this book is so far beyond just a book. so far beyond a book you can pick up and just put down. it imbeds itself into your heart and soul. this book will stay with you. it will certainly stay with me. this is one of my very favorite kinds. i could not have loved it more. it was so emotional. so full of such heart. so full of humans and their feeling in all their forms. messy,sad,distressing. but also hopeful, caring, kind and thoughtful. it was so brilliant i cannot thank the world more for the luck we have in getting to read the skill of authors like Daisy. truly luck we are indeed. i cant imagine what kind of talent you have to have to come up with these kind of stories...

my whole heart went to Hannah right from the start. shes not had it easy. and it doesn't seem to be getting easier for her. she suffered with Polio and felt so alone or pushed out as a youngster. then not quite fitting in with her home life. her dad, what was it that meant he never felt close. after he dies the tragedy continue when who she thought she was falls apart. who she thought were her family falls apart. it all feels desperate and lonely.
the story then gives us a new man to her life. someone she finds herself connecting with and too. hes here for his own reasons. but something more lies behind his own story. could it bring more pain to Hannah's heart. and just when she had started to feel hope. are their two stories connected and not in a good way.
we have a dual timeline going on here and the connection and arc between the two comes together perfectly.
this book was fantastic. the scene setting, the character development was just spot on throughout. loved it.

<blockquote><i>Knowing won’t change the past, but it might well change the future for the person who’s no longer in thrall to endless speculation."</i></blockquote> Hannah Berry's life is different from that of her brothers and sisters. As a young child, she was the one who had spent months in the hospital recovering from polio and would always need the calipers on her legs due to paralysis. The siblings all left Roone Bay, Ireland, and as Hannah remained at home, she was the sibling to care for their mother, and she was the daughter who promised their mother she would look after their father. However, at the reading of her father's will, everything Hannah had anticipated for the future suddenly seemed improbable. Perhaps Hannah will learn more if there's anyone willing to tell her the truth about her past, a past she thought she had always known.

Dr. Justin Sanders arrives in Roone Bay from Somerset, England, not as a tourist but to fulfill a promise to his great-grandmother, Kyra. A promise to locate the grave of her son Jack, Justin's granddad, and lay a wreath. Justin knows very little about his grandfather, a veteran of the Great War, but shortly after returning home, he left England again, this time to join the Black and Tans in Ireland. Perhaps Justin will uncover long-buried secrets if he can find someone who remembers the day the barracks burned.

The prologue opens in 1957, recounting Hannah's childhood illness from her mother, Esther Berry's perspective. The narrative then shifts to Hannah’s viewpoint in the present, during her thirties, while also incorporating Jack's perspective from 1918 to 1920. This powerful journey immerses the reader in both Hannah's and Justin's quests for truth. The story is filled with a wide range of emotions, from joy to sorrow, and is beautifully crafted with elements of mystery, intrigue, family histories, the times in which they lived, and romance.

Thank you to Daisy O’Shea, Bookouture, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book.

The Irish Daughter by Daisy O’Shea is a beautifully written dual timeline Irish family story that is both heartbreaking and uplifting with lots of twists and turns that kept me furiously turning the pages. I was completely lost and immersed in the lives of Hannah, Justin and Jack. It covers many topics such as the child polio victims of the 1950s and the after-effects of WW1 on soldiers. But it also provides lots of Irish history including the fight for independence from English control. And we learn many aspects of Irish culture. We are blessed with beautiful descriptions of Ireland (a place I love) and Roone Bay. It is truly an atmospheric land and seascape full of magic and mystery. All these perfect elements come together in a stunning blend. So yes, I adored the reading experience of The Irish Daughter: the complete immersion into the Irish culture and the causes and effects of events that fill these pages. How the history, landscape and beliefs have shaped the people.

This novel is told from two very different perspectives: Hannah’s in the present and Jack’s in the past. My heart ached for Hannah. It is obvious she is a loving daughter who struggles against the perceptions of others because of her physical handicap caused by polio. Sadly, she just missed the introduction of the polio vaccine into Ireland in the 1950s. She got polio as a child and spent seven months in hospital isolated from her family. When she is retrieved and taken home to live a life of poverty and servitude, she tries her best to do all that is asked of her. Her mother has been loving but her father not so much. And once she grows up, many years later, memories of her childhood confuse her. When her father passes away, there are some unexpected surprises at the reading of the will. The world she knew begins to crumble around her. Then a stranger walks into her life who is also seeking some answers about his grandfather’s past. And together they begin a journey of discovery that brings not only road blocks and disappointment but also hope and healing. A better plan awaits her that she never could have imagined in her wildest dreams.

This is a story about identity, truth, roots, belonging, restoration, love and fresh starts. Learning who you are, who you want to be and who you will become. All the characters are well developed, intriguing and create a complete picture of the world past and present. War in the broadest sense is central to the movements: the most obvious is WWI and the Irish War of Independence, but it also covers internal conflicts of the mind, battles between characters and against poverty, manipulation, expectation and so on.

I was thrilled Hannah has a partner in her search for truth and Justin is a dream: kind, loving, patient and understanding. He is an English doctor with Irish connections and the search for his long lost grandfather Jack is incredibly exciting. Hannah’s and Justin’s quests in uncovering the past bring them together in unexpected ways. I appreciated and was deeply moved also by Jack’s experiences that are shared directly from his viewpoint. He is the past timeline we get to see in full view while his grandson is in the present searching for his story. Justin was sent on a mission from his late Great-Grandma to find Jack’s grave and lay a wreath upon it for her. What unfolds is pretty amazing. As this journey unveils more than one can imagine but it also brings Justin something extra special into his life: a closeness with a girl who steals his heart.

I was truly swept away by this mesmerising, soul-shaking novel that I highly recommend. The Irish Daughter accomplishes all it sets out to do and more. And one more beloved Irish story is stitched forever into my heart. Without any hesitation, this deserves all the stars! 5+ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for a review copy.