Singing Bird

by Roisin McAuley

Twenty-seven years after she adopted her baby daughter in Ireland, Lena Molloy receives a mysterious call from Sister Monica, the nun who set up the adoption. She claims that she wants merely to tie up loose ends before she retires, but Lena, who feels both anxious and frightened after the call, is tempted to probe deeper into the meaning of their conversation. Against her husband's wishes, and accompanied by her best friend, Alma -- who is nursing a broken heart -- Lena travels to the west of Ireland on a secret mission to trace the birth parents of her daughter, Mary, an up-and-coming star in the world of opera. At first the trail seems to have gone cold. Saint Joseph's home for unmarried mothers has become an old people's home, and Sister Monica is dismissive and unforthcoming. Then a chance meeting sets Lena on a journey through Ireland and into the past, taking her through many twists and turns to an outcome she could never have anticipated. Singing Bird is a fresh, penetrating novel filled with emotional complexity, psychological suspense and Irish charm. It is a story about deeply rooted secrets, the unshakable bonds between family and friends and the constant human struggle to unearth the truth about our own personal history. Roisin McAuley's debut novel is a beguiling and timeless tale of faith and devotion that will touch everyone who reads it.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Drama, Mystery, Ireland, Contemporary, Ebooks

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Roisin McAuley grew up in Northern Ireland and is a graduate from Queen’s University, Belfast. She has been a journalist and has written documentaries and features for BBC Radio.

Roisin McAuley also writes under the pen name R.I. Olufsen.

Reviews

[Wilma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feelgood roman...eenvoudig geschreven, het verhaal kabbelt rustig door. Het boek is makkelijk weg te leggen en weer op te pakken. Als tussendoortje een aanrader!

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story centred around adoption, with a bit of history and Irish culture. I found the main characters determination quite annoying but overall a good storyline with a good twist at the end.

[Noella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lena en Jack hebben 27 jaar geleden een meisje geadopteerd, Mary, die nu een gevierde operazangeres is. Lena besluit om op zoek te gaan naar Mary's biologische ouders, mede omdat ze zelf geadopteerd was en toen ze zelf op zoek ging naar haar roots, was het te laat, alle sporen liepen dood.
Lena gaat terug naar Ierland, naar het tehuis waar Mary geboren is. Eerst stuit ze op veel tegenkanting, maar ze blijft doorzetten totdat ze achter de waarheid komt. Maar die is zeker niet wat ze had verwacht...
Dit is een boek dat vlot leest, een leuk tussendoortje eigenlijk. De meeste karakters blijven nogal oppervlakkig. Toch was dit aangename lectuur.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book at a second hand store and thought it sounded so interesting from the back of the book. Unfortunately, I was not as thrilled once I started reading it. I felt drawn to finish it, to see what people were calling a "thriller." It does have an interesting plot twist at the end, but I figured it out beforehand....but it just seemed too impossible to really happen. A few of the characters were believable, but some were a little flat. I did like reading a bit more about adoption stories, but overall the book was just OK. A few times in the book characters who were casually introduced earlier were brought back into the story, with no reference point, and I had to flip through the book to figure out who they were. The character of the daughter, the singer, was also a bit flat. Or it could be that I just didn't like her much. I will not go out of my way to recommend the book to anyone, but if you are interested in adoption stories you would probably enjoy it.

[Rebecca gubbels · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik heb dit boek al een tijdje in me kast en dacht het word tijd om er in te beginnen. Maar ik kwam er maar niet in. Ik vond het begin nogal saai. En ja als een boek niet leuk is stop ik er mee er zijn genoeg andere boeken die je wel aanspreken.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard about this book from Bas Bleu, one of the best book catalogs around. It's the story of a mother searching for the truth behind her adopted daughter's birth. I could not put this book down--I read it in two days, and I never read books that quickly, especially in the middle of the week. It beautifully pulls you along, and you meet all kinds of interesting people--women who have had to give their babies up, but continue to search for them. Highly recommended.

[patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Singing Bird by Roisin McAuley is a book about Lena. Lena decides to search for her adopted daughters birth mother and her story. She and her husband Jack adopted Mary in Ireland, Mary is now an opera singer. The search brings up old secrets but Lena persists. She left her search to late and doesn't want Mary to do the same. Watch what you pray for or wish for could be the theme

[Amanda]

I really liked this novel. It's a search for identity, and how the past shapes the person you become. The protagonist, Lena, is searching for her adopted daughter's birth parents in a vicarious sort of way; she herself was adopted, but left her search too late and never found her parents. While she has the sort of luck in her search that you can only find in fiction, as well as a very interesting but extraordinarily unlikely plot twist at the end, I liked the story despite its slightly unbelievable bits.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn’t see the ending coming

This was a decent read and kept my attention. I liked the main character and her friend. Her husband was kind of on the periphery most of the time, and this added to the plot in retrospect. I spent evenings late into the night reading, so I’m guessing that that means it held my attention. I like the descriptions of the UK, the food, and it’s different way of life. Overall plot was interesting, and the ending caught me completely offguard.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read for me. I enjoyed the writting and the story.
It is a bout a Mother (Lena) who goes back to Ireland, to find out who the real birth parents are from her adopted daughter.

Perfect book to read in the summer.

[Nancy Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just did not work for me. I never felt any connection with the characters. The mother in the story irritated me so badly I just wanted to reach into the pages and slap her. The coincidences that took place throughout the book were TOO coincidental. I could go on and on.

Lena is a mother of an up and rising opera singer, Mary. Unable to have children of her own, Mary, is Lena's only adopted child. In fact, Lena, was herself adopted as an infant. Lena's adopted parents died before she was able to ask any questions about her birth mother. She takes it upon herself to begin seeking out the birth parents of her own adopted child who is now 27. She proceeds with this undertaking without the knowledge and/or consent of her husband or daughter. This began my dislike of the mother who would attempt such a personal and emotional feat without thinking of the repercussions to all involved. And my contempt for her continued to increase at the same speed in which the page number grew. There was a twist in the story towards the end that was the "ultimate" coincidence and settled the scorecard on how I felt about the book. (Don't worry I never include spoilers.)

The Singing Bird just didn't hold that sweet refrain you expect to receive in a beautiful song. It fell both flat and sour on my taste buds. This has been my first reading disappointment in 2021, but on a positive note, if it is the one and only for the year, then I will consider myself lucky and successful in my literary journey.

[Deborah McFadden · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read, rather pedestrian, no big surprises as I figured out the main “mystery” early on. Having said that, it still made for an enjoyable enough summer read.

[Marjanneke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk boek om tussendoor te lezen, een verhaal waar je niet al te veel bij na hoeft te denken en ook enige spanning in zich heeft.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-seven years after she adopted her baby daughter in Ireland, Lena Malloy has a telephone call from Sister Monica , the nun who set up the adoption. She claimed that she wanted to tie up loose ends before she retired., but Lena feels anxious and frightened and is tempted to probe deeper into the meaning of the conversation. Lena travels to the west of Ireland with her best friend, Alma, against her husband's wishes. They have recently purchased a new house and Lena has packed up everything and wants to find out more about the nun's call. She secretly wants to trace the birth parents of her daughter who is an up-and-coming star in the world of opera. Joseph's ;home for unwed mothers has become an old people's home. Sister Monica is dismissive and unforthcoming and pricks Lena's interests even more as she feels there is something the nun is holding back. A chance meeting sends Lena on a journey through Ireland and into the past, taking her through many twists and turns to an outcome she could never have anticipated. The novel is filled with emotional complexity, psychological suspense, and Irish charm. There are secrets that could bring either separation or more closeness. The novel is a the story about deeply rooted secrets that have the potential to destroy a family or bring the family closer. A great read by a new novelist.

[Tjode · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Free-Friday Nook selection -- Lena Molloy and her husband (from England) were in Ireland for a wedding. A nun approaches the couple about a baby needing a home. Lena and her husband jump at the chance to adopt little Mary. Now 26 years later, the nun calls out of the blue asking about Mary. The nun says that she is retiring and wants to check on the children adopted from the orphanage where she had worked. Mary, a singer, will be performing in Dublin so Mary and her friend Alma go to Ireland on a holiday. Lena, also adopted, regrets not being able to find her own birth parents so she is determined to find Mary's birth parents. Twists and turns lead to a happy-ever-after ending. I figured out the twists before the story's end, but it was still and enjoyable read.

[Colleen Squires · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book but found it to be a bit unbelievable as things fell into place too easily for this mother, searching for her adopted daughter's parents (especially since she was searching in Ireland, an area not well known to her). There was a twist, which I had figured out many pages before it was revealed. Lena, the adoptive mother who set out on this search, frustrated me with her tunnel vision, missing clues throughout her life, not asking questions when she should have, not being a good friend, and seemingly not paying much attention to her husband's business and travels. The book ended somewhat abruptly. I wished for an epilogue to tie up loose ends.

[Sandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of loving and belonging, with a suspense-filled plot. I really enjoyed this book, and finding another new-to-me author. A really great read!

