Now & Then

by Jacqueline Sheehan

Anna O'Shea has failed at marriage, shed her job at a law firm, and she's trying to re-create herself when she and her recalcitrant nephew are summoned to the past in a manner that nearly destroys them. Her twenty-first-century skills pale as she struggles to find her nephew in nineteenth-century Ireland. For one of them, the past is brutally difficult, filled with hunger and struggle. For the other, the past is filled with privilege, status, and a reprieve from the crushing pain of present-day life. For both Anna and her nephew, the past offers them a chance at love.

Will every choice they make reverberate down through time? And do Irish Wolfhounds carry the soul of the ancient celts?

The past and present wrap around finely wrought characters who reveal the road home. Mystical, charming, and fantastic, New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Sheehan's Now & Then is a poignant and beautiful tale of a remarkable journey. It is a miraculous evocation of a breathtaking place in a volatile age filled with rich, unforgettable, deeply human characters and one unforgettable dog named Madigan.

Genres: Fiction, Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Chick Lit, Fantasy, Dogs, Animals

386 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2009

About the author

Jacqueline Sheehan, Ph.D., is a fiction writer and essayist. She is also a practicing psychologist. She is a New Englander through and through, but spent twenty years living in the western states of Oregon, California, and New Mexico doing a variety of things, including house painting, freelance photography, newspaper writing, clerking in a health food store, and directing a traveling troupe of high school puppeteers.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had two major problems with Now & Then. For some reason this book was marketed as a book about a magical dog. If you are a dog person and are looking for a book about dogs, do yourself a favor and walk away from this book. The dog has a very small part in the book. Don’t believe that cute cover with the Irish Wolfhound looking at you. I was more interested in the time travel aspect of the book. That portion of the book was very well done as Anna O’Shea travels back from current day Boston to 1844 in Ireland. Her nephew Joseph also travels with her, but both are separated upon arrival. Joseph ends up being taken in by a wealthy landowner who recognizes him as a well-educated young man. He is allowed to lead a life of luxury with his new benefactor. Anna is taken in by a poor Irish family struggling to survive. Both Anna’s and Joseph’s stories of survival in 1840’s Ireland were fascinating. How they returned home and the conclusion of the book were so far-fetched and unbelievable, I still feel some resentment that the author couldn’t come up with a better way to end her story.

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was puzzled by this book. According to the book jacket, an Irish wolfhound by the name of Madigan is supposed to be an unforgettable character. The reason I read the book was that I am crazy about dogs and thought this would be an enjoyable story featuring a dog. Wrong! The dog was hardly in the book at all, and I certainly wouldn't call the few mentionings "unforgettable." Did whoever wrote the blurb want people who liked dogs to read the book? I read it, but would not have read it if I knew the dog played such a minor role.

So, end of griping. It was a story of a woman and her nephew who were sent back in time to 1844 Ireland. Both ended up in different locations in Ireland - the woman, Anna O'Shea, ends up with a peasant family. Her nephew, Joseph, is taken in by a rich English landowner. We see a lot of Irish history and how they felt about the English. It might have been more interesting if they stayed longer and experienced the potato famine, which was mentioned. All in all, it wasn't a bad book, but not all that special either.

[Staci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I jumped at the chance to read this book and then host a Tour Stop on my blog. Why? Because I had just recently finished Lost & Found and totally fell in love with the entire story and cast of characters, most especially the dog! The first thing that struck me was that Now & Then had a totally different feeling to it, right from the very first page. I found that really refreshing. Sometimes author's get stuck in a rut and one book reads like the last one, but that didn't happen here. It's really hard to paraphrase this novel because the story is complicated, but not in a bad way. It starts off in the present day, and then the next thing you know Anna and her nephew Joseph get ripped from this world and find themselves in Ireland circa 1844. As you read you think to yourself, "How in the hell is the author going to make the connection here?"
I said that often but then I quit trying to figure out the WHY and just relaxed and let the story take me where it wanted. The pieces fall into place... and you begin to realize how past choices can have such a major affect on present day situations and relationships. Saying much more would really ruin the reading experience so I will end with a gentle nudge and tell you that you won't regret the time you spend reading Now & Then.......a favorite read of mine for 2009!

