4 Stars

From Maine to Western Ireland, the book deals with love, loss, and hope in the lives of two women whose lives are connected in the most unexpected way. The story runs in two timelines, every alternate chapter dedicated to either of the women.
Lily from Maine travels all the way to Ireland after the death of her husband, Connor. There are secrets in his past, and she is determined to know them. Two decades ago, Niamh led a turbulent life in a small Oceanside town.
How do their lives intersect? What had happened in the past, and why does it affect the present? Why was Connor secretive about his life in Ireland? Will the truth break Lily?
The premise of the book sounds like a mix of women’s fiction and a thriller. But let me tell you that this is pure women’s fiction. The hints of suspicion don’t lead anywhere. The threatening email Connor receives doesn’t live up to its hype.
But, set that aside, and you’ll see the book deal with complex emotions of love and loss in different ways. We have three women who lost their loved ones. Each of them responds differently, and it’s their actions that lead to a series of events.
The book is quite heavy with grief. It ends well, though. Predictable but positive and warm. As a fan of happy endings, I have no complaints here.
The descriptions of the settings were a highlight. I enjoyed them the most, especially the way the author wove the weather and human emotions together. I wish she did the same towards the end when the story went into full-on ‘tell’ mode about how a character spent her life in the past few years. It felt as if the author wanted to give us a summary and get over with it so that she could move on to write the ending.
Rosemary, Niamh, and Lily are the three main characters of the book. Niamh is my favorite and looked like she was created and developed with a lot of care. Rosemary has two sides, both of which were interesting to read. Lily seemed a bit overdone. Guess it highlighted the difference in their lives and their backgrounds.
Overall, this was a bittersweet book to read that will touch our hearts at some places and inspire our wanderlust at others. It is a sad yet beautiful story.
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC.

#TheBoatmansWife #NetGalley

Noelle Harrison has authored an unforgettable story of love, hope and loss.
When Lily married her soulmate Connor Fitzgerald she had no idea that he was harboring a dark secret. Three years later, Connor is lost at sea. As Lily prepares to say her final goodbye she finds a message meant for him that surprises her; “Does your wife know who you really are Connor Fitzgerald?”. Lily decides to leave the coastal Maine home she and Connor shared and flies to Connors home in Ireland intending to find all about her husbands dark secret. Lily soon meets resistance with every inquiry made as she quickly learns how very little she really knew her husband. With twists, turns and personal risks Lily takes us on journey that not only touches but captivates the heart. This is simply an unputdownable read.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture Publishing and Noelle Harrison for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

The Boatman's Wife is a well written heart wrenching story.

It takes place in a fishing village in Ireland and one in Maine years apart.

The power of the ocean is described so well you can hear the waves crashing, feel the salt spray.

Lily loses her husband due to a tragic accident at sea and she learns that she really never knew Connor so she sets off to his home village in Ireland to learn more about him

Somebody is not happy she is there.

Don't want to give anything way but I will say the pages fly by as you learn about Connor and his past . You feel like you are right beside Lily and encouraging her on.

Great read, put this on your list .

Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for the privilege of reading and reviewing The Boatman's Daughter.

My first book written by Noelle Harrison but it definitely won’t be my last.
Captivating best describes this book. Beautifully written, it moves between two countries, the USA & Ireland and the intertwined lives of Lily & Niamh. Lily the fisher girl from Maine who falls for her soulmate Connor from Ireland, only to lose him to the sea. Niamh the naive young girl in Ireland whose search for purpose and affection leads her to into a situation and a cause she can’t extract herself from and the consequences it results in. The characters and their emotions feel so real. Lots of twists and turns make this a truly unputdownable read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Noelle Harrison for this ARC. A beautiful story of love, loss and friendship. I'm a big fan of dual timeline stories so I absolutely loved this compelling book. Being from Ireland, I loved that it was mostly set in Mullaghmore and the book definitely did justice to the beautiful Irish scenery.

My first Noelle Harrison novel and I loved it so much. This book is set around a fishing community and tells the story of Lily who marries her soulmate Connor whose love story tragically falls apart and goes in search of answers . It's so true ,be careful what you wish for and along the way I wanted to paint Connor as the bad guy but wasn't I just wrong.I enjoyed this book so much and it touched on family,love,grief and compassion. I highly recommend this book to anyone as it reminds you of the beauty of friendship and if you need an awesome reason to read it,it's set in a fishing town. The plot was bonkers in a good way,characters too awesome and the cover gorgeous

One definition of the word strident is “having a shrill, irritating quality or character.” Meet Lily, she has always been lucky and when she wasn’t she employed the tricks necessary to get what she wants and has no problem admitting this. When her life goes wrong it is no surprise that she lacks any effective coping mechanism except blame, anger and despair. The discovery of a mysterious email sends our Lily across the ocean to the tiny village of Mullaghmore where she is determined to parse out the mystery of the man that was her husband.

