The Library at the Edge of the World (Finfarran Peninsula, #1) (Finfarran)

by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

"As she drives her mobile library van between villages of Ireland's West Coast, Hanna Casey tries not to think about a lot of things. Like the sophisticated lifestyle she abandoned after finding her English barrister husband in bed with another woman. Or that she's back in Lissbeg, the rural Irish town she walked away from in her teens, living in the back bedroom of her overbearing mother's retirement bungalow. Or, worse yet, her nagging fear that, as the local librarian and a prominent figure in the community, her failed marriage and ignominious return have made her a focus of gossip. With her teenage daughter, Jazz, off traveling the world and her relationship with her own mother growing increasingly tense, Hanna is determined to reclaim her independence by restoring a derelict cottage left to her by her great-aunt."--Page 4 of cover.

• ISBN10: 0062663720
• ISBN13: 9780062663726
• Publish Date: 11 August 2023 (first published 2 June 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

My rating of this book might not quite be fair; it probably deserves a higher rating, but this is one of those books that left me floundering a bit.  I got the story I was expecting based on the back cover, but not the atmosphere.   Hanna Casey is not a likeable MC; she's bitter and not really very strong.  She made it hard for me to want good things to happen for her, although I never actively disliked her.  She seemed to recognise how hateful she was being, but never really did much to correct it.  And she's a terrible librarian.  Her mother is so. much. worse.  At no point did I find her sympathetic, although I suspect I was meant to.  Truly, her mother was awful.   But boy did I fall in love with the Finfarrin community the author created.  This story is timely, I think, as at its heart it's a story about a community taking itself back and actually becoming a community again.  Hanna's the catalyst, but really the story didn't come alive for me until it stopped being so much about her and more about Finfarrin.   It's a slow paced, well-written story with a happy, hopeful ending, just without the happy, upbeat tone.  Nobody is plucky in this book.  That's ok, it's probably better for it; it's just different from what I was expecting and that's likely reflected in my rating.