Favorite passage:

"Glennie was for the living. When my wife and sons died, it was Glennie who kept me from slitting me own throat, or turning to drink. She told me to honor them by living. She said the dead, the fairies, and God, all of them grow sad when we throw away the sights and smells of this life. When we sing, they sing. When we love, they love." They fell back on the blanket-covered hay. "I always knew that it would come to talk of fairies. Should we make them all happy? Will you make love with me?" she asked.



P.S. This book made me want an Irish Wolfhound!!!

[Danielle Kragnes Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the dog on the cover of this book, or the fact that I bought it in a section of the book store where there was a display of books all with dog charcters, or the fact that the dog character is mentioned in the front subtitle and the back cover summary, there is no significant dog character. The dog was barely mentioned at all and not even for the first time until way into the book and even then didn't have much significane. I was sucked into this book in the beginning for the first 50 pages or so but then it took a time travel twist back to Ireland 1844. I didn't enjoy most of the middle 300 pages. I enjoyed the last 50 and first 50 but the middle was long, drawn out and not that exciting. It was a little too mystical for my taste but I really wanted to know what happened so I read the whole thing. I guess it wasn't that bad but I was just expecting something different. The author is great with her words though. I enjoyed Lost and Found MUCH better, which is what drew me to this book (same author).

[kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ho hum. The story centers around a malfunctioning family in crisis. After her brother is seriously injured in an accident, Anna O'Shea and her nephew touch a talisman and are transported back to Ireland just before the famine, where they experience life from the perspective of different social classes. The book jacket indicated that a "very special dog" was somehow key to the resolution of the story... Sorry, the dog is in there, but has no "role" to speak of. The time travel element is just a way for the author to explore broken family dynamics from a slightly different angle... It was interesting enough to keep me reading long enough to finish the book, but not memorable enough to write anything more here.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Damn, this book put me in a reading slump. I haven't NOT wanted to read so ferociously in a very long time...
In a nutshell, this is a shitty, dollar store version of Outlander. Poorly written, poorly plotted, with wretched characters and an embarrassingly poor grasp on 1844 Ireland. And what is with gratuitous cursing and references to sex? It was like listening to a tween who is just learning how to curse...uncomfortable and unnecessary.
And the nonsense in the blurb about the dog, and the cover showing a dog... it was all a marketing ploy, playing off the massive success of her other book, Lost and Found, which centers around a grieving woman and a dog she rescues.
So glad this is over with. I'm pissed I wasted a week on it, but glad it's over.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a tough time rating this one. It felt a little slow in the beginning,was tough to put down throughout the middle and then ended on a slightly confused note. She reeled me in talking mostly about the dog in description and I just didn't feel that the character of Madigan -- the beautiful Irish Wolfhound -- and his importance to the story and relationship with the other characters were executed as well as they could have been.

I thought the way the story was wrapped all together felt like a bit of a stretch, but the storylines themselves were pretty compelling.

[Sterlingcindysu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sheehan does a good job of writing about 1844 Ireland (one year before the Great Potato Faminine begins). If the middle 300 pages were the book, I'd give it another star.

But no, she can't leave a perfectly good historical novel alone, she muddies the water with time travel, and I can't get my head wrapped around the situation--they go back in time again, to correct a mistake. And it's a piece of shredded underwear that they leave behind the first time that zaps 'em back? Yet Anna is wearing the underwear, so how can it be in two places at once? And (the usual time travel question) if a descendant has sex with an ancestor who becomes pregnant, doesn't that screw things up somewhere?

By the time they arrive back to the present, I'd forgotten all the characters and and to skim the first 20 pages again. Then the ending has alot of unexplained things, as Sheehan thinks, whoa, I've overextended the book and must end it right NOW!

