed. Now, seeing the American Connie living there, the hurt of losing her house is renewed. But as she and Hetty begin stitching memory quilts in order to remember those they’ve lost, can she let go of her past and allow herself some happiness? And can Connie ever recover from the death of her much-loved daughter Molly?

I am delighted to be able to welcome the author, Ann O'Loughlin to the blog today.

Hi Ann, welcome to Jaffareadstoo and thank you for spending time with us today

Without revealing too much, what can you tell us about The Ludlow Ladies’ Society?

This is the story of the enduring friendship among women. It celebrates the resilience of women and how they support and hold each other up through the worst of times. 

Connie Carter has lost everyone and everything dear to her. She comes from America to Ludlow Hall in Wicklow, Ireland desperate to find answers as to why this old mansion existed and yet she knew nothing about it until her husband’s death. Ludlow Hall features large in the life of Rathsorney. Eve lived there until it was repossessed by the bank and later sold on to Connie’s husband. 

When Connie meets up with Eve and Hetty from the village and the members of The Ludlow Ladies’ Society, she finds friendship, understanding and compassion. As they make memory quilts together to remember their loved ones, the secrets of the past tumble out and the women begin to confront a painful past.

Connie Carter finds she did not just inherit a house but a whole group of friends who support and hold each other even through the worst of times. This is a story about the power of female friendship and the strength of the bonds that develop over time. As they stitch the patchwork memory quilts, Connie takes the first tentative steps to stitch her life back together.

I was very taken with the description of Ludlow Hall, did you base the story on a particular place or did you draw purely from your imagination?

When I was young in the west of Ireland we used to play in the fields around our home and often in the ruins of big old house there. I think it was from that time, I have loved big old houses. Ludlow Hall is the house in my imagination, but for me it is very real. I have a picture in my head of the house, every nook and cranny. Someday I hope to come across the house in reality. I like to think if I did, I could knock on the front door, confident the occupants will welcome me and I will be invited in to walk through to the kitchen for a cuppa.

The Ludlow Ladies’ Society is set in Co.Wicklow. How important is location to your writing, and did you visit any the places you describe so vividly in your novel?

I think location is very important and I never like to write about a place if I don’t know it well. I think when you know a place well, you know instinctively which way the bus is coming, which way the car should turn when it goes out the gate and little things like that which are so important. While Ludlow Hall is in a fictional village, it is in Co Wicklow in Ireland. I live in Co Wicklow, I know the way the roads are, the type of shops and cafés there and the type of houses. I think that is so important. A proper sense of place for me is very important.

Your writing is very atmospheric – how do you ‘set the scene’ in your novels and how much research did you need to do in order to bring the story to life?

Thank you! In my mind I am there by her side when Connie is first walking through the village of Rathsorney, I am walking every step with her. The voice pounding in her head is pounding in mine. When she stands to take in Ludlow Hall for the first time, I am there doing the same thing. I think that is how you bring any story to life. When the ladies of The Ludlow Ladies’ Society sit to have a chat and a gossip, I am the ghost in the room if you like, I am writing what I hear and what I see, it is a great privilege.

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. Do they ever dictate how the story progresses or do you stick with a writing plan from the beginning and never deviate?

What writing plan? I wish I was one of those writers who had a story board or lots of notes and walls or even the fridge covered with notes, but it is all in my head. The characters shout at me they want the story told in a certain way and I have to oblige.

On a good day, they will keep shouting, getting word count up by nearly 2000 words. On other days, they give up after 1000 words. The characters in my head dictate the pace. One of the saddest things about writing The End is that the voices fade and disappear.

What do you hope readers will take away from your stories?

I hope when readers close any of my books they feel uplifted, also maybe wanting to hear more of the characters, that they enjoyed the time with the characters; and I want them to sigh thinking back on the story and realise while it made them cry in places, there were also a lot of laughs along the way. I trust my readers to know while there is a serious issue running through The Ludlow Ladies' Society like in my other two novels, there is also fun, humour, gossip and a host of characters who I hope the readers love. I want readers to feel they have been touched by the story.

About the Author

A leading journalist in Ireland for nearly thirty years, Ann O’Loughlin has covered all major news events of the last three decades. Ann spent most of her career with independent newspapers where she was Security Correspondent at the height of the Troubles, and was a senior journalist on the Irish Independent and the Evening Herald. She is currently a senior journalist with the Irish Examiner newspaper covering legal issues. Ann has also lived and worked in India. Originally from the west of Ireland she now lives on the east coast in Co. Wicklow with her husband and two children. Her debut novel The Ballroom Café was a bestseller, with over 250,000 copies sold in eBook alone. Her second novel The Judge’s Wife was an Irish bestseller for 5 weeks, and was shortlisted for a Romantic Novel Award in February 2017.

