Ipswich, Mon Amour

by Stephen Burke

A family secret buried for generations is about to send 23-year-old Nora Mahoney on the quest of her life.

The story opens when her life as a snowboard instructor in Sun Valley, ID, and her first serious adult relationship are both crashing and burning. In the aftermath, she visits her grandmother in Ipswich, MA. There she finds inspiration and a new purpose in the family tradition of farming, something her mother rejected.

Bringing the family farm back to life becomes an obsession for Nora. She struggles as a newbie, in part because she suffered the loss of her right hand as a child. But she deals with the challenges and finds a new sense of community among her neighboring farmers. With one of them, Nora attempts to rekindle a same-sex romance from her teenage summers in the seaside town.

When she learns of unanswered questions surrounding her French origins, the mystery leads Nora to Paris and a magical encounter with the world of death, then to southern France, where she makes a startling discovery that solves the century-old puzzle. On her return, an unexpected event pits Nora’s interests against her mother’s. It also puts the fate of the family legacy, and Nora’s future, in jeopardy.

Nora’s story is a quest for redemption, not only for herself and a lost flame, but for generations of her family.

445 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2025

About the author

Stephen Burke grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, during the turbulent time of the 1970s. While pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University, he looked back to those early years in writing The Chieftains of South Boston, a tale of three Mahoney brothers. It explores a sense of place and how it can shape a person’s destiny.
He moved to Seattle in 1990 and made the city his new home. In 2021, he published The Mahoneys of West Seattle. Set in Seattle and Alaska, it’s a sequel that follows the lives of Matthew Mahoney, Anne Boushay and their two children. The third book in the series is titled Ipswich, Mon Amour. It focuses on 23-year-old Nora Mahoney as she explores her French origins, and searches for a new life and a new love in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author was really good at describing Ipswich and the surrounding towns, but really the story was a bunch of nothing leading nowhere and took a long time to get there.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ipswich, Mon Amour is a beautiful journey of self-discovery, family legacy, and second chances. Nora is a compelling, resilient heroine, and the blend of farming life, romance, and mystery—stretching from Massachusetts to France—kept me fully engaged. A heartfelt story about roots, love, and finding your place in the world.

[Cecelia Berlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Familiar Territory

I grew up in Salem and moved to Arizona. I visit Salem every couple of years. A visit always includes a trip to Ipswich for fried clams. I enjoyed the characters and the mention of the familiar New England places.

[Sharon Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it ended abruptly, but other than that enjoyed the book.