A moving and at times harrowing read, the second in the trilogy drops you straight back into the traumatic aftermath of ‘The Four Streets” so brace yourself and prepare for a maelstrom of emotions to surge over you. If you haven't yet read ‘The Four Streets’, start there to make the most of the story, to understand what makes these people tick. The author has created a tangible cast of characters, she paints their lives; the scandal, the gossip, the affection and friendship simply yet expressively. Family is everything, the Doherty’s and Deane’s are fascinating, they aren't perfect, they make mistakes but remain steadfast and true to each other (well, most of them do). This is not an easy cosy read, it is challenging and stimulating, yet somehow optimism shyly hides just out of sight. The ending leaves you wanting more, but there is consolation in knowing there is a third book, Ballymara Road, yet to come.
No one knows - or is saying - who did it, least of all the police, but they are not giving up their search for the truth. Somewhere, in this tight-knit Irish Catholic community, someone must know something. Someone will surely talk one day. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Kitty Doherty, pregnant with the dead man's child, is a living danger to everyone who needs to keep the secret. Her mother, Maura and best friend Nellie's grandmother, the redoutable Kathleen, decide the girls must be spirited away quietly to Ireland to await the birth of the baby. But it isn't easy to keep a secret that big.
'The characters are engaging, the streets scenes cinematic and the theme of the novel powerful.' The Times
'A vigorous and vibrant story...An addictive novel to be devoured in one sitting.' The Sunday Express
Author
About Nadine Dorries
Nadine Dorriesgrew up in a working-class family in Liverpool. She spent part of her childhood living on a farm with her grandmother, and attended school in a small remote village in the west of Ireland. She trained as a nurse, then followed with a successful career in which she established and then sold her own business. She is an MP, presently serving as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Health and Social Care, and has three daughters.
