An enjoyable Irish family drama. The character of Marianne is engaging, returning to her childhood home after the loss of her marriage and job and confronting the tragedy she ran away from as a teenager. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was my first book by this author. It was an enjoyable read with an interesting storyline. Not my usual sort of read if I’m being honest but it was engaging and well written.

Fans of Cathy Kelly, Sheila O’Flanagan & Roisin Meany are sure to like Make Yourself at Home & I would certainly recommend it for them.

Thanks so much to the publisher & to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a good read, light, entertaining and realistic. I flew through it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Marianne was so likeable as was the group she was part of. I could relate to her life and her story too as so many I'm sure can. I give this story 4 stars.

Another stonking saga from Ciara Geraghty, who is the daughter of Marita McConlon-Kenna.
Both women are very talented authors, and Ciara gives us another beautiful saga set in their native Ireland. Fans of Marian Keyes will love this book - Indeed, I hope she’s read it herself, because the characters are very much as she would write them! The eccentric and wonderful Rita makes a lovely landlady for the crazy boarding house with the equally crazy inhabitants.

I loved this book ☺️☺️

I adore Ciara Geraghty books and was delighted to get the opportunity to read her newest book Make Yourself at Home. Ciara is such a talented author, this book was an absolute delight from start to finish and I couldn't put it down. The story plot was original and I fell in love with the central characters. I can't wait to read more from the author in the future.

Another lovely book by this author. You are quickly drawn into the story and hoping that Rita and Marianne can finally have the relationship they didn't have years earlier, Rita aware of her previous failings certainly wants this but can Marianne forgive and forget. Lovely heartwarming story in a beautiful setting in Ireland

Marianne has come back home after years of separation from her mother. She has built up layers and layers of anger against her mother as well emotional detachment from everyone and everything. With the wild Irish coastline, a ragged dog, and a motley crew of recovering alcoholics, Marianne starts to shed her self protective layers. A story of hope, self growth and humor, enjoyed this very much.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy. Recommend.

A life affirming read, especially if you've ever felt a little bit different in your life. Or have tried to hard to fit.

The lively characters stole my heart, and I loved all their quirks and individual back stories. The main character, Marianne, is a shell of a person at the start of the book, her life has crashed around her, and she has to return home to live with her eccentric mother. Which is a disaster for her, as she hates home and ran hard from there as soon as she could. Her mother lives life to her own rules, and Marianne just wants to live life according to what the world expects.

But slowly as the layers are peeled back, we learn what made her that way and watch her rebuild a more satisfying life. I turned the pages, silently cheering her on in my heart. And fell in love with the setting, the dog, and every misfit in the book along the way.

Highly recommended, especially if you love unique characters and poignant plotlines (with lots of humour thrown in the mix too).

Thanks to Harper Collins for giving me a copy of this book for review consideration. As always, no matter what the source of the book, you get my honest, unbiased opinion.

Marianne Cross is a numbers person, but when her carefully ordered life falls apart, Sheba’s to return to the ramshackle house on the wild Irish coast where her mother, Rita still lives.
I really enjoyed this read, I liked the quirky humour and all the colourful characters.
When Marianne loses everything and has to return to her childhood home it brings up a lot of sad, painful memories for her. She’s abrupt and tries to avoid everyone but slowly she starts to thaw and make friends.
This book is funny, sad and heartwarming.

Ciara Geraghty is fast becoming one of my top three favourite Irish Authors! This book is gentle, extremely well described and the characters are developed so well. The pace picks up just over halfway through and I found myself wanting to get to the conclusion and see how the story unravelled but at the same time I didn’t want to stop reading. I was lost in the settings and dramas described. Once again Ciara has dealt with some very difficult issues – in an extremely sensitive way.

The best way to describe this book is that the characters feel like friends. There are many uplifting and heart-warming moments and equally emotional ones. You will find yourselves rooting hard for Marianne and Rita to get where they want to be and you’ll maybe even have a few laughs along the way as the humour sprinkled throughout offsets the underlying seriousness.

Beautiful, warm and unique in style, this is a book you don’t want to miss out on.

Marianne left home after a family tragedy and hasn't been back since. Her perfect life has come crashing down when her hubby left her for someone else. There's nowhere else for her to go but back home to Ancaire, the crumbling house situated by the Irish sea and her larger than life mother Rita, the recovered alcoholic who has taken it upon herself to run a club for those wishing to give up booze called the "Get Well Sooner's".

Marianne feels quite frankly like it's a living hell. She hates being back and misses her pristine home and daily routine. She can't abide the stray dog who seems to want to be by her side. When her mum needs help with the group she finds herself joining in and really living.