I wanted to like this book but the shrill nature of Lily’s constant barrage of her current circumstance was so off-putting that I just couldn’t get around it. Happy endings can be great but when things get wrapped up too neatly it just defies life and logic.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookoutre for a copy.

This is the story of two women suffering from intense grief over losing people dear to them, connected but unknown to each other across different time periods. There was unimaginable grief in this, my heart was heavy throughout the reading but thank god Harrison wrapped in the way I was wishing.

Harrison is a gifted writer. Her vivid descriptions of ocean, nature, flora and fauna were brought to life. It tends to get in the way of the story when an author veers off the narrative with too many lyrical descriptions but here it immensely delighted me. There was a palpable grief dripping each page.

The Atlantic Ocean and its fickleness take a significant role and instrumental in providing livelihood and snatching away lives. The takeaway is “When the bad things happen within the family, stick with family, and don’t abandon”.

Lily is bestowed with unbelievable luck since childhood. She is a fisher, going for lobster fishing with her dad and cousin. She marries Connor, a young man from Ireland working as a chef in her coastal town. An unexpected event forces Connor to go fishing with Lily’s dad in place of her which changes their lives. After a disaster, Lily has to set on a journey to Ireland to uncover the past, secrets, and family of Connor which he concealed from her.

What dark secrets are waiting for Lily in Ireland? Are they devastating enough to change her view of Connor? Would Lily be able to forgive him? Why Connor hasn’t been confided?

Overall, this is a heart touching and breaking story about families torn apart, and how they build lives again. Beautiful story suffused with resilience, bereavement, family bonds, finding joy, and love.

With thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest opinion.
What a totally fantastic book its totally captivating from the very first page there are multiple layers yo this dual time sags set between the West Coast of Ireland and maine on the East Coast.
The troubles and strife in Ireland at border countys, the lobster fishing, all intermingled troubled women and how they coped its heartbreaking mingled with fun and laughter I can't praise this book enough.

What if the person we love the most in the world is not who we thought they were? Are some secrets unforgivable? Noelle Harrison explores these questions in her dual timeline, ‘The Boatman’s Wife,’ to be published January 14, 2021.

This is an atmospheric novel set in Mullaghmore, on the West Coast of Ireland in 1992 and in Rockland, Maine in 2017. Harrison’s alternating chapters culminate in the most surprising manner and leave you pondering the power of love. You will be captivated by this historical novel with contemporary resonance and relevance as it focusses on family mysteries and generational secrets.

Lily and Connor Fitzgerald are lobster fishers off the coast of Maine who are working on the ‘Lily May’ to save money in order to start a family. One night in a particularly bad storm, Connor goes overboard while pulling up lobster traps. Desperate to deal with this tragic accident at sea and gain closure, Lily feels the need to keep a link to Connor so she travels to Ireland to meet the family he has hidden from her for years. Why did he not want her to know them? Is he trying to hide something?

Unable to get emotional support from her grieving mother, Niamh Kelly falls into the wrong group of friends after her father passes away. Soon she becomes mixed up in the very conflict that had caused her dad’s death. Her cousin, Brendan, comes to her rescue. Unfortunately, it’s not the type of help Niamh needs. He encourages her to help her take the anger of her father’s death and turn it into revenge. It takes her down a wrong path that takes years to make right again. How are these two families across the wild Atlantic connected to each other? Who is the boatman’s wife?

This story of redemption will pull at your heartstrings and leave you with the biggest smile when you realize the lengths some women will go to find the truth and ensure family harmony. It’s also about the legacy of the enduring power of love these strong women leave in their wake and how the pain expanded their hearts to receive more joy. Harrison has crafted a captivating story with strong, flawed characters who grow and change as a result of a single act of kindness. Nature features prominently in Harrison's story and you’ll read about its role in shaping the characters. The wild Atlantic Ocean snatches love away from Lily, yet offers her a life of income. The boglands and bird-filled lanes of Ireland give Niamh solace, yet insolate her from life outside the country village and hide what should really be exposed. Readers can’t help but become engaged in this enthralling story as it has just the right mixture of atmosphere, adventure, intrigue, history, forbidden love, a bad boy, a nasty girl, a forgotten handicraft, and a lovable working tourist. You’ll love this epic journey and think, like me, that this has strong potential for screen adaptation.

Thank you to Noelle Harrison, Bookouture and NetGalley for this amazing advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A young widow goes to Ireland to find out about her late husband's life that she knew anything about. Sets place in both Maine and Western Ireland, the descriptions of both areas are beautiful. If you know nothing about the Troubles in Northern Ireland , this will be a good choice for you to read, I loved the family dynamics! I strongly recommend, will go back and read the author's other books..