One explosive family reunion. A lifetime of secrets revealed.
When four feisty women from the same family, get together at a family reunion, anything can happen…
Marie-Claire, betrayed by her partner Marc plans her revenge to teach him a lesson he will never forget. She travels from Toronto, home to Ireland, to the house of the Four Winds, for her great aunt Reverend Mother Brigid’s eightieth birthday celebrations. It will be a long-awaited reunion for three generations of family, bringing together her mother, Keelin and grandmother, Imelda - who have never quite got along
And then all hell breaks loose.
Bitter, jealous Imelda makes a shocking revelation that forces them all to confront their pasts, admit mistakes, and face the truths that have shaped their lives. With four fierce, opinionated women in one family, will they ever be able to forgive the past and share a future?
And what of Marc?
It’s never too late to make amends…or is it?
Spanning generations and covering seismic shifts in the lives of women, A Family Reunion is a compelling, thought-provoking, important and highly emotional novel from a trailblazing author in women's fiction.
A Family Reunion by Patricia Scanlan was published by Simon and Schuster on 4 March 2021, and was previously published under the title The Liberation of Brigid Dunne.
I adored this story, it's totally absorbing. My review will be featured in the Express later this month. I'm delighted to share an extract from the book with you today as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour
Extract from A Family Reunion
The taxi cruised slowly along Niagara Street, the lights of Christmas trees in the red-bricked apartments twinkling into the snow-swirled night. Marie-Claire felt the tug of longing for Ireland, and home.
Three hours ago she’d been a woman with plans and an idea where her future lay. Happy. Secure. Ambitious. One short, clandestine phone call had changed all that. Now she was in a maelstrom; shock, sadness, bitterness and rage tossing her on their churning seas.
It was that roiling rage that would get her through dinner with Marc tonight. She paid the taxi driver and wrapped her heavy green, faux-fur-trimmed cape around her. Marc had made a fool of her. Her anger was as much directed at herself as him, but he would never know what lay behind her decision to split, she decided with steely resolve. Let him think she was leaving him because she’d decided it was time to move on. Let him be the one questioning her decision. Let him be the one asking why. Whether Amelia was a mere distraction, fling, whatever, she didn’t care. There would never be trust in their relationship if she stayed. And anyway, now she didn’t want to.
Something unexpected solidified within Marie-Claire as she took a deep breath and walked towards the inviting lamp- lit entrance. What had happened today was life-changing. A kick in the ass! A wake-up call, her mother would say.
Was she to give up her life in Toronto and the career in sound engineering that she’d worked so hard to build? Running the Radio & TV Voice-overs department in a busy audio post facilities company that was going places. Marc’s company, unfortunately. She’d have to go looking for another job. But where?
Right there, on that freezing night on a dark Toronto sidewalk, Marie-Claire knew exactly what she wanted and where she wanted to be. She wanted to go home. Back to the Four Winds and her snug little room in the eaves to take time to think and evaluate.
She’d even be able to go to Great-Aunt Brigid’s surprise eightieth birthday party. An invite she’d reluctantly had to say no to because she’d originally been scheduled to be in New York.
Marie-Claire opened the restaurant door and walked in, preparing to put on the act of her life.
As part of my on-going #HappyBirthdayRandomThings celebrations during the month of March, I'm delighted to offer a paperback copy of A FAMILY REUNION by PATRICIA SCANLAN, today to one lucky winner.
To win a print copy of A FAMILY REUNION , just Follow and Retweet the pinned Tweet at @annecater and good luck!
Patricia Scanlan was born in Dublin, where she still lives.
Her bestsellers are APARTMENT 3B; FINISHING TOUCHES; FOREIGN AFFAIRS; PROMISES, PROMISES; MIRROR, MIRROR; CITY GIRL; CITY WOMAN; CITY LIVES; FRANCESCA'S PARTY; TWO FOR JOY; DOUBLE WEDDING; DIVIDED LOYALTIES, FORGIVE AND FORGET and WINTER BLESSINGS, a collection of quotes, blessings, poems and reminiscences.
Patricia is the series editor and a contributing author to the Open Door series. She also teaches creative writing to second-level students and is involved in Adult Literacy.
Twitter @patriciascanlanl18
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