The Bridge to Always by Lynda Marron is a compelling fictional story of love, hope, friendship, family, challenges, and finding out who you really are.
The story alternates between the “Then” 10 years ago in Dublin, and the “Now” in Drohid.
Maeve Gaffney is a single mother to her nine year old daughter Emer. They had been living with Maeve’s mother, Greta, who recently passed away. With her inheritance, Maeve has the means to move and follow her heart. It seems as if her mother’s ghost has taken up residence in her head, annoyingly still giving her advice like “Follow your head, Maeve. Hearts have feck all sense of direction.”
Maeve never knew her father, because her mother has taken that secret to the grave. So, she vows that her child will not be in that position and decides to move from Dublin to a small coastal town, Drohid near Cork, where she is certain they will cross paths with Emer’s father.
Maeve finds a house with lovely views. It’s very cheap and a renovator’s dream, bursting with potential — the perfect home for them.
Tim Corcoran, now married and father of two, a respected pillar of the community, has never forgotten his time at University in Dublin or Maeve. He is rather shocked to discover Maeve and a daughter he didn’t know existed have moved to Drohid.
Maeve has bought her property from Agnes Beecher. The sale has solved her financial worries. Agnes, normally reclusive, is welcoming and hoping to make friends with Maeve and Emer. And, Malachi Barry, a neighbour, and his dog Bran befriend the new residents with offers of help. But, there is something Agnes and Malachi have not told Maeve. It is something important.
Emer is a quiet child. Missing her grandmother, moving to a new town, a new school, needing to make new friends, and the possibility of a father is a lot for her to deal with.
The characters find their lives entangled together. It is impossible not to like them, although they can be frustrating at times. You feel every moment with them, as the story weaves its way with unexpected twists and turns to a climactic and unexpected conclusion.
There is so much more I could say about this book, but I certainly don’t want to spoil it for any reader. It is well written and one you can’t put down.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Five stars.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading The Bridge to Always by Lynda Marron. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Maeve and her daughter Emer move to Drohid to be closer to Emer’s father Tim. While setting up their new lives, Maeve and Emer meet others in the town who help bring a richness and meaning to their lives after the loss of Maeve’s mother.
While the author takes time to let the reader know each character, at times it becomes disjointed and moves forward and back in time with little context. The chapters are short, but at times ditracts from the story and events.
While the story was enjoyable to read, I feel it would have benefitted by focusing on certain aspects and leaving others for future stories.
The Bridge to Always by Lynda Marron is set in West Cork Ireland.
It centres around single Mum Maeve, her daughter Emer, Tim, Emer’s father who has only just discovered he has another child upon Maeve moving to Drohid. Other key characters are Agnes and Malachi, though to start off with its not clear just where they fit in.
It was an interesting story, I didn’t love a lot of the characters, I found Maeve scatty, Tim was a weak, pompous snob, but I was sucked in wanting to see where the story went, what was Maeve’s agenda with Tim? Where did Agnes and Malachi fit into the story? The book went from the present back into the past to give you tiny little snippets of information that gradually drew a much bigger picture than I expected
I quite enjoyed this book, it had me turning the pages eager for the next titbit of information to see how the story was going to unfold.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Echo Publishing or the copy to read and review.
Thankyou Beautyandlace and Echo Publishing for the opportunity to review ‘The Bridge to Always’ by Lynda Marron.
The book begins 10 years before now where we meet Maeve Gaffney who has just met Tim Corcoran, with whom, (we learn later) she has a nine year old daughter, Emer.
Fast forward to now and it’s the summer in Dublin where Maeve has just lost her mother Greta and has made the decision to move to Drohid in West Cork where she knows Tim lives.
She is determined that he will meet his daughter and that they will renew their relationship. She has bought a house which she finds is in need of her talent in redecorationg, and has found friendship and support from Agnes Beecher who sold her the house, and Malachi Barry.
Emer is struggling with the absence of her grandmother with whom they have been living, and Malachi and his dog Bran help in her adjustment to the move.
This was a great read, understandable that Maeve is wanting Emer to meet her father especially as Maeve has never known hers.
Wealthy Tim on the other hand is selfish. The other characters were real and relatable. The chapters in the book were short and hinted at the content.
I thoroughly enjoyed this 5 star read.
The Bridge to Always by Lynda Marron is set in Ireland and jumps between Dublin ten years ago and now. The story revolves around Maeve Gaffney and her quest to find love and happiness, but neither come from where and whom she expects.
After the death of her mother, Maeve moves to a small West Cork town with her daughter Emer. It is unclear at first why this particular location is chosen by Maeve as the place to start afresh but as the story progresses the reason is revealed. Along the way we meet Agnes who has lived in the town forever and Malachai, a local farmer who says little but observes all. All the characters help to move the story along, and by the end of the story all is revealed. If I say much more it will give things away and I myself am not a fan of spoilers.
While this isn’t what I would call a page turner, it was certainly an enjoyable read that kept my attention as I needed to find out what was next, making it a quick, easy read.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace as well as Echo Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.