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The Embrace
When Jessica Goodwin is asked by her dying mother to read her diaries to her, Jessica duly obliges and is slowly drawn in to a world of anguish, betrayal, the supernatural and redemption. She dismisses her mother’s writings as fiction until the truth becomes undeniable and the conclusion inevitable.
Evelyn Goodwin is dying. Her daughter Jessica Goodwin is sleeping beside her mother’s bed and wakes up in time to see a young woman standing over her mother’s bed before quickly disappearing.
From her poverty stricken College Years in 1971 to being the owner of an international Law Firm in 1999, Evelyn through her diaries tells her extraordinary life story which began when she met Talia Holmes, a strange French girl who showed up at her apartment door on a winter’s night offering to rent the apartment with Evelyn.
With her endless supply of money and distaste for conventional thinking Talia and Evelyn are at odds from the start before Evelyn slips in a thick blanket of depression and is saved from suicide by Talia.
Becoming more and more curious about her roommate Talia reveals that she is a vampire and a relationship develops between them before a devastating terrorist attack leaves Evelyn critical in hospital and as Talia is forced to run and leave Evelyn to fend for herself.
The Embrace brings a dying mother and her daughter together for the final time as Jessica reads Evelyn entries from Evelyn’s diaries as secrets, betrayal and love are laid bare against a background of poverty, illness and terrorism.
Evelyn Goodwin is dying. Her daughter Jessica Goodwin is sleeping beside her mother’s bed and wakes up in time to see a young woman standing over her mother’s bed before quickly disappearing.
From her poverty stricken College Years in 1971 to being the owner of an international Law Firm in 1999, Evelyn through her diaries tells her extraordinary life story which began when she met Talia Holmes, a strange French girl who showed up at her apartment door on a winter’s night offering to rent the apartment with Evelyn.
With her endless supply of money and distaste for conventional thinking Talia and Evelyn are at odds from the start before Evelyn slips in a thick blanket of depression and is saved from suicide by Talia.
Becoming more and more curious about her roommate Talia reveals that she is a vampire and a relationship develops between them before a devastating terrorist attack leaves Evelyn critical in hospital and as Talia is forced to run and leave Evelyn to fend for herself.
The Embrace brings a dying mother and her daughter together for the final time as Jessica reads Evelyn entries from Evelyn’s diaries as secrets, betrayal and love are laid bare against a background of poverty, illness and terrorism.
288 pages, ebook
First published October 10, 2010
88 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 7, 2019
Wow, wow, wow. I got sucked right into this. I loved the writing and the set-up of the story. It was a great story. A woman has a hard life in the start but turns it around. Along the way she meets a vampire who appears at the most troubling times during her life. She is also very much in love with her husband and it was nice to see her two different lives and how she works to keep them seperate and how it works for her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2013
The beginning of this book initially drew me in with its looming atmosphere and rich description. The author did not let me down with keeping this imagery constant throughout the rest of the book. These characters feel real. As if you could bump into them on the street somewhere. They come to life with every perfect word and you feel like you're watching them within the same room. Gallagher knows his characters inside and out and avoids the usual stereotypic characters. This is a character driven story of love that continues for a lifetime. A wonderful, emotional read.
February 23, 2014
I got this book as a free offer on Amazon. It was nothing like I expected it to be. To tell the truth I thought it would focus in vampires, but this was a story of a girl, of Ireland's recent history and above all of a (non conventional) love.
It was touching, funny, scary but always keeping my interest alive and making me want to read a bit more. The characters were well depicted in my humble opinion and the dialogues quite real. I would love to read more books from this author.
It was touching, funny, scary but always keeping my interest alive and making me want to read a bit more. The characters were well depicted in my humble opinion and the dialogues quite real. I would love to read more books from this author.
July 16, 2017
Not a bad read despite an appalling lack of editing.
The story line is original and it was good enough to keep me reading in spite of numerous grammatical errors and a few occasions when the author slipped into 3rd person. It gets a little cheesy in one or two places, but not too bad. I love the main character's wit and spirit and the open mindedness of the main character and the book as a whole.
The story line is original and it was good enough to keep me reading in spite of numerous grammatical errors and a few occasions when the author slipped into 3rd person. It gets a little cheesy in one or two places, but not too bad. I love the main character's wit and spirit and the open mindedness of the main character and the book as a whole.
May 24, 2017
Me reading anything with vampires? Never thought it would happen, but, subtracting that part, it was a well-written novel set in Ireland during the span of several generations. It demonstrated how life and times, not to mention mores and mindsets, change.
I probably will not read any more of her books; however I am glad I stumbled onto this one.
I probably will not read any more of her books; however I am glad I stumbled onto this one.
June 26, 2017
Very different than my usual genre and I fell upon this. I was immediately drawn into the story and captivated throughout.
October 23, 2014
Mixed feelings but overall it was a nice story. I feel like the author grasped their romance in a beautiful way, but failed in handling other relationships in a realistic manner. A jumpy and scattered read, but the good is there and worth the read.
February 21, 2014
Really good - definitely not your typical vampire book... very minor storyline. Worth the read!
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April 6, 2018A well told, fast moving story of love and lust between women of two different species, a human and a vampire. Life in Ireland, the struggle and success, love and prejudice, all have their places in the book. The story is told through meticulously written diaries. At some point, one wonders, why the diary mentions a futuristic comment, something like, we never met again. But that apart, Evelyn and Talia's (the vampire) characters are well conceived.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews