Cover Image: The Moon Over Kilmore Quay

The Moon Over Kilmore Quay

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Member Reviews

A truly heartwarming story all about the bonds of family & friendship. Beautiful story. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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The Moon Over Kilmore Quay by Carmel Harrington is a must read. I loved the prologue. It hooked me right from the start. It was sentimental yet exactly how I’d imagined descendants of emigrants might feel never having visited the ancestral home of their loved ones. This whole book was a gem. I loved Bea, her dad & uncle Míke. Her friends were great and I loved Lucy’s story too. I thought it depicted the life of emigrants and the Irish diaspora very well. Had I been born in a different era with different employment prospects available to me upon graduation I would have pictured myself there too reminiscing of home. I predicted very little I'm delighted to say. There were more & more twists & turns in every chapter. I loved it and will recommend it to all.

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There are lots of books about immigrants and Irish ones at that, but this one called out to me and I simply devoured it. I loved all the references to Irish food as I used to spend every other holiday on the west coast of Ireland. It brought back lovely memories.
The book takes you on the journey from Ireland to New York taken by Maeve and Lucy in the nineties and also centres around Bea’s New York life in the present day. Bea has grown up without her mother and a letter from her past ignites lots of questions and leads her on a voyage of discovery, both about her past and her self. Lives are cleverly intertwined in the story and it is a fast paced easy read which was throughly enjoyable. I read the book thinking one thing and then had to readjust my thinking.
Thank you #netgalley, an enjoyable read.

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A lovely read. a love story with a few twists. The story touches on Irish/ American immigration and weaves a beautiful tale of friendship, family and loss. Heartwarming and emotional.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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A beautiful and romantic story that kept me hooked and root for the characters.
Good plot and character development, a sweet story that I found engrossing and entertaining.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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This book was brill, one of the best ive read for a while. Unexpected things happening and then when i predicted something it didnt happen. Loved it

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I loved this book! A heart warming, easy read - just make sure you have some tissues close to hand!
The book was well written I was immediately invested in all of the characters as the story was split between two timelines and two generations. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC- a good 4 stars.

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Woman's fiction about Irish immigrants to New York that is emotional and readable. The story is told through the eyes of Lucy who moved to America with her sister when they were lucky enough to be granted a visa. At first Lucy finds the wrench from her beloved Irish home and the family pub and huge one, and it is not until she meets Ryan that she feels settled.
The other half of the story is told in the current time by Bea, Ryan's daughter. When a letter, written in school as part of a time capsule is forwarded to her, she wonders what she would tell her younger self if she could. As she reflects on family and friendships she is driven to sort out a few things.
The book explores different generational feelings about upping sticks and moving to a new country and looks at how this affects both those left behind and second and third generations. Bea's family appears tight knit and strongly embedded in the Irish immigrant community but as she discovers there are some secrets lurking.
The plot is well paced and the characters are well drawn with emotional depth. Expect some twists and turns which will keep you reading until the end.
Many thanks to Netgalley for a chance to read this book.

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This is the first novel by Carmel Harrington I've read and I loved it ! I am always attracted to multiple timeline family sagas and Harrington does not disappoint with this story of Lucy who leaves Ireland for New York in the 1990s and Bea , a New Yorker who years later decides to solve the mystery of her past. The author brings the two settings alive and writes insightfully about the experience of the Irish immigrant. It was a warm and enjoyable read with believable and likeable characters and relationships.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

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I believe the highlight of the novel has everything to do with the rendition of immigration life. The best parts, in my opinion, were those set in 1992. You get a real sense of the New York way of life in the nineties through the eyes of Irish girls, and it was rather enjoyable. I wish there had been more flashbacks to that time. The writing style was nice overall, but I did find that it was dragging quite often. The drama reached a disturbing climax with the big reveal of the family secret, and I must admit I found it too unsettling to my taste. So, I wasn’t really enthused by the novel.

Thanks to the editor and netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This is my first Carmel Harrington book and I loved it so much I’m now going to have to read her back catalogue!

This heartwarming story has a dual narrative, told by Bea, a New Yorker and daughter of immigrants and Lucy from Kilmore Quay in Wexford who wants to start a new life in America.

Bea receives a letter that makes her question her life and also brings a need to know more about her Irish mother and her family in Wexford. What unfolds is a story full of strong family bonds and friendship. Each character and even the supporting characters are so well developed and have such strong personalities it instantly draws you into their world and relationships. This book was a wonderful insight into immigration and the toll it can take on families, it literally gave me all the feels! I was an emotional wreck reading it but I will be recommending it to everyone!

Huge thanks to @harpercollinsuk for the ARC

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I have loved a previous Harrington book "My Pear Shaped Life' and was excited to get access to her latest offering!
This was a totally different style- a dual timeline with 2 different POVs, set in 2 different locations- Ireland and New York.
I listened to the audiobook for this title and admittedly struggled to get into it at the start. The narrators had contrasting accents, but I still needed time to adapt to them and know which perspective was which, as it seemed to me the pitch of each voice was similar.
The story had fantasy elements, which both surprised and appealed to me, but I felt the plot was not as gripping as I had perhaps hoped for.
It was however a lovely story and an original idea that I enjoyed to the end.

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Oh, I so loved this new one from Carmel Harrington. Picked it up and couldn't put in down. It made me laugh out loud and also made me cry. Makes me want to jump on a ferry and go and visit Wexford, Kilmore Quay and the Saltee Islands - my next trip when we can escape!. It's a yes from me

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I really enjoyed this book. I found it quite slow to start with it once I had had tuned into the two time periods and the key characters I could not put it down. The book is written from the perspective of Lucy who emigrated to New York with her sister and Bea, in the present. The book centres on one Irish family and their experiences of America and beautifully explores the experiences of each generation and the relationships between them.

The characters were well drawn and you had empathy with them.

It was well paced and some of the twists towards the end I did not foresee - always a bonus!

A lovely story which I will be recommending.

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I found this book rather overlong and waffling and didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Absolutely nothing wrong with the story line and the second half was better than the first being somewhat slow. Set in two time zones, 1990s and present day based around the lively Irish community in New York plus trips to Ireland. The book covers friendship, betrayal, love and family with a fair amount of nostalgia plus a certain amount of sadness. I found I couldn't really take to one of the main characters Bea, which didn't help despite the bittersweet ending.

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The Moon Over Kilmore Quay.
This is a gem of a book. Telling us the story of Bea O Connor ,a young girl who’s life is upturned when she receives a letter she wrote to her future self when she was ten years of age. Taking us from New York to Wexford this book will make you laugh and make you cry. Writing about New York in the early nineties, this book will resonate with all of the Irish people who availed of the Morrison Visa and began a new life in New York. It is a wonderfully warm novel with lots of well written characters, and a couple of surprises along the way, This is ultimately a story of family and friendship and the highs and lows therein. I absolutely loved it and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Thanks to #NetGalley for an #ARC of this lovely book #TheMoonOverKilmoreQuay. #CarmelHarrington #HarperCollinsUk #HarperFiction

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A heartbreaking story of love and loss. The story follows the lives of Lucy and Maeve, part of the Three Amigos who forged a deep friendship while children in Kilmore Quay in Ireland. Lucy and Maeve get the opportunity to move to New York where their lives are changed forever.

We are brought up to date with Bea, a young woman born in New York with deep Irish roots in her family and community. She too has her "Amigos" who prove to be forever friends.

The story narrative moves between Lucy and Bea and I had to stop and gather my thoughts to make sure I was "tuned in" to the right person.

Be warned, have tissues handy as there is a heart wrenching end.

I admire all the characters and the in depth research that must have gone into writing this, alternating between the buzz of New York and the beauty of Wexford and Kilmore Quay.

Thank you Netgalley.

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📚 BOOK REVIEW 📚The Moon Over Kilmore Quay By Carmel Carrington

So the last book I reviewed and this one .... I thought from The Moon over Kilmore Quay, was going to be an easy going love story - a break from my fast paced crime books. I’m not a soppy love story kind of girl.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book ....
Lucy, her sister are granted a visa to stay in New York, which means leaving everything they know and their parents. The story goes from the past (Lucy & her sister) and Bea (present day). The connection comes quite quickly so it’s easy to follow the story in past and present. But don’t let this little number fool you ..... a couple of twists in the story will definitely surprise you!!
I don’t want to give much away - so keeping the review brief!

A beautiful book that deserves to be read !! Loved it.

Thanks Netgalley!

#carmelcarrington #harpercollins #netgalley

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Even though it does look like a beach book, its has nothing to do with beaches. Its an interesting family/love story situated in New York City and Ireland. I went to it blindly, and I am actually glad that I did. The story itself is interesting, with few unexpected twists. The characters are nicely done and I really enjoyed the insight of the community of Irish immigrants in NYC. The best surprise was when in the middle of the book I encountered the lyrics of a song in (almost) my language, especially it being the song my mom sometimes sang to my kids. One of the characters in the book is a daughter of Serbian immigrants and the author did a really good job with the language.

All in all, my honest recommendations for this one.

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First of Carmel's books that I have read and will be reading more. Written with emotion, this is a story about family with excellent characters and some mystery.

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