She was a chess piece to move around while he focused on what he wanted the story to be about, Patricia. In the wardrobe she finds a box with some letters that appear to be written by her father, a man whom she has never known, who she believes passed away when she was but an infant. Maybe because she had been away for so long, but there's no mention of her having an accent or how her relatives sound, etc. And when Elizabeth finds she has been left a seaside cottage in the will, the quest into the truth of her origins begins.

I had a couple of “eye roll” moments with this book, and I noticed several detail oversights, but this was an excellent read for me. It's been a long time since Elizabeth has been in the town that that she grew up in and being back fills her with a mixture of emotions. A compelling and moving story, expertly told, that will draw you in and keep you in its grip until the last page. Instead we don't really find out about it, we hear bits and pieces via other inconsequential secondary characters.

The side characters - I could have done with more information on the family feud with Elizabeth, her aunt, uncle, and cousin. In this narrative that goes back and forth in time, Patricia's life is slowly revealed as to how she ended up being a confirmed spinster and life long devoted single mother to her beloved daughter, Elizabeth. She meets with her mother's best friend, Rosemary O'Shea, and those who knew her father and her griefstricken and disturbed grandmother. I tend to wait at least a day after finishing a book to post a review, but I am highly annoyed right now and just want to put this book behind me. I did feel hatred for Edwards mother, yes he was a mummy's boy but why did she have a hold over him?

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. He then secured a prime time slot on Channel 4 with his chat shows So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton . What was supposed to be a bit of ordinary shuffle unravels into an emotional journey in time and some unexpected discoveries. Elizabeth thinks she knows her mother inside out, but her confidence in this takes a huge knock when she discovers a pile of ribbon wrapped letters in the back of Patricia's wardrobe. We know from the first page (the chapter known as "Before") that a POV character is in great distress after some type of turbulent event in which an official vehicle has arrived.

Following her mother’s death home in Ireland, Elizabeth travels to Buncarragh where she has inherited her childhood home.

She is dealing w/the loss of her mom and also with her teen son, whose situation is complicated because she is raising him alone. Whilst I expected Elizabeth’s discovery of her origins to be revelatory and of momentous importance to her the fairly muted, and abrupt ending, proved a bit of a damp squib. Overall however I was just a little bemused by the abrupt conclusion and the takeaway felt a little too simplistic. My only complaint is that Graham Norton's diction is not always perfect, and at times he reads too fast.He then secured a prime time slot on Channel 4 with his chat shows So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light.