Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the chance to read an advanced copy of The Boatman's wife by Noelle Harrison. Once I started this book I couldnt put it down. It was a heartbreaking story set in dual timelines.

When Lily married her soulmate Connor in Maine, she never imagined she’d be planning his memorial just three years later. Connor has been lost at sea in the bleak stormy Atlantic, leaving Lily heartbroken. But as she prepares to say goodbye to Connor for the last time, she is shocked to discover a message to him that he never told her about: Does your wife know who you really are, Connor Fitzgerald? Don’t ever think you can come home. Because if you do, I swear I’ll kill you. When Lily flies to Ireland to Connor's home to visit his Grandmother and find out his secrets she is met with hostility. Will Lily leave the darkness of the past where it belongs? Or will she risk everything to find out the truth about the man she married.
The dual storyline is interesting. It seems to be two totally different stories, but you know at some point they are going to connect. It was not only a wonderful read, but a chance to revisit Ireland again!

You know when you read a book and it leaves you in an emotional state? The Boatman’s Wife did this to me. The author takes you on a heartbreaking story from Maine to the West coast of Ireland that you can’t put down. I was reading it on the Kindle app on my phone every spare second I got until I finished it! Just to let you know the story is told in a dual format from two badass women in different decades who have ties that you can’t imagine.

The story begins with Lily, in 2017 heartbroken that her beloved Connor is lost in a storm at sea. She blames her dad who was in charge on the fishing boat and finds it hard to forgive him for making her a widow at such a young age in her 20’s. Devastated by grief she begins to hunt for information on his Irish family to let them know what’s happened. Then she finds a strange and threatening email to him warning never to come home to Ireland. Of course strong willed Lily won’t let this lie and sets off to Ireland to find out the truth. She’s met with hostility and told to go home. Eventually she finds out the truth and is more brokenhearted than ever.

The other story line playing out alongside Lily’s is of Niamh’s in the early 1990’s. Niamh’s story is set in Ireland. She falls in love with American Jesse a gorgeous boat builder who is only here for the Summer. Her cousin Brendan isn’t happy about this due to the secrets they are hiding.

I’m in awe of this compelling powerful story. The lead characters tug your emotions all over the place, a beautiful setting told so vividly you will believe you are right there by the water or deep inside the Irish countryside. A magnificent 5 star read for me!

Thanks to Bookoutre and Netgalley for the advance copy.

EXCERPT: Rockland, Maine, 1st November 2017

Does your wife know who you really are, Connor Fitzgerald? I don't want you to even forget not one day goes by when I don't want to get you back for what you did. You're not welcome in Mullaghmore ever again. So, don't ever think you can come home with your new wife. Because if you do, I swear I'll kill you.

ABOUT 'THE BOATMAN'S WIFE': There was some dark secret in this western edge of Ireland that her husband never wanted her to find out. She might never be able to lay his body to rest, but she could gain some kind of closure by finding out who the man she married was.

When Lily married her soulmate Connor, buffeted by the sea spray and wild winds of her coastal homeland in Maine, she never imagined she’d be planning his memorial just three years later. Connor has been lost at sea in the bleak stormy Atlantic, leaving Lily heartbroken.

But as she prepares to say goodbye to Connor for the last time, she is shocked to discover a message to him that he never told her about:

Does your wife know who you really are, Connor Fitzgerald? Don’t ever think you can come home. Because if you do, I swear I’ll kill you.

Unable to bear living in the home she and Connor shared, Lily decides to find out her husband’s secret. She flies to Connor’s home town of Mullaghmore on the west coast of Ireland, a harbour town hugged by golden beaches and emerald-green fields. But when doors are slammed in her face, she begins to realise that she knows nothing about her husband’s past.

Connor’s grandmother, a hermit living on the cliffs of the wild Atlantic, must know the truth about her grandson. But when Lily tries to find her, threatening notes are pushed through her door warning her not to stay. Will Lily leave the darkness of the past where it belongs? Or will she risk everything to find out the truth about the man she married…

MY THOUGHTS: The Boatman's Wife by Noelle Harrison is an interesting story spread across two timelines, 1992 in Mullaghmore, Ireland, and 2017 in Rockland, Maine. It took me most of the book to figure out the connection and solve the mystery, although I did have glimmers of suspicion from time to time. I particularly liked the sections set in Ireland, somehow relating more to Niamh, whose character seemed far more realistic, than Lily, although once Lily gets to Ireland her story and character became more interesting to me.

The Boatman's Wife has an interesting and complicated plot involving family relationships, love, loss, grief, and the Irish 'troubles'.

This is a beautifully written and emotional story, was a full 4 star read for me until almost the very end, which disappointed me. Everything was wrapped up nicely and quickly in pretty paper with a large bow on top. It was just a little too perfect.

