Book picks similar to
A Telegram from Berlin by A. O'Connor
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Brooklyn
Colm Tóibín - 2009
Though skilled at bookkeeping, she cannot find a job in the miserable Irish economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America--to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood "just like Ireland"--she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, a blond Italian from a big family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. He takes Eilis to Coney Island and Ebbets Field, and home to dinner in the two-room apartment he shares with his brothers and parents. He talks of having children who are Dodgers fans. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love with Tony, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.
Adele: The Forgotten Sister of Fred Astaire
Nicola Cassidy - 2020
She uncovers a wealth of material from the people who knew her.1905: Eight-year-old Adele Austerlitz moves from her humble home in Omaha, Nebraska, with her five-year-old brother Fred, to New York to begin training at a professional stage academy. They undertake a gruelling schedule of rehearsals and touring, setting the foundations of what will be the most famous and sought-after dance partnership on 1920s Broadway.1928: Patricia Ryan, a no-nonsense Irish girl takes a job as a housemaid at Lismore Castle in County Waterford, Ireland. All of their lives will intersect, weaving the tale of one of the most famous women of her time – charismatic entertainer, celebrity, fashion icon, muse to artists and writers, and favourite of royalty.
My Crazy World: The Autobiography
Christy Dignam - 2019
Growing up in Finglas, Dublin, there was only one thing Christy Dignam ever wanted to do – and that was sing. By the early 1980s, he had formed the band Aslan, part of a new wave of acts coming out of Ireland. Repeatedly chewed up and spat out in the feeding frenzy to sign 'the next U2', they stuck to their principles. developed a loyal following, and their first album
Feel No Shame
went to No 1 in their home country, showcased by the song ‘This Is’, which Christy proudly acknowledges has become 'part of Ireland's DNA'. But just as America seemed ready to fall for Aslan, Dignam was battling with heroin addiction, perhaps caused by having been sexually abused as a child, and so he was kicked out of the band. In 1993, after five years in the wilderness, he rejoined Aslan, leading the outfit to a triumphant second coming, despite struggling with further drug problems and serious illness. In this compelling memoir, Dignam looks back over his long career, vividly bringing to life the good times and the bad, but always remembering that at the heart of it all are his songs and his family.
The Winter Posy (Liverpool Brides Book 2)
Michelle Vernal - 2022
Sabrina Flooks can barely remember her mother. Abandoned when she was only three, she longs to understand what happened. But when she searches a pocket of Bold Street where she was found, something mysterious happens.Liverpool 1981: Sometimes to find the answers you want, you’ve got to take risks and Sabrina’s prepared to risk everything on her quest to find her mother. But what about Adam? Is she willing to risk her chance at finding love?Liverpool 1962: When Sabrina journeys back in time, she’s taken in by two young women with starry-eyed dreams of a future in the vibrant Mersey Beats music scene, and she’s swept up in the era of the Beatles and bouffant hair.But what price will the girls have to pay to make their dreams come true? And will Sabrina have to pay the highest price of all?
The Sage Stone Prophecy (Arkana Archaeology Adventures Book 7)
N.S. Wikarski - 2016
Reviews, February 2017)
The Arkana Series - Archaeology Mysteries That Defy HistoryAn ancient civilization hovers on the brink of collapse. Besieged by invaders, it entrusts its most precious artifacts to a band of guardians who hide the objects where no one can find them. Three thousand years later, two rival factions launch a global hunt to recover the cache. The Arkana wants to preserve it for posterity. The Nephilim wants to exploit it for a darker purpose. Caught in the crossfire is a reluctant young woman who might unwittingly hold the key to salvaging their coveted treasure.Volume 7 - The Sage Stone ProphecyIn the series finale, the Nephilim and the Arkana scour the farthest reaches of the planet for the hiding place of the legendary relic known as the Sage Stone. At the same time, mortal danger threatens friends and foes alike as the cult's leader pushes humanity to the brink of extinction.The fate of the world hinges on the outcome of a final confrontation with both factions pinning all their hopes on a prophecy that might not mean exactly what it says. If you've followed this saga from the beginning, THE SAGE STONE PROPHECY reveals at long last who will claim the most sought-after relic of all and how many others will lose their lives trying.
Above Water: A Stolen Childhood, An Enduring Scandal, A Survivor's Story
Trish Kearney - 2021
Winder Hollow
R.F. McClure - 2010
That is, until Alma Lee is confronted with a life-threatening illness, forcing them from the refuge of the hollow to confront the unknown perils of the modern world.