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I haven't read a book about time travel in a while, this is nothing like the time travel romances I used to read.

Picture an aunt and nephew unexpectedly thrown back into the pre-famine days of Ireland, where they not only have to learn how to fend for themselves--in a world without all the technology and modern amenities they are used to--but they are also separated in this journey back into the past.

Well written with characters you will cheer on, and a surprising but bittersweet ending I could not predict, this is a great read for anyone who likes a good story with a little bit of magic...

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about aunt and nephew who were sent back in time to 1844 (a year before the great Potato Famine) landing in different parts of Ireland. I loved how the author tells the story, captivating and fully invested in the characters and history of the Irish/English of that era. Made me really think about all the 'things' we have and thoughtlessly throw away while they had to struggle to survive day to day.

It would have been 4 stars, but the ending felt a little to rushed 'to be done'. A definite 3.5 stars.

[Liz Sergent · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok, too much talk of miscarriages....not enough dog.

Anna left her job at a law firm, goes to Ireland, coming home in a rough plane ride to the call that her brother was in a horrible car accident....so she goes to the detention facility her nephew is in to pick him up and they start have dreams...the book then goes into a time travel story line.

[Mckenzie Bruyere · Rating 2 out of 5]

Done!

[Christie Bane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly enjoyable book although you might be disappointed if you picked it up thinking it is (as the cover claims) a dog story. There ARE dogs in the story, but they play a very minor role. Strangely, though, even the minor role was enough to create a small obsession with Irish Wolfhounds in my brain where I definitely never had one before. So this non-dog dog story has some power after all. It’s a story about time travel although I picked up the book with no idea what it was about and was shocked to find that it was about time travel when I was looking forward to a novel about family conflict. Oh, did I mention it’s also about Ireland? And that I’ve never been interested in Ireland before either, but now definitely am? So yeah, you should probably just read it.

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasn't sure I would like this book when I realized it included time travel but it was so good!

[K (Karen) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really not about a dog. It features time travel, families, and love.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a good book! I really enjoyed it! It is such a fun chick-lit/magical realism/time travel mash up! It's very well done! The characters were all likable and the historical part was well handled, too. the Irish element was a lot of fun and the voices and setting truly came to life. It was a fast read and like any book that deals with time travel definitely requires some suspension of disbelief, but it's well worth it! It reminded me a lot of Cecelia Ahern's books and not just because of the Irish setting, but also the magical element. The ending wasn't perfectly handled, but then with time travel that can be pretty tricky! I've enjoyed both Sheehan's books and will continue to look out for her work in the future!

[Sue Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of you didn't like the book because unlike her previous book, Lost and Found, the dog does not play a major part in the story. I was disappointed too but once I figured that out and concentrated on the basic story line I loved it. It is a time travel love story and I loved it. I liked the characters and the dog when he was in the picture which, granted, wasn't very often. So when you read it forget about the dog and concentrate on the people and it really is a good story.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Jacqueline Sheehan’s Lost and Found, which was pretty dog-centric and enjoyed it. Given that, I figured this one would be in a similar vein. It’s a bit of a bait and switch in terms of how much the featured Irish Wolfhound plays into the story, which was a bit of a bummer. However, I did enjoy it as a quick listen on Audible. I’m a fan of Outlander, which this reminded me of in premise.

Nothing groundbreaking. But it was fine.

[RoseAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read like a less intense version of Outlander. I felt a little mislead by the cover as the dog has little to do with the story.

The characters were well developed and I found myself completely understanding their actions and motivations.

Having visited Ireland many years ago I found the descriptions of the Irish locations to bring back many sweet memories of those areas.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an ok story. Didn't really pull me in.