..Here are my thoughts about the story..

I'm always in awe of those beautiful patchwork memory quilts which stitch together so many hopes and dreams, and as the Ludlow ladies come together to stitch memory quilts of their own, so their individual hopes, dreams and frailties are laid bare.

For Connie Carter leaving her home in America and coming to live in rural Ireland is never going to be easy, especially as she is grieving a loss so great she is doubtful she will ever feel whole again. A town resident and former owner of Ludlow Hall, Eve Brannigan is also coping with loss in her own inimitable style and when a tentative friendship develops between these two very different women, the result is a story which is beautifully tender and yet so unbelievably sad in places that it made me want to reach inside the pages and hug both these women close.

At first the ladies of Ludlow are sceptical of Connie's presence in their small town and it's only when Connie opens up the doors of Ludlow Hall as a place where the ladies' group can come together to stitch memory quilts that she begins, very slowly, to be accepted.

This is one of those gentle stories that really gets into the very heart of female friendship. Friendship which is bonded together by shared experiences, not just of happy moments, but also of those jagged pieces of lives which have, sometimes, been fractured beyond repair.

The glorious setting of Ludlow Hall is the place that holds all of the memories together and for Eve and the Ludlow ladies the memories of their shared past threatens to outshine their future, whilst for Connie, her overwhelming sadness, at last, finds a place of refuge and renewal.

Ludlow Hall is that glorious piece of fabric which forms the centrepiece of an amazing story quilt stitched together lovingly by a very talented writer.

My thanks to the author for answering my questions so thoughtfully and also to Sophie at FMcM.co.uk for my review copy of the Ludlow Ladies' Society.

Follow the blog tour on Twitter @annolwriter #LudlowLadiesSociety

Review ~ Siren by Annemarie Neary

Hutchinson
2016

 A bit of blurb..

Róisín Burns has spent the past twenty years becoming someone else; her life in New York is built on lies. 

A figure from her Belfast childhood flashes up on the news: Brian Lonergan has also reinvented himself. He is now a rising politician in a sharp suit. But scandal is brewing in Ireland and Róisín knows the truth. 

Armed with the evidence that could ruin Lonergan, she travels back across the Atlantic to the remote Lamb Island to hunt him down. 

But Lonergan is one step ahead; when Róisín arrives on the island, someone else is waiting for her.

My Thoughts...

The beginning of the novel is both disturbing and intriguing and undeniably sets the scene for a tense and often violent look into the shadowy world of Ireland's past.

Róisín Burns seems to have left the past behind her, but as with all things in her life there is only so far and so fast that she can run to outwit her demons. When she discovers that someone from her past has resurfaced she realises that the only way to exorcise her demons is to confront them. Returning home to Ireland is never going to be easy but in this one thing Róisín doesn't really have any option.

I thought that the book was really quite gripping, with a fast and furious narrative which doesn't pull any punches. The author writes with fascinating conviction and opens up to scrutiny the whole idea of conflict and of the effect that the Irish troubles had on those growing up during the worst of the violence.

Siren is one of those books that, once you start, you can't put down. Its high octane realism keeps you on the edge of your seat and doesn't let up until the story is concluded.

Best read with ...two fingers of Irish whiskey and a guest house breakfast..

About the Author

Annemarie is an Irish-born, London-based novelist and short story writer.

Visit her website by clicking here 

Follow on Twitter @AnnemarieNeary1

My thanks to the author for sharing her book with me 

~***~

Review ~ Holding by Graham Norton (Audio)

Hodder&Stoughton
2016

A bit about the book..

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn't always been this overweight; mother of­ two Brid Riordan hasn't always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn't always felt that her life was a total waste.

So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke - a former­ love of both Brid and Evelyn - the village's dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.

My thoughts..

When offered the opportunity to listen to Graham Norton's debut novel, Holding which is narrated by the man himself, well, as a huge fan, I couldn't resist spending 7 or so hours in his congenial company.

The small Irish town of town of Duneen is, on the surface, rather a gentle place, and for the local police officer , PJ Collins,  the only excitement is perhaps where his next bite of breakfast is going to be coming from. However, as with all small towns what you see on the surface is not necessarily what you get, and when human bones are discovered on the edge of an old farm, well, the anticipation generated is beyond anything that PJ has ever experienced.