From Amazon:
Twenty-seven years after she adopted her baby in Ireland, Lena Molloy receives a call from the nun who set up the adoption. Sister Monica claims that she wants merely to tie up loose ends in her old age, but Lena becomes frightened that something more threatening lies behind the call, and she sets off on a journey to Ireland, with her best friend, to find her daughter's birth parents.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful book loved the twist! never saw it coming.

[Joanne]

I really liked this book. good storyline.

[Josephine Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by this author. It is not serious literature, but good escapist literature. I enjoyed my trip to Ireland, it was fun. It also writes about forgiving wrongs done to you and to others.

Not now, but in time not so long ago, illegitimately was terrible in Ireland. Young women who became pregnant, were made to feel like criminals. They were sent away, kept in secret, to places where they stayed until their babies were born, then placed for adoption. In part of the book, women were looking to find their lost children. Now things have changed, women kept their kids which is so much better.

Lena Molloy, who with her husband, Jack, has gone to a wedding in Ireland. She is childless, lady wants a baby. A nun, Sister Monica, tells her of a baby girl, a few weeks old, who needs a family. Lena and Jack are delighted, to the moon and back. So the two become parents.

Years go bye. Mary becomes a singer, a beautiful voice, a beautiful girl, who sings all over the world. She makes CDs, sings and appears in theaters in so many big cities. Where did she get her superior talent? Then Sister Monica calls Lena and asks about her daughter, she is retiring from St. Joseph's, once a home for pregnant, unmarried girls and their babies, now a place for the sick elderly.

Lena wonders about the call. Is something wrong? Lena had been adopted and never knew her biological parents, though she always wondered. She feels she needs to find Mary's family. Mary can care less. She has a mother and father. Lena made me mad, made me annoyed, let things alone. Then I thought possibly, later in time, Mary might wonder. Mary is happy with who she is.

So Lena and her best friend, Alma, a few years younger, leave England to go to Ireland. Alma is a mistress to a married man. Lena feels her best friend deserves better, a good man who loves her.

The two travel all over Ireland, meeting many, speaking to many, looking for people who might know something about who Mary's parents could be, did they know somebody with musical talent. There is quite a bit of different kind of music in this book. There is also a station where mothers and children who are searching for one another can find the lost ones, or find a bit of information to keep looking.

[Regina Meehan-simunek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book with a cup of tea

Roisin McAuley
Singing Bird

This was my first Roisin McAuley novel. One does not have to read far to smile at the title’s connection to the story. A beautifully written story of parental love with glimpses of Ireland. Singing Bird is the story of a woman, Lena Malloy, who was an adopted person starts searching for the parents of the young woman (Mary) she and her husband adopted nearly 30 years ago. Lena thought it was too late to find her own birth parents and had often wondered what they were like. She always felt an important part of her was missing. She didn’t want Mary to one day be disappointed not knowing, and not being able to find out. You can feel Lena’s emotional roll coaster. You can understand the concerns of her best friend - Alma. As for Donal I felt like I had met him numerous times in my life, a fine likable, professional Irish man. Donal also adds a little spark to the story.
We are given an insight as to how difficult it was before 2015 in Ireland for a person to get information on who their biological parents were. Also very slight but a glimpse at the power once held by the nuns, and priests in Ireland over the communities they lived in. There were a few times I questioned the conclusions Lena was arriving at but let it go as Lena was obviously driven with a great deal of love to find out who where Mary’s biological parents. There were other subtle clues but I did not hear them until the end - when one says oh that’s why he or she said or did that. The stories conclusion was one that made me smile, Roisin McAuley did not disappoint she added another road not yet taken and I was so happily satisfied how she tied it all up. My favorite line is “all women are either women, girls or men”. I recommend this book and give it five stars.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little like PHILOMENA. Whereas PHILOMENA is a true story of an Irish woman giving birth in an institution run by the Magdalen Sisters in Ireland & a search for a lost son who was 'sold' by the nuns to an American couple, 'Singing Bird' is fiction.

Twenty seven years after she adopted a baby girl in Ireland, Lena Molloy receives a call from the nun who set up the adoption. Sister Monica claims that she merely wants to tie up loose ends before she retires, but Lena is intrigued and worried by the call, and has her own loose ends to tie up. With her best friend, Alma, she travels to the west coast of Ireland on a secret mission to trace the birth parents of her daughter, now making her international debut as an opera singer.