[Logan Wilde Coxsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was not what I expected

[Mtzlplk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh? The marketing of this book is completely off base. It is NOT a book about dogs in general or Irish Wolfhounds to be more precise. It's true, you can't judge a book by it's color but you can sure be misled by one! So.... that having been said, it remains a beach read in my opinion. It's quick and easy to read. Mind numbingly easy to read.
It felt like the author had a really good idea, but then fell into every single trap of borrowing from other stories. This has been done. A lot. It ended abruptly and open ended enough to think this was all just a set-up for the follow up book. Part 2 of the lives of Anna & Joseph O'Shea. Too many loose ends to make it a stand-alone story.
It's a pleasant enough read to keep you going until the end. I was kind of rooting for a couple of the characters to be successful. The happy ending stuff. Luckily the author shied away from winding up everyone's lives with a neat bow as the story ended. I say again, this seems to be book one of a series. I'm not likely to buy book 2, but if I came across a copy I would read it. That's contradictory enough, I am aware. So I'm stuck in the middle of whether or not to recommend it. Proceed at your own pace, with caution. I am going to track down some of her earlier work as I'm hearing it's some good stuff for dog people.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 25% of the novel deals with a sadly dysfunctional family in modern day Boston. Two generations of fathers have verbally and physically abused their sons. The protagonist Anna O'Shea is a successful lawyer but very unhappy. She is divorced and suffered many miscarriages. A tragic accident occurs in the family which catapults Anna and her nephew Joseph back in time to Ireland of 1844, the year before the Potato Famine began.

I could not put the book down once they arrived in Ireland. The author richly depicted Ireland of 1844, complete with smells of peat burning, pudding cakes baking; the mists that softly kiss and driving rain that stings; the brutal economic, social, political, physical and psychological injustice that the British heaped upon the Irish, and the gender roles which differ from modern times. The author has a degree in psychology which I believe drives her deep and interesting characters and their interactions with each other.

I recommend this lovely book. Oh by the way, there is a wonderful Irish Wolf Hound named Madigan!

[Kinyorda Sliwiak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as dog centered as her previous novels but still a good read. Time travel is presented in a creative way that keeps the reader engaged. Characters are flawed but not so much that you aren't rooting for them. I was onboard with the time travel piece but I didn't like how it was resolved in the end. The plot twist is explained by a circular family tree that just doesn't make sense. I'm all in for fantasy but there has to be some logic in there. Like all of Sheehan's books, this book is a quick read. It is well written and, aside for some plot issues at the end, this is a good book. I'll keep reading Sheehan books and hope to go back to more dogs and tighter storylines in future reads.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

modern fable

This is one of the best time travel stories I’ve come across. Usually I avoid Irish fairy tales but this one is different from the beginning and unpredictable as it progresses. It also reminds us of how cruel the British aristocracy was in the years before and after the great potato famine. Instead of a traveler being a know it all and wowing the rubes, it’s the travelers who learn a thing or two.

[Marseydoats · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a really hard time getting this book to come up in the database, and I was ready to forget about it when it finally popped up. The main reason I log what I read is to keep me from re-reading so many books. The first 50 pages of this book are so blah! and ho-hum that I almost quit. But once time shifts it gets interesting really fast.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story pulled me in right away. The writing was fluid and the story was told so well. It's about time traveling to Ireland in the seventeenth century. I loved the historical information that was told in such an interesting way. Being Irish myself with my grandfather coming from County Cork, this book held a special fascination for me.

[Charron Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s about time travel. Starts out with a bit of an outlanders vibe but not rich enough narrative. The dog plays a very little role in the book. It had enough of a storyline to keep me interested, but the ending was definitely a disappointment

[Rhiannon Gurkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

*DNF* I don’t do this often but I had to with this book, it’s so boring and very hard to power through with reading it. Also mentions sex scenes between younger kids that gave me the ick, they were high school age

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was about a dog. Nothing was further from the truth. it is a book about time travel and could be considered historical fiction as well. It was painstakingly slow. The only part I enjoyed was learning about the Irish culture and their struggles during that time period.