There is a very good mystery at the heart of the novel which is explored in sympathetic detail. And as the story progresses, and despite gentle hints of humour, there is genuine pathos and more than a hint towards a darker time in the town's history. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, particularly Brid and Evelyn, but I also had a whole bucket load of sympathy for the enigmatic Mrs Meany and longed to be sitting in the Garda House with PJ tucking into one of her sturdy Irish breakfasts.

What I loved about this story, and yes, I did love every word, was the subtle way the author teased the reader with sly innuendo and tantalising little snippets of gossip so that it became like sitting down in a cosy chair, with a plate piled high with scones and biscuits, and having a good old natter with your best friend.

Graham Norton narrates Holding with his inimitable charm and flair. It’s beautifully written, splendidly narrated and a real joy to listen to from start to finish and every minute of the 7 hours and 20 minutes of the audio file was, for me, time well spent. 


Without doubt, this is a commendable debut novel which I hope is the start of many more by this talented author.

Best read with....a hearty breakfast and maybe a glass or two of strong Irish stout but not necessarily at the same time..

About the Author

Graham Norton is one of the UK's best loved broadcasters. He presents The Graham Norton Show on BBC1, has a weekly show on BBC Radio 2, and writes a column for the Telegraph. He is the winner of eight BAFTA awards. Born in Dublin and raised in West Cork, Norton now lives in London. Holding is his first novel.

Website

Twitter @grahnort

My thanks to  Audible.co.uk for the opportunity to listen to Holding and also to Francesca at Midas PR for the invitation to review the book.

~***~

Review ~ The Wonder by Emma Donoghue (Audio)

Picador
2016

A little bit about the book..

An eleven-year-old girl stops eating, but remains miraculously alive and well. A nurse, sent to investigate whether she is a fraud, meets a journalist hungry for a story.

Set in the Irish Midlands in the 1850s, The Wonder—inspired by numerous European and North American cases of “fasting girls” between the sixteenth century and the twentieth—is a psychological thriller about a child’s murder threatening to happen in slow motion before our eyes. Pitting all the seductions of fundamentalism against sense and love, it is a searing examination of what nourishes us, body and soul.

My thoughts about the book..

I wasn't at all familiar with the phenomena of "fasting girls" and so, when I started to read Anna O'Donnell's story, I must admit that I was rather sceptical that such a condition could go unnoticed and unchecked.

On first encounter it would seem that eleven year old Anna is a sweet, religious fanatic who is caught up in her own piety, and yet, she also seems to be a reluctant bystander in her own life. I didn't warm to her character straight away, but then neither did I warm to the English Nightingale nurse, Lib Wright, who has been coerced, by necessity, into travelling from London, to rural Ireland in order to keep a close eye on Anna O’Donnell.  Recently back from nursing in the Crimean War, Lib is at odds with the nursing profession back in England, so her employment by the parish authority, comes as a welcome change of scene. Determining the truth behind the notion that a child can survive for four months on nothing more than three teaspoons of water a day is a challenge that Lib fervently embraces with all the zeal that her nursing training under the indomitable Florence Nightingale can muster.

The story moves at a measured pace so that the interaction between Anna and her nurse is built up really, really slowly. Nothing much seems to be going on, and yet, imperceptibly, an air of malice starts to pervade, and after about a third of the way into the novel I started to become engrossed in the way the story was developing, and, believe me, by the end I had completely altered my original opinion of both Anna and Lib’s character.

The author has performed a real wonder of her own in bringing this story to life; there is much to take in. It’s the story of a family caught up in the shackles of religious fervour, it’s about the naivety of a troubled child whose innocent life has been disturbed by wickedness and it’s about the danger of narrow-mindedness and bigotry. Throughout the story what really shone through, for me, was the lyricism of the language, the detailed introspection of small town parochialism, and the extraordinary assumption , by ordinary people, that miracles can prosper in the most unlikely of places.

Listening to The Wonder via Audible gave the story an added dimension which I felt was totally different to reading the story for myself. The narrator, Kate Lock, has a real skill in portraying accents and she very easily slipped between Anna’s gentle Irish brogue, and Lib’s more stark English vowels.

It’s a long story to listen to, coming in at over 12 hours, but the narrator does such an excellent portrayal of the characters that it becomes very enjoyable to listen to her quiet rendition of this excellent story.

Best read with ..Earthy potatoes and heavenly poteen..

Audible.co.uk

About the Author..

Emma Donoghue is the best selling author of several novels. You can find out more about her by visiting her website by clicking here or follow on Twitter @EDonoghueWriter

 

My thanks to the publishers and also to  Audible.co.uk for the opportunity to listen to this narrated edition of The Wonder and also to Francesca at Midas pr.