At first trail seems to have gone cold. Saint Joseph's home for unmarried mothers has become an old people's home and Sister Monica in the flesh is dismissive and unforthcoming. Then a chance meeting sets Lena on a journey through many twists and turns to an outcome which in her wildest dreams she could not have foreseen.

[Karry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not a terrible read, I didn't give it a 1 star, but it has some flaws that just drove me crazy when we were reading it. IF, you like fairytales and love all things Irish, this is the book for you. It focuses on a married couple who adopted an Irish baby girl. They had tried and tried to get pregnant but what a lucky strike when a nun approaches them at a wedding they're attending and tells them that if they want a baby girl, she will provide one. So, any believers out there? I thought not. On it goes with twists and turns in the plot, one unbelievable turn after another and I, a skeptic at the best of times, call fouls after each event. It was clever how the author winds the whole thing up at the end. I think the more odd the twists, the less I liked the plot, and the more I was able to accept it as a fairy tale. In then end, but a fairy tale usually presents a large as life lesson for the reader. In this book there was no lesson learned by anyone. Bah Humbug.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent story and easy to read although the characters could have been more developed. Lena projected her own needs on Mary and spent most of her time justifying what she was doing. The clues to Mary's parents were not very subtle and I knew the father's identity about half way through the book. There are always choices when reading a book: read for the story or read for the lessons. For me, the book was about the lessons; however, with a bit more work the author could have provide a fantastic story (instead of just an okay one) and the lesson. The book's ending was more of a beginning. I was more anxious to see how Lena resolved her situation than the cliff hanger that was provided.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, a mother (Lena) of an adopted daughter (Mary) goes in search of her adopted daughter's birth parents although Mary has shown no such interest. Lena, also adopted, has never been able to find hers and feels that someday Mary will want to know as she herself did/does.

The search takes her to Ireland and the unwed mother's home from which Mary came. While there (on a trip with a good friend), the reader meets some interesting characters although you never get to know any of them in much depth. We get a few bits of Ireland's history and landscape but I would have preferred much more.

There are enough twists/turns to keep the reader engaged until the very end. There is only a very rare bit of profanity. No sex scenes. So, all in all, an interesting read.

[loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book because of the title and premise. It was an enjoyable read but encompassed too much melodrama for me. I really would have given it 3 1/2 stars but option was not available. Lena Malloy is happily married but childless then he and her husband adopt a baby girl from a catholic home for unwed mothers. This occurred at a time when unwed mothers were ostracized. Twenty-seven years later, their daughter,Mary, is a well known opera singer and Lena, who is herself adopted, sets out to find Mary’s birth parents. At this point the novel begins its slide into melodrama and events occur which defy reason. The characters are likable but Lena’s obsessive pursuit of her daughters birth parents becomes a bit much. I knew long before it was revealed who the parent would be and found myself skipping over things to get to the end. Hmm... maybe it should be a 3.

[Claire Belberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Searching for the birth parents of her adopted daughter against the advice of her husband, Lena Molloy and her friend Alma visit Ireland, where Mary had been born. One clue leads to another and, in spite of her promises to herself, Lena ends up with the information she sought, more than she might have wished for.

I found Lena's obvious projection of her thwarted desires to find her own parents troubling. She is not very honest with herself and she doesn't become more so by the end. She's a woman with not enough to do to give her life a purpose, which makes her a meddler. But following the clues and solving the mystery makes it an interesting read.

[Michele Zito · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful story. The torment that one does through being adopted and not being able to find any information on your birth parents. But the irony is having adopted a baby yourself and finding out how she happened to end up in your loving arms twenty seven years later . Lena goes on a holiday in Ireland and decides to find out where her beloved Mary came from, so that she can give this information to her knowing that this will make her happy.
What Lena discover after much sleuthing around will have devastating effects on her life, her husband and daughter.
An excellent read.
Michele Zito

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about adopted children and their quest to find their birth parents. This story has a different twist in that, a mother who was adopted herself, takes on the search for her adopted daughters birth parents.The mother started her search for her own birth parents too late - her birth mother had already died. Even though her own adopted daughter says that she has no interest to find her birth parents, the mother thinks that she secretly does and sets out to find them as a surprise for her daughter. What she finds is both a joy and a shock.

[Georgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an OK read, dithered between 2 and 3 but 2 is a bit harsh. The basic story is good, dealing with adoption and the effect it has especially when it is almost impossible to find details about your own birth, details that the rest of us take for granted, as everyone should. But I found the actions of the main character annoying, looking into her daughters adoption without her permission, assuming it is something she will want to know. And then the apparent ease with which she got details which led her to the truth. And finally, the twist was too far fetched for me.