So, if you like a dish of warm fuzzies with a side of intrigue and mystery, The Boatman's Wife is ideal. And just for the record, the title has two completely different meanings, both relevant to the story.

⭐⭐⭐.6

#TheBoatmansWife #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: pseudonym: Evie Blake

Born in London, I moved to Ireland in 1991, shortly afterwards setting up the theatre company Aurora. I have written four stage plays, Northern Landscapes, Black Virgin, Runaway Wife and The Good Sister, and one short film, Blue Void. I have also written extensively on visual art in Ireland, contributing to various journals and artists’ catalogues over the years. I currently live in Bergen in Norway.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Boatman's Wife by Noelle Harrison for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

The Boatman's Wife is a compelling story from Noelle Harrison taking the reader from the fishing communities of Maine to Mullaghmore in the west coast of Ireland. As well as being set in two places, the story also unfolds over two different times, something I always enjoy in a book. In the present day story in Maine, Lily is devastated by the death of her Irish husband Connor in a tragic accident at sea. While trying to find out how to contact his family in Ireland, she discovers a threatening email to Connor warning him never to return to Ireland. She realises that he has been keeping secrets from her and to find out just what those secrets were, she decides to travel to Ireland. In 1990s Ireland, young Niamh has fallen for handsome American visitor Jesse who is working in the local boatyard for the summer. This does not go down well with her cousin Brendan, as both he and Niamh have secrets of their own.

I really enjoyed the dual timeline aspect of the story and seeing how both these strong female characters developed over the course of their individual stories. Niamh was particularly interesting with her involvement in the complicated political situation in the Ireland at the time, a situation she wanted to get out of, but it wasn't all that easy and put herself and her family in great danger. Noelle Harrison wrote so movingly of the grief experienced by Lily following the death of her young husband and of her conviction that he couldn't possibly be any different from the kind and gentle soul she knew him to be. The alternating perspectives made this a really compelling read and I finished each chapter wanting to know more but also keen to move on and find out what was happening to the other woman. I was intrigued to know not only what Connor's secret was but also in what way the two stories were connected. The way Noelle Harrison brought the two together was poignant and uplifting.

The Boatman's Wife is a captivating story of loss and secrets in two very different but beautiful settings. It is also a hopeful story of reconciliation and moving on. The Boatman's Wife is another compelling and emotional read from Noelle Harrison.

The Boatman’s Wife is a powerful, evocative and richly-imagined standalone domestic drama by Irish author Noëlle Harrison and tells the emotional tale of loss, one family’s long-held secrets, a widow desperate to solve the mystery and discover exactly who her late husband really was, and the enduring bonds of love. It begins in Rockland, Maine on 18th October 2017. Lily had always been a lucky child as evidenced by winning the Lobster Races three years in a row alongside her proud father. Coming from a seafaring family, fishing is all Lily has ever known and this allows her to feel an affinity with the ocean with her father even naming one of his boats after her - calling it Lily May - and unlike most girls her age she loved working as a lobster fisher. Four years ago, in 2013, Lily was just about to hit the milestone age of 21 and beginning to feel lonely and the odd one out in her circle as most of her friends had gotten married and started a family already. On her birthday morning she takes out a rowboat into the lake in the chilly winter air and makes a wish - the wish for a soulmate. The following day she meets Irishman and bartender Connor Fitzgerald and they appear to fall for each other hard - or you could say hook, line and sinker. Now four years later all that remains of him is the cold space in their bed in which he used to sleep. She dredges up memories of their first meeting at Moll’s bar down by the port. But one stormy night Connor goes fishing on the Lily May with Lily's father and never returns. He had fallen overboard in a tragic accident while pulling up lobster traps and suddenly Lily is aware that she won't even have his body in order to lay him to rest.

She's devastated that the long life she had planned for them had been taken from her so cruelly. Feeling as though she wants to maintain some sort of connection with Connor she decides to travel to Connor's hometown of Mullaghmore on the West coast of Ireland to meet the family he hid from her the whole time they were together. What could be so bad to warrant that amount of secrecy? When a terrible secret about him emerges, Lily is forced to question if she ever really knew the man she married. The Boatman’s Wife aims to take you on a journey between two women connected and yet unknown to each other. To Lily in Maine and her life upon the Atlantic Ocean. How it snatches away what she holds most dear. To Niamh, lost in the dark woods of Ireland as she clings on to what she’s always believed in. It is a captivating, deeply emotional and beautifully written tale that features such a substantial mystery that the tension was palpable throughout, and I felt more riveted than I often do when reading a full-on thriller as the urge to know what Connor was hiding was strong in me. There is so much intrigue, a tonne of heartbreak and a plethora of secrets and duplicitous behaviour and the sense of time and place evoked by the stunning descriptions was breathtaking. At the heart of The Boatman’s Wife is the search for what is true, no matter how hard the consequences. From the wild western ocean to the stark Irish boglands, the landscape mirrors our quest, drawing solace from nature. This is a study of sadness through deep loss and of small seeds of hope that pull us through. How this pain can expand our hearts to receive more joy ultimately. To understand love is not finite. Highly recommended.