I absolutely loved the storylines and characters. Filled with friendship, family and with some moments of total heartbreak. So recommend I absolutely loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read and review a copy of Make Yourself at Home by Ciara Geraghty.

Marianne’s life has fallen apart, her husband has left her, she has no home, no job, and nothing to look forward to and she begrudgingly has no choice but to move back in with her Mum. Rita lives in an old, dilapidated house placed precariously on a cliff-top, overlooking the Irish Sea, and lives for her Get-Well-Sooners, a motley bunch of recovering alcoholics who she is intent on helping to regain their lives.

As the story progresses, Marianne transforms from a lonely young woman with no friends and a bleak future, to the heart and soul of Ancaire, the childhood house she used to call home. She forges friendships that will last a lifetime and might even find a little love along the way.

Geraghty has written an awesome story and takes the readers deep into the hearts of her characters, along with some sad memories and traumatic moments comes forgiveness, happiness, and most of all, acceptance. This makes the reader appreciate we should all accept our family and friends for who they are and how they will be influential in helping you become the person you want to be.

For readers who enjoy Sheila O’Flanagan and Marian Keyes, Make Yourself at Home will worm its way into your soul and stay there.

When Marianne's life falls apart she is forced to return to her family in Ireland. She is faced with difficult issues that she ran away from twenty years previously. sometimes you have to face and accept the demons of the past in order to move forward. A great read with some interesting characters.

An uptight and rather intolerant Marianne has been forced to return to her childhood home after her marriage collapses and she loses her job and her home. This is the last place she wants to be having never had a happy relationship with her parents who drank and fought their way through her formative years. She left aged fifteen never expecting to return.

Her mother, Rita, now a widow has given up the booze and set up a support group, Get Well Soon, for fellow addicts. Marianne wants as little as possible to do with any of them. What she doesn't realise is that this rag, tag and bobtail group may be just what she needs as she comes to terms with her new life.

This was a really heartwarming read, beautifully written with wonderful characters who go straight to your heart. Their humanity just leaps off the pages. There is humour and sadness in this exploration of addiction, love, renegotiation of relationships and self realisation. It is ultimately an uplifting novel I recommend it very highly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Fiction for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Marianne’s life seems to falling apart, her husband has left her to have babies with another woman, she has been convicted of shoplifting and consequently has had her home repossessed by the bank. So with nowhere else left to go she returns to live with her mother. There is an unfolding story here of loss, - of a sister, of a mother, of self but this a hopeful tale of rebuilt relationships, of learning to live again and of redemption. It took me a while to get my teeth into this book, but I reached the point where I cared about Marianne and her relationship with her mother and was hooked in to this gentle and often funny story. The recipes at the end were a real bonus - I love books that include recipes! Thank you to #netgalley and #Harpercollins for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is an absolute delight of a novel; the characters are larger than life but still relatable. The main story is around the relationship between mother and daughter. My friends and I have often spoken about how our own mothers got things wrong, and this book strikes at the heart of that issue. Highly recommended.

This book spoke to my heart - I loved it. Without a doubt the main character is Ancaire, Marianne's childhood home that she has to return to after her life takes turns she wasn't expecting.

We learn to love the house, it's residents and regular visitors as well as revisit the tragedy that happened there many years ago.

This is a very emotional, uplifting read, Inwould highly recommend it.

This story is about the reunion of a mother and her daughter in their family home. It is told in two time frames and the narrator is Marianne.
Marianne once lived with her mother, father and young sister in their large old house called Ancaire. The house was elevated and on the scenic but wild west coast of Ireland overlooking the sea down beyond their land. Her mother Rita was flamboyant, feral and erratic and as a result Marianne virtually brought up her sister alone and they became very close. Their mother was a wacky alcoholic and an artist and you never knew what she would do next.
When Marianne was fifteen she left home after a terrible family tragedy and her intention was never to return again. Twenty years went by until one day life suddenly turned a curve ball on her. She was married, had a prestigious job as an accountant and lived in a lovely home. She was living her dream life until that one action. Her husband Brian left her, she lost her job and eventually her home as well. There were no alternatives for her other than to go back to the family home with her tail between her legs.
When she arrived she was treated like the prodigal daughter. Her mother had changed as well, no longer an alcoholic but a carer of sorts, bringing social groups together and mentoring them with love and great care. She was brilliant at sorting out activities and was popular and well admired. Everyone was welcome at Ancaire: friends, family and neighbours. Rita was like a magnet for people, helping them as best she could. Her dress sense was still a little on the unusual side, in fact her getups were quite alternative. She was certainly a one off with her choice of clothing and headwear. But somehow Marianne began to feel needed, included, and finally happier, proving the old saying ‘home is where the heart is’. Then she found out her mother had been keeping a massive secret from her.
This novel is a light, easy read with an uncomplicated storyboard. There are no multiple thrills and spills, shocks or dark stories. It is about family, friendship, trust, loyalty and love. The story is well told and the characters are mostly likeable and well crafted, characters that had histories that were shared. I liked the humorous antics which balanced up the sad parts of the story. My favourite character overall was Rita, especially as the story moved on. She was kind, energetic, proactive and positive. She cared. These were the reasons that she was so well liked.
I received my copy of this novel from publisher HarperCollins through my membership of NetGalley and in return for an honest, unbiased review. I thought some of the story lines were a bit facetious but overall I enjoyed reading this novel and generally found it uplifting. I liked the satisfying ending as well with no cliff-hangers or open endings where you make your own choice how the story will end.