A Home from Home
Rosie Hendry - 2018
She and her friend Gracie are doing their bit to support the war effort. But times are changing at Catchetts - there's an evacuee and two P.O.Ws on their way... And then Phylly meets an American airman from the base up the road. As the War rages on the Continent, Phylly and Gracie's world will be changed forever.
Weep Willow, Weep: A DI Stella Cole short story
Andy Maslen - 2020
and newly promoted Detective Inspector Stella Cole catches her first murder. An intruder has murdered the husband of a glamorous older lady who turns out to have an interesting past.As Stella investigates, pieces of the puzzle come together but then fly apart and she’s left wondering how she’s going to solve the case.Her boss is putting her under pressure to clear it ‘for the statistics’ and steering her towards the burglar-disturbed-in-the-act story.But then, as she grabs some time with her husband, a shocking revelation shows her what might have really happened.
The Irish Nanny
Sandy Taylor - 2021
The baby is a warm weight in my arms and I pause to adjust her, trying not to think about what we left behind. I can’t look back now, I need to keep this child safe…Ireland 1939. When hardworking chambermaid Rose meets an American businessman in the hotel where she works in Cork, he makes her an offer she can’t refuse. Rose doesn’t want to leave home, but her widowed mammy and three younger sisters need the money she’d earn in her new job as a nanny to David Townsend’s two young children.Just as Rose is settling into her new life caring for Raphael and new-born baby Sarah, the world is plunged into war and David is called back to New York, leaving Rose to follow by boat with his wife and children. But disaster strikes when the ship they are on is hit by a torpedo. Separated from her group in the awful chaos, Rose has an impossible decision to make. Does she stay and search for the family she owes so much to? Or does she leave on the lifeboat to save the tiny baby left in her care?Landing on American shores, all Rose’s hopes of leaving the howling air-raid sirens and deafening bombs behind her are shattered as tragic news arrives from Pearl Harbor. Looking down at the innocent child in her arms, Rose knows that she must find the strength to survive and reunite this little girl with her family. But as fear and panic grips the country, what heartbreaking sacrifices will she have to make to protect her precious charge?An emotional, heart-wrenching story of love and family set across Ireland and America during the Second World War. Perfect for fans of Jean Grainger, Lisa Wingate and Diney Costeloe.
The Spinning Heart
Donal Ryan - 2012
As violence flares, the characters face a battle between public persona and inner desires. Through a chorus of unique voices, each struggling to tell their own kind of truth, a single authentic tale unfolds. The Spinning Heart speaks for contemporary Ireland like no other novel. Wry, vulnerable, all-too human, it captures the language and spirit of rural Ireland and with uncanny perception articulates the words and thoughts of a generation. Technically daring and evocative of Patrick McCabe and J.M. Synge, this novel of small-town life is witty, dark and sweetly poignant.
The Green Road
Anne Enright - 2015
The Green Road is a tale of family and fracture, compassion and selfishness—a book about the gaps in the human heart and how we strive to fill them.Spanning thirty years, The Green Road tells the story of Rosaleen, matriarch of the Madigans, a family on the cusp of either coming together or falling irreparably apart. As they grow up, Rosaleen's four children leave the west of Ireland for lives they could have never imagined in Dublin, New York, and Mali, West Africa. In her early old age their difficult, wonderful mother announces that she’s decided to sell the house and divide the proceeds. Her adult children come back for a last Christmas, with the feeling that their childhoods are being erased, their personal history bought and sold.A profoundly moving work about a family's desperate attempt to recover the relationships they've lost and forge the ones they never had, The Green Road is Enright's most mature, accomplished, and unforgettable novel to date.
Home Stretch
Graham Norton - 2020
The day before the ceremony, a group of young friends, including the bride and groom, are involved in an accident. Three survive. Three are killed.The lives of the families are shattered and the rifts between them ripple throughout the small town. Connor survived, but living among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as carrying the shame of having been the driver. He leaves the only place he knows for another life, taking his secrets with him. Travelling first to Liverpool, then London, he eventually makes a home—of sorts—for himself in New York, where he finds shelter and the possibility of forging a new life.But the secrets—the unspoken longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind—will not be silenced. Before long, Connor will have to confront his past.A powerful and timely novel of emigration and return, Home Stretch demonstrates Norton’s keen understanding of the power of stigma and secrecy—and their devastating effect on ordinary lives.
Party Animal
Marisa Mackle - 2008
All royalties from the sale of this work will go to Irish animal rescue centres, making life better for our four-legged friends.