~***~

Blog Hop ~ My Husband's Wives by Faith Hogan

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of 

My Husband's Wives Blog Hop

I am delighted to welcome the author Faith Hogan who is sharing her inspiration for Carlinville, Evie's home in My Husband's Wives...

Photo by kind permission of the author

Carlinville – The Silent Character!

My debut novel – My Husband’s Wives is a book firmly set in Irish soil. The action of the novel takes place in Dublin, and while it’s not the Dublin of Roddy Doyle or Brendan Beehan, it is the Dublin of today. For the most part, it’s middle class suburbia, the home of average people going about ordinary lives.

Evie Considine lives in an old Victorian house, set high in the hills of Howth. Anyone who knows Dublin will know how strikingly beautiful Howth is. From its headland on a clear day, you can see across the Irish Sea into Wales. Along the Dublin coastline, you can pick out the Poolbeg towers, occasional sandy coves and at night, the winking lights of a city steeped in literary tradition. Carlinville, Evie’s home, has retained the beauty of its past, despite Evie’s indifference. It is a place that cries out to be filled with people, smell of beeswax and gleam in the full sun of care and love; it is a house that yearns to be a home. 

 This image of Frewin House  is used with the kind permission of its owners and like Carlinville  House, it too is a fine example of Irish Victorian architecture. 

With Queen Victoria, came a new kind of living. The elite sought to make a mark of their own and built houses like the one featured here. The architecture was softer and more feminine than its predecessors were. It is also less widespread in our capital city than the great red squares of the Georgians.  Dublin city is known mostly for its great Georgian squares. Today, tall, redbrick identical houses, built to a perfect precision in the 1700’s are being opened up around the city, fetching prices now that would have made their original owners blush. Very many have seen the highs and lows of Irish society, beginning as homes to the well to do, but eventually, when they became unfashionable being relegated to the poor. Tenement living in Dublin was at its height in the early twentieth century. By 1912, Dublin had the worst housing conditions in the UK, the wealthy had fled the city centre to set up home in the suburbs and the grand houses of the Georgians became little more than squats with high rents. Huge families living to a room or two, with little in the way of basic sanitary provisions led quickly to the disintegration of those once beautiful squares. The nineteen eighties saw a revival of the squares, but the restoration is slow and expensive, so still there are many Georgian houses in danger of disappearance. Thankfully, the Victorian houses were lucky to have been modish long enough and at the right time to avoid falling out of fashion to the same extent.

Like the women in My Husband’s Wives, Carlinville manages to come to life and its journey in the novel mirrors that of its mistress. It has, for too long been relegated to second place, while always providing what Paul Starr needed in life. In his death, like his wives, it too is gifted with so much more than it expected.

While Dublin features in the novel, it is contemporary Dublin. The liberties, although they are steeped amidst the history of the Vikings are home to a sea of constant traffic, bijoux antique shops and the ubiquitous coffee shops on every corner of every city of the world.

I love Dublin, I think anyone who visits the city, if they have a love of writers or books, will love it. There are landmarks here that mark it apart from any other place in the world. The city begins with the Book of Kells, a stone’s throw away, the house of The Dead, take the dart and you will arrive out at Joyce’s Martello Tower. Every other street has a pub, a doorway or a sculpture to mark the journey of some writer that has touched even the darkest soul. However, My Husband’s Wives is not a story about Dublin – it is a story about jealousy, forgiveness and ultimately love and the truth is, that’s a universal tale. It doesn’t matter if you live in Seattle or Surrey, Sidney or Stephenville – love is love and really it is all we have that is worth having at the end.

Faith  x

Aria Fiction
2016
(Head of Zeus)

A bit of Blurb about the book..

Better to have loved and lost, than never loved.

Paul Starr, Ireland's leading cardiologist dies in a car crash with a pregnant young women by his side.

United in their grief and the love of one man, four women are thrown together in an attempt to come to terms with life after Paul. They soon realise they never really knew him at all.

The love they shared for Paul in his life and which incensed a feeling of mistrust and dislike for each other, in his death turns into the very thing that bonds them and their children to each other forever.

As they begin to form unlikely friendships, Paul's deaths proves to be the catalyst that enables them to become the people they always wanted to be.

About the Author

Faith Hogan was born in Ireland.  She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway.  She has worked as a fashion model, an event’s organiser and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector.

She was a winner in the 2014 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair – an international competition for emerging writers.

Her debut novel, ‘My Husband’s Wives,’ is a contemporary women’s fiction novel set in Dublin. It will be published by Aria, (Head of Zeus) on 1^st of May 2016.   She is currently working on her next novel.  