Well, I'm a bit disappointed in myself for not liking it as much as I should have.

Lily recently lost her husband, Connor, of 3-years in a terrible sea expedition and was left heart-broken. She came home from his memorial to a threatening email sent by his folks from back home, a chapter of his life that she had thus far remained oblivious to. She decided to up and go to Ireland in the hunt for the truth herself and why someone was sending her husband, who she'd known to be a gem of a person, such menacing messages.

The narrative shifts in each chapter between Lily's present and Connor's past as the truth unfolds. Lily has some mourning and forgiving to do, while also trying to understand why Connor has been secretive of his past and Irish roots to her. The overall message from the author is that of forgiveness and letting go of the past so as to welcome a brighter and happier future.

The plot as such was good with a very positive overall message. However, the writing was not engaging enough. The editing was pretty loose and the actual mystery of the email was not revealed until 70% in, which I felt was too dragged out as it left very little room to explore the aftermath i.e., the broader aforementioned lessons of forgiveness, and so on. It also made me uncomfortable that a 25-year-old Lily addressed her father as "Daddy" and to read winding phrases like, "her daddy, looking at her mother, said..." (why not just say, "Jack [Lily's dad] looked at his wife and said..." instead?) Because the writing was so digressive in places and more dialogue-driven than events/conscience-driven, I found myself feeling apathetic to most things leading up to the mystery reveal.

All in all, the plot is interesting but is let down by the prose. Thanks Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest reveiw.

I married my soulmate so empathizing with Lily when she lost Connor was so easy. How she lost Connor must have been devastating because he was there in her place. However, one can never predict when it’s time to leave this Earth and she had to learn to forgive herself.

I know people are going to love this book! I on the other hand found myself putting it down so many times because it became tedious and I skipped paragraphs.
The ending was beautiful and so rewarding for Lily and her family.

Good luck and success on the Book.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

When the love of Lily’s life, Connor is lost at sea in a fierce Atlantic storm she’s left utterly devastated. The plans they had made for a life together vanished in an instant. Her grief turns to anguish when she discovers an alarming email he’d received before his death leaving her questioning if she truly knew him. Determined to discover the truth, she embarks on a journey from Maine, USA to Ireland, Connor’s birthplace where she soon discovers he had hidden much of his past from her.

We also follow the life of Niamh in 1990’s Ireland, living with her widowed mum who’s struggling with the grief of losing her husband at a young age. Niamh is a troubled young lady, unsure of her future and torn between loyalty to her family and the memories of her father's death at the hands of The Ulster Defence Association.

The story takes the reader on a beautiful, often heartbreaking, journey. The descriptions of the coastal landscapes of two very different countries on opposite sides of the same ocean are so intense that I could almost feel myself being there, with the Atlantic wind in my face.

This is the first Noelle Harrison novel I’ve read, and it most certainly will not be the last. Dual timeline stories are a favourite of mine, with this one leaving the reader trying to work out the connection between them for quite some time, which just added to the intrigue. I highly recommend this title, it was such a pleasure to read.

Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the review copy.

An entertaining and well written suspense. Great plot, believable characters and a great setting. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

Have never heard of Noelle before, but will definitely check out her books. You get a real feel for the characters Lily and Niamh and the situations they are in. I love the way the story moves between Iceland of today and the Ireland of the nineties. Would highly recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This was my first time reading a book by Noelle Harrison novel, won’t be the last as I loved it so much.

The book is based around a fishing community. It tells the story of Lily who marries her soulmate Connor. But their love story, falls apart and she goes off in search of answers to her questions.

The saying “be careful what you wish for” is very true in the book, as I though that Connor was a bad person, but I was soooo wrong.

The story touched on issues such as family, lose and grief.

This is a book I would recommend. The story, whilst reading tells you what friendship is all about.

Lily is devastated and frankly angry when her husband Conor is lost at sea while pulling lobster pots on her father's boat. It's not long after when she finds a mysterious email to him which reminds her that she knew very little about Conor so she heads to Mullaghmore. No one is receptive to her inquiries, including Conor's hermetic grandmother Rosemary. This isn't just Lily's story- it's also the story of Niamh in 1992, when the troubles were raging. Harrison uses the dual time line well, alternating chapters to let you see a fuller picture of Conor. No spoilers from me but this is more complex than I anticipated. The characters are well drawn and the atmospherics of the fishing towns where it is set are wonderful. Prepare to change your mind about various people. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

This is a very well written tale of love, loss and family with a generous helping of mystery too. I’ve never read anything by this author previously, but I’ll look for more after reading this heartwarming story..

