Helpful Score: 8
Overall, an enjoyable book. However, with the back of the book stating that it was about "relationships between mothers and daughters," I expected a book that was much more wholesome then this book was. The dynamics of the relationships between these women was fractured and flawed, and the book is about the struggles that exist and harm within those relationships. There is also alot of sexual innuendo in this book that was very unexpected and a bit overdone in the frequency of it, and I hesitate to say it was done tastefully - it often made me feel as if I was reading a romance novel. On a positive note, the writing is very good and the author does incorporate several motifs and metaphors that provide a nice allegorical undercurrent to the text, which I appreciate. Overall, I would recommend this book to individuals who perhaps enjoy a stary that focuses on a tragic story, and one who enjoys romances as well as literature! I give it a mediocre recommendation becuase the book is very well-written though the stock discription is misleading in terms of the books content and the sexual innuendo is too overdone.
Helpful Score: 3
Anyone interested in a mother/daughter story or who loves tales of the Irish coast will enjoy this book. Vivid descriptions of an Irish isle enhance the story. Beautiful Irish names and legends provide
Helpful Score: 3
This book grabbed me in from the first page and I did not have to work at it to stay interested. It is the story of three generations of women from an Irish island; their relationships and the mistakes they make in them. There is so much love in this book; between mother and daughter, grandmother and granddaughter, man and woman, man and his homeland. I cried when I finished it. A very beautiful story.
Helpful Score: 2
No matter what I did I just couldn't like this book. To me it was like each daughter couldn't stand being round her mother/grandmotehr so no one was getting along and no one was talking to each other. It did have a few nice moments that I enjoyed.
Helpful Score: 2
Lovely story, well-written.
Helpful Score: 2
Complex and heady, this novel focuses on three generations of Irish/Irish-American women. The fluid narrative shifts among years and the voices of its compelling characters. Cl!ona's story is both past and present, memory and chronicle. She is a strong woman who understands that life is made up of mistakes and compromises, and that no two people see things the same way. Grace, her daughter, is wild, willful, and promiscuous, unable to commit herself to anyone but her daughter, Grade inne. Grade inne is seeking her place in a world she doesn't quite trust. Although Grace dies at the beginning of the book, her presence is felt throughout; Grade inne must come to terms with the beloved mother who deceived her about her past, and Grace herself narrates the chapters about her rebellious youth. Cl!ona struggles to bond with her granddaughter as she failed to with her daughter. This involving intergenerational saga looks at challenges and misunderstandings, connections made and broken, family lost and found. Teens will empathize with Grade inne as she tries to come to terms with her mother's death and her own life.
Helpful Score: 2
A beautifully written book. After the death of her mother, Grainne moves to Ireland and meets the family she cannot remember and a father she didn't know she had. She hears the story of her mother, meets her father, and finds herself.
Helpful Score: 1
This was much better than I was expecting it to be.
Helpful Score: 1
Although not what I expected when I bought the book, it was well written. The book focuses on the lives of 3 women, a mother, her daughter and the grandmother. The mother was a selfish slut, but the daughter and the grandmother had more substance to them. Worth the read because of the wonderful Irish island details.
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book and plan on reading some of this authors other novels. 3 generations of women all trying to deal with the past and present, choices and decisions they have made. About mothers and daughters. Excellent read!
Helpful Score: 1
A wonderfully vividly written story about the love between mothers and daughters. Loved the book.
Helpful Score: 1
There is an island off the west coast of Ireland called Inis Muruhc-the Island of the Mermaids-a world where myth is more powerful than the truth,and where death is never as strong as the redemptive powers of family and love.Warning Sexually Graphic !!!!
Helpful Score: 1
A very good story!!
Helpful Score: 1
This is a beautiful story of the relationships between mothers and daughters.
Helpful Score: 1
Mingling myth and motherhood, and jumping generations and continents..Lisa Carey has created a magical first novel.
Helpful Score: 1
A much loved book. Wonderful story, real characters, ...a gem.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book and the dynamics between mothers and daughters. I am only giving it a 4.5 because of the explicit sex scenes that I don't feel were absolutely necessary for this story.
Helpful Score: 1
A must read if you enjoy Lisa Carey. Wonderfully told with believable, strong women characters set in both Boston and Ireland with great Irish myths and imagery throughout. This is my favorite of her novels.
Pretty good, but I was hoping for more. Weaving intricate Irish Myths into the lives of 3 women.