My Husband’s Wives, was published on 1st of May 2016 by Aria (Head of Zeus). It is currently available on Amazon and all good E-reading sites. She lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, children, a very fat cat called Norris and a selection of (until recently!) idle writerly mugs and cups.

You can find out more about Faith on her website Click here

Find on Facebook Click here

Follow on Twitter @GerHogan

Amazon UK
Amazon.com

Huge thanks to Faith for inviting Jaffareadstoo to be part of this Blog Hop

 and for such a fascinating insight into the inspiration for Carlinsville.

Jaffa and I wish you continued success with your writing.

~***~

The author in my spotlight is ....Isabella Connor

~****Happy St Patrick's Day****~

I am  delighted that the author Isabella Connor is with us to share the details of their latest novel

An Irish Promise

Choc Lit
2014

Art historian, Rachel Ford has returned to the Irish village of Kilbrook intent on keeping her promise to take revenge on the school bullies who ruined her childhood and destroyed her family.

Australian actor Finn MacKenzie sets hearts fluttering when he turns up in sleepy Kilbrook to help his aunt with a school production. He seems to have a charmed life, yet his confident façade hides heartbreak and tragedy. Although Finn isn’t looking for love, when he meets the mysterious Rachel, there's a definite spark between them.

Rachel is torn between her desire for revenge and this new love affair. She doesn’t want to deceive Finn, but can she trust him to keep her real identity a secret? And will he understand why she must keep her promise, no matter the cost? 

***

Isabella Connor is the pen name for the talented writers

Liv Thomas and Valerie Olteanu

Valerie Olteanu

Liv Thomas

Liv and Valerie welcome to Jaffareadstoo ~


An Irish Promise is the second book in the Emerald Isle Romance series for Choc Lit – how much pressure was there to make the second book even better that the first? 

I don't know about better, but we were anxious that it should be equally good.  Our Amazon reviews for Beneath an Irish Sky gave us something to live up to, and were both encouraging and daunting!

What can you tell us about An Irish Promise that won’t give too much away?  

An Irish Promise deals with the subject of school bullying, and its effects and consequences on the bullied, the bullies, and all their families.

Rachel, the female protagonist, has been damaged by bullying. She returns to the small Irish village where she lived as a child, intent on revenge - but is revenge ever justified? And what happens when romance gets in the way? How focused can Rachel remain on her plan - should she even go through with her plan? Is it worth risking the chance of happiness with a man she feels she could have a future with?

Finn Mackenzie is an actor, and appears to be one of life's golden people - happy, successful, handsome. But Finn isn't all he seems - he has suffered losses and rejection in his life, and the confident facade is one of the best performances of his life.

And what of the bullies? Did they become adult bullies too, or did they learn from their mistakes? 

Do Finn and Rachel stand a chance or will Finn's emotional baggage force her into the arms of another man?

Lots of questions - and there are answers, but not here ☺....

Liv, you write in collaboration with your co-author –Valerie Olteanu. How do you share the writing and do you have a clear idea when starting the book where you want the story to go?  

Yes, we always structure the story to begin with.  We then each write a segment or chapter before passing it to the other for comment/alteration. After that comes discussion and arm wrestling ☺...

In your research for An Irish Promise, did you discover anything which surprised you?  

That bullying is rife and on the increase.  And on a less serious note, how perfect the actor Chris Evans would be for the role of Finn.  And for the record, we saw Gemma Arterton as Rachel.  These two would produce beautiful children!

Chris Evans

Gemma Arterton

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. How do you feel about them when the book is finished? Are they what you expected them to be? And more importantly, who is your favourite character? 

I find it really hard to let go.  After writing Beneath an Irish Sky, I couldn't bear the thought of having to write other characters.  Val didn't feel quite the same and relished the challenge.  Eventually, once we had the characters for An Irish Promise established, I became more enthusiastic.  They end up how we want them to be, though maybe not as we expected them to be.  I found an early draft of AIP, and Finn was called Daniel, and had a slightly different background.  He definitely took over and wrote himself!  My favourite character is probably Luke from AIP, but Finn is a pretty close second.

 Can you tell us what we can look forward to next in the Emerald Isle series?  

We have a couple of novels planned and it will depend which gets finished first.  One is set in the environment of television, and the other deals once again with the problem of identity and belonging. 

There's also a sequel to Beneath an Irish Sky in the pipeline.

My thanks to Liv and Val for this interview and for sharing their thoughts about

An Irish Promise so eloquently.

Jaffa and I wish you both continued success.

Enter this fabulous giveaway to win a paperback copy of   An Irish Promise (UK only)

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