The Boatman's Wife is about two women who are connected with each other but don't know it yet! It's a story of love and loss, family battles, and coming together. The journey each woman takes is remarkable and heart-breaking. I cried in several places! The characters were so well written and described, you feel like you know them. I aim to read more of Noelle Harrison's work

My first Noelle Harrison story and I really enjoyed it. The dual timeline aspect kept the story moving along at a good pace and Niamh and Lily were engaging main characters. The story focuses a lot on grief and loss but it is also full of hope. The writing is beautifully descriptive as we get to feel and understand the full force of the Atlantic Ocean at Maine and the sinister peat bogs and marshes in and near the Irish border.

I read this wonderful book in a single sitting, only reluctantly putting it down when absolutely necessary.

The book is set on dual timelines and Noelle weaves this tale together in a wonderful way.

Don’t be mistaken in thinking that this is a sloppy romantic story. It isn’t. There is romantic love in it, there’s parental love, platonic love. It’s about people, and power , strength and loyalty. All the things that make us human. The things that help us get through the lives we live. Most of all, it thrives on strong women who are determined to get through whatever they need to whatever the cost to themselves.

If you haven’t found Noëlle Harrison yet, I suggest strongly that you pre-order this book which I received via Noëlle Harrison, bookouture, and netgalley. I have it pre-ordered too, so I can read it again.

Thanks for a great read!

Told in alternatively timelines and perspectives, The Boatman's Wife by Noelle Harrison tells a story of love and choice. Love means many things to each of the characters - who we choose to love, what we will do for love and do we really know the people we love. The story felt a bit slow till about halfway through it then it really picked up and kept me going. The twists and turns were well placed - they felt right for the story and not just a plot filler. Atmospheric and character driven, this book fits the bill for anyone looking for a well down story.

The Boatman’s Wife follows the story of Lily who has worked on her dad’s boat alongside her cousin Ryan since the age of fourteen. All she ever wanted to be is a fisher and loved going out on the Lily May lobstering. She’s never been interested in boys and babies like her friends at school, yet when she’s twenty one she meets gorgeous Irish chef, Connor. They marry within a year and she’s the happiest she’s ever been. Until one fateful morning when Connor replaces her in the boat and tragedy ensues. Realising she knows little of his past, Lily sets off to the Emerald Isle to see if she can locate his grandmother, but will that be all she finds there or will details of Connor’s true past come to light?

I devoured every page of this book. Noelle Harrison is a new author for me and I am eager to read more. I enjoyed the way her characters developed through the chapters and the way the book is set between present day and Ireland in the early nineties. It covers some tough subjects but they were handled with sensitivity. I can highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Thank you so much to the author, Noelle Harrison, the publishing Company, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an ARC for my honest review.

This is a heartbreaking story of the love between Connor and Lily. Lily loses Connor unexpectedly and once he isn't there, she realized that she really never knew Connor at all. She decides to head to Ireland, to Connors home town, to try to figure out exactly who Connor was.

What a captivating story from page 1 to the end. This is a great read, and you won't be disappointed.

5/5 stars!

What if the person you love and trust most in the world dies? What if everything you thought you knew about that person ends up being a lie? And after their death, more and more secrets are revealed, indicating you don't really know them that well at all. How would that make you feel? Can some secrets ever be forgiven?

<b>The Boatman's Wife</b> is that story. Lily married her soulmate, Connor, who is tragically lost in the Atlantic Ocean during a terrible storm. While Lily grapples with her loss and attempts to find closure, she comes across an email Connor never mentioned to her. A threatening email that states "Does your wife know who you really are, Connor Fitzgerald? Don't ever think you can come home. Because if you do, I swear I'll kill you." Lily flies to Ireland (where Connor is from), and travels to the small seaside town of Mullaghmore to find answers to the many questions she has, and to announce to Connor's grandmother, the loss of her grandson.

A beautifully written novel. I enjoyed Harrison's writing style. Interchanging the perspectives of two characters, set in different times was captivating. It was really well done, flowing so beautifully from 1992 to 2017. It took me a little while to understand the perspective of Niamh and why it was relevant, but once I did, I very much enjoyed reading her story and understanding the decisions that led to the present story.

I think that the characters are really well developed, and I felt almost as though I knew them. Their sorrows and fears, happiness, etc., became my own.

It's truly a beautiful story to read. The ending is really well-written and leaves you with a sense of closure with everything that's happened. I highly recommend this novel, despite its heartbreaking story with a bittersweet ending. I will be on the lookout for more works from this author in the future, you can count on it!

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! I will also be posting my review to Amazon Canada upon publishing.</i>