Finfarran
6 total works
'The perfect winter heart-warmer' Cathy Kelly
It's winter on the Finfarran peninsula and, as Cassie Fitzgerald, fresh from Toronto, is about to discover, there's more to Christmas on the west coast of Ireland than mistletoe and mince pies.
Enchanted by the small town where her dad was born, Cassie gets involved in a competition for the best local Winter Fest, and joins local librarian Hanna Casey's writing group in Lissbeg Library.
But the more she's drawn into the town's run-up to Christmas, the more questions Cassie encounters. Why does her sweet-tempered grandmother Pat find it so hard to express her feelings? What's going on between Pat and her miserly husband Ger? What happened in the past between the Fitzgeralds and Hanna's redoubtable mother Mary Casey? And what about Shay: handsome, funny, smart and intent on making Cassie's stay as exciting as he can. Is he the one for her?
As Christmas Eve approaches, Cassie discovers that love, family and friendship bring the real magic to the festive season - even if the locals of Lissbeg need an outsider to help them see it.
'I was utterly charmed - a pitch-perfect delight' Marian Keyes
Distance makes no difference to love...
Eager to cheer up her recently-widowed gran, Cassie Fitzgerald persuades Lissbeg library to set up a Skype book club, linking readers on Ireland's Finfarran Peninsula with the little US town of Resolve, where generations of Finfarran's emigrants have settled.
But when the club decides to read a detective novel, old conflicts on both sides of the ocean are exposed, hidden love affairs come to light, and, as secrets emerge, Cassie fears she may have done more harm than good. Will the truths she uncovers about her granny Pat's marriage affect her own hopes of finding love? Is Pat, who's still struggling with the death of her husband, about to fall out with her oldest friend? Or could the transatlantic book club itself hold the clue to a triumphant happy ending?
'Maeve Binchy fans will adore it - she just gets better and better' Patricia Scanlan
'Such a glorious read!! It's magical and transporting and I adore it' Claudia Carroll
It's summer in Finfarran on the west coast of Ireland. Librarian Hanna Casey is looking forward to al fresco lunches with friends, and balmy evenings with her boyfriend Brian in their stunning new home in the beautiful Hag's Glen.
With family drama and a painful divorce behind her, Hanna is browsing romantic holiday brochures and making plans with Brian for the future. Then, unexpectedly, Brian's adult son moves in with them, and Hanna re-encounters Amy, one of three girls with whom she shared a London flat in her twenties. And all of a sudden, Hanna begins to question her apparently perfect life.
When Amy suggests a visit to London's bright lights and a flatmates' reunion, Hanna accepts. But, while it might be a short hop to England, somehow she feels like she's leaving Brian too far behind.
And when Hanna is given a new opportunity, the chance to be more than a local librarian who's settled back into the little rural community where she grew up, she realises she has tough choices to face...
Finfarran Book 2
A heart-warming story about the healing power of books, love and friendship.
A place where plans are formed and secrets are shared, the Garden Café is nestled at the heart of the town of Lissbeg, on Ireland's west coast.
But Jazz - still reeling from the truth about her parents' marriage - has more on her mind than the gossip at the café. Increasingly isolated from her friends and family, she finds herself developing feelings for a man who is strictly off-limits ...
Meanwhile Hanna, Lissbeg's librarian, is unaware of the turmoil in her daughter Jazz's life - until her ex-husband Malcolm makes an appearance. And she begins to wonder if the secrets she's carried for him might have done more harm than good.
Then Hanna discovers a long-lost book buried in her garden. Could this help to turn Jazz's summer around, or is she too late?
"A charming and heartwarming story."-Jenny Colgan, New York Times bestselling author of The Cafe by the Sea
Hanna Casey, local librarian on the West Coast of Ireland's Finfarran Peninsula, is wondering where it all went wrong ...
As she drives her mobile library van between farms and villages she tries not to think of the sophisticated London lifestyle she abandoned after finding her barrister husband in bed with another woman. Or that she's living in the back bedroom of her mother's retirement bungalow in the small town she walked away from in her teens.
Now with her daughter Jazz travelling the world, and her relationship with her mother growing increasingly fraught, Hanna is determined to reclaim her independence.
But when the threatened closure of the library puts her plans in jeopardy, she finds herself leading a battle to restore the heart and soul of Finfarran's fragmented community.
Hanna's about to discover that the neighbours she's always kept at a distance have come to mean more to her than she ever could have imagined. But will she find the new life she's been searching for?
"The Library at The Edge of the World is a delicious feast of a novel. Sink in and feel enveloped by the beautiful world of Felicity Hayes-McCoy."
-Cathy Kelly, bestselling author of Between Sisters and Secrets of a Happy Marriage
'A sparkling, life-affirming novel -- sunshine on the page' Cathy Kelly
Summer is on its way, and Lissbeg librarian Hanna Casey has started a club showing films based on popular novels. But soon the club's members find dramatic twists and turns happening in their own lives on Ireland's west coast.
Hanna's daughter Jazz finally feels like she can call Lissbeg home. But when her life is turned upside down, will she return to London to make a fresh start?
Aideen is afraid that her romance with Conor won't survive the pressures of their planned double wedding with overbearing Eileen and manipulative Joe. Meanwhile, Saira Khan is determined to help a troubled new arrival to Finfarran.
And could Hanna's own newfound happiness to Brian be threatened by the return of her ex-husband Malcolm?
As the club prepares for the first meeting of the summer, they'll all face hard choices. But will they get the happy endings they deserve?
'A heartwarming novel' Irish Independent