This is a story of romance and class differences. In the 1960s Joan and Michael were young and naive. Their romance resulted in Joan becoming pregnant. Michael, the scion of a wealthy family, had gone to England to study accounting. Joan joined himd, hoping to be married, but Michael couldn’t face the objections his class conscious parents would have to a baby born out of wedlock.
When the baby was born, he convinced Joan to give the girl up for adoption in England. Joan reluctantly agreed, and they were married, but her daughter’s fate haunted her. In the 90s, Joan and Michael have been married for a long time, but there are stresses. They live with Michael’s mother who can’t help reminding Joan that she’s not of their class. Then their first daughter surfaces, and she needs help.
The story is somewhat predictable, but well worth reading. It’s a story of loss and coming to terms with who you are and how your life developed. I thought the author did a good job moving between time periods to show Joan and Michael’s background. It made the story much more realistic. Today, particularly in the US, we’re not as class conscious as the Irish were during the 60s. The time period is why the story works.
I found the characters hard to like. Michael seemed to be a weak mama’s boy. Joan wasn’t much better. She was obviously unhappy but couldn’t seem to do anything about it. However, the setting in Dublin was wonderful. I enjoyed getting to know the characters in a setting that is quite different from today’s world.
I received this book from Dutton for this review.
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