Marianne used to be married and a successful accountant but then, at thirty – five, her world has been turned upside down. Brian, her husband, has left her for another woman and then Marianne has lost her job and, with no financial support, lost her house as well. There is no other option for her – even though she has left her childhood home in Ancaire at fifteen after a tragic accident, promising never to come back there – she must go home, to her mother. Marianne has never got a good relationship with her parents who have partied hard and fought hard. Now, Rita, Marianne’s mother, has given up the drink and is running an alcoholic anonymous group, the Get Well Soon programme, direct from her home. Marianne wants nothing to do with this eclectic and troubled people – but what if they want to have something to do with her?

The characters were really wonderful – I think. All of them, the main and background ones had great personalities and every single one of them had their own story that was full of depth and real problems. What I really liked is that they never lost hope and moved on and how they were taking others with them on this journey in their difficult times, almost never taking no for an answer. It needs a lot of self - denial and I really admired this in them.
Marianne was a very complex character and even though I couldn’t so completely warm to her, I could appreciate where she was coming from and her development. The incident that happened when she was a teenager, has impacted her in a huge way and it burdens her still, all the time. She’s rather a loner and doesn’t need the company of other people, this is why the Get – Well – Sooners are such a shock to her. Her mum, after my initial issues, turned out to be an eccentric with a heart of gold, who, after fighting her own plenty battles, decided to help other people with drinking problem. The relationship between Marianne and Rita was a very complex and complicated one, filled with misunderstandings and regrets and the author has really, really well captured it, bringing the dynamics to life, showing it in its true light. There were some poignant and heartwarming moments as well when they were trying to rebuild their broken relationship. Did they manage? With Marianne determined to stay in her shell and Rita not taking no for an answer?

The setting is gorgeous and idyllic, with a beach close to the house. The house itself was a character on its own, being so old and crumbled, staying very close to a cliff edge. The desriptions of the sea are gorgoeus and the smells from the kitchen jump off the pages. There is also a brilliant humour added to the story and some of the moments and dialouges made me chuckling to myself as it was very easy to imagine those situations – this all thanks to the writing style that was very rich.

I am not sure why but the way the book was built didn’t work for me. I mean, it was a brilliant, thought – provoking and moving story but I had a feeling I am smothered with words, that I’m talked at instead of being shown. I’ve never been drawn into the story, never felt captivated by the characters and what’s going to happen with them – I am really, truly sad about this because I had huge expectations, although I suppose it was me this time and not the book. I just wanted to make it hurry, for something to happen, though it is not this kind of book, it is more about individual development and self – discovery, about finding your two feet again. It’s for sure a beautiful story and it pains me that I didn’t appreciate it as I should have.

It’s a story dealing with and exploring many deep issues: grief, drink and mental problems, theft to name only a few – and they are dealt with understanding, patience, in a subtle way but also with humour.
I am sure you’re going to love and appreciate this book more than I did, as it is a heart – warming, emotional read that will tug at your heart – strings. It’s poignant and witty, packed with thought – provoking moments and tons of heart.

This book really draws you in- wanting to find out how the story unfolds and more about the wonderful characters. Marianne has to return to her childhood home after her well ordered life unravels. Her mum is a real character- eccentric but with a heart of gold. After a difficult time , she has turned her issues into a crusade to help other people with a drink problem. Marriane had a strained relationship with Rita, due to the issues with drink when she was a child. There are some heartwarming moments where they slowly get to rebuild their relationship and come to an understanding. Marriane resists her mums efforts to start emerging from her old life- but Rita doesn't accept no.
The house setting sounds idyllic, right on the beach which has it's own healing properties. i was so sad to come to the end of this book.