The Irish Boarding House by Sandy Taylor
Genre: Historical fiction, Contemporary fiction
Read: 31st August 2022
Published: 1st September 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
24 Merrion Square. The house stands empty, the old stone steps overgrown with thorny rose bushes. But Mary Kate feels a deep connection to the neglected, silent rooms. Could this be the place to help her heal?
Dublin 1952. When Mary Kate Ryan receives a surprise inheritance from the woman who abandoned her as a tiny baby, she’s stunned. All her life, she has longed to know why her mother disappeared, and now she’s devastated to realise that every lonely night she spent without a home or family of her own, her mother knew exactly where she was.
Mary Kate is about to refuse the money when she sees a beautiful, deserted house for sale and something sparks in her heart. She will reawaken it, as the Dublin Boarding House for Single Ladies, and provide a shelter for others as lost and alone as her. Can she help the two young girls left at the local orphanage, desperate for a home of their own? Or the pregnant teenager on the run, who only wants to keep her baby safe?
The boarding house brings Mary Kate love and friendships she never dreamed of, but just as her heart is about to burst with joy, a new guest arrives. The stern older woman won’t speak about her past, but when Mary Kate uncovers her story, it reveals a devastating secret about her mother. With her life in turmoil once more, can Mary Kate draw on the strength of the women in the house to help her face her past, or will the tragedy she uncovers spell disaster for them all…?
A heart-wrenching story full of family secrets. Perfect for fans of Jean Grainger, Lisa Wingate and Diney Costeloe.
MY THOUGHTS:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Sandy Taylor's heartwarming THE IRISH BOARDING HOUSE.
Oh my heart! What a delightful read THE IRISH BOARDING HOUSE is! Sandy Taylor's easy style is both heartwarming and uplifting, making you just want to crawl into the pages and stay there. I loved every minute in the company of such an array of wonderful characters that I came to know and love through Taylor's gifted pen.
Set in Dublin in the early 1950s, Mary Kate Ryan was brought up by her loving grandparents in Tanners Row, an area of extreme poverty. But what they may have been lacking in riches they had in love, tenfold. Mary Kate's own mother Agnes was but a child herself when she gave birth and having spent just a few days with her, thus abandoned her baby to the care of her aging parents. Despite this, Mary Kate's childhood was happy one surrounded by the love of her grandparents and others living in Tanners Row.
However, when her grandparents pass away within months of each other, Mary Kate is evicted from the only home she has known with only a suitcase and the clothes on her back. But before he died, her grandfather gave Mary Kate to tasks: set up a post office box to receive mail and buy a diary to mark her red letter days. With this in mind, Mary Kate heads to Dublin where she drifts from a series of poor-paying jobs to pay for filthy depressing boarding houses run by horrible mean-spirited women. Each one being worse than the one before. Thinking her life could get be no better, she considers throwing herself into the Liffey and ending her sorry existence.
And then the most extraordinary thing happens. She receives a letter. And not just any letter. One that changes her life dramatically. And so Mary Kate finds herself with a considerable inheritance and so much money she has no idea what to do with it...until she does. She wants to buy 24 Merrion Square and turn it into a boarding house for single ladies. And she instructs her builder to paint her a bright red front door. To remind her of her red letter days.
Soon Mary Kate begins to receive tenants from all walks of life and she warmly welcomes each and every one of them hoping that her house will feel like a home. Doing her level best to help others by giving them a second chance and getting to know her boarders, Mary Kate soon realises that she has finally found the family she had been looking for since leaving Tanners Row.
Each woman who passes through the doors of Mary Kate's boarding house have their own tales to tell. As their landlady and their friend, she embraces them and becomes like a mother hen to them all.
And then comes a shocking secret that has the power to destabilise her now stable life. Will it be too much for her to bear? Or will she survive the truth and draw strength from it?
What a truly delightful read. I was totally immersed in the story from the very beginning and really didn't want to leave at the end. I embraced every character just as Mary Kate did and found them equally endearing in their own unique ways. Most of them bring secrets with them or a past from which they are running and at the boarding house they find love, acceptance and kindness...regardless of the mistakes they may have made. There is such warmth to everyone it was hard not to like them. Even Moira Kent.
I loved everything about it. The story. The characters. The drama. The intrigue. The romance. The ending.
A beautiful story of kindness, hope and second chances THE IRISH BOARDING HOUSE is the perfect feel-good story that is filled with love, laughter, tears and joy. I truly and thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is an exceptional read that I highly recommend.
I would like to thank #SandyTaylor, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheIrishBoardingHouse in exchange for an honest review.
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