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Waiting for the Miracle
2010
Caroline has hit rock bottom. After years of trying, it's clear she can't have children, and the pain has driven her and her husband apart. She isn't pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead.
The other women at her infertility support group have their own problems, too. Natalie's girlfriend is much less excited about having children than her. Janet's husband might be having an affair. And then there's Ronnie, intriguing, mysterious Ronnie, who won't tell anyone her story.
1976
Catherine is sixteen and pregnant. Her boyfriend wants nothing to do with her, and her parents are ashamed. When she's sent away to a convent for pregnant girls, she is desperate not to be separated from her child. But she knows she might risk losing the baby forever.
Caroline has hit rock bottom. After years of trying, it's clear she can't have children, and the pain has driven her and her husband apart. She isn't pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead.
The other women at her infertility support group have their own problems, too. Natalie's girlfriend is much less excited about having children than her. Janet's husband might be having an affair. And then there's Ronnie, intriguing, mysterious Ronnie, who won't tell anyone her story.
1976
Catherine is sixteen and pregnant. Her boyfriend wants nothing to do with her, and her parents are ashamed. When she's sent away to a convent for pregnant girls, she is desperate not to be separated from her child. But she knows she might risk losing the baby forever.
397 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 10, 2021
74 people are currently reading
610 people want to read
About the author
Anna McPartlin
27 books592 followersAnna McPartlin is an international best selling author, currently published in 15 languages across 18 countries. Pack Up The Moon and The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes were nominated for Irish book awards. Rabbit Hayes also won a silver readers book award in Germany. In the UK it was a Simon Mayo and Richard and Judy book club pick and in the USA it was a Barnes & Nobel Book of the Month.
In the last few years Anna has been honing her TV scriptwriting skills working on medical drama ‘Holby City’ for the BBC (UK), legal drama ‘Striking Out,’ for RTE (IRE) and historical adaptation Jesus His Life for History Channel (USA).
Anna was nominated for an Irish Film & Television Academy award for her one off bi-lingual drama ‘School Run,’ and is currently in development with Hot Drop Films / Treasure Entertainment and funded by Screen Ireland for the film adaptation of ‘Rabbit Hayes.’ She is also in development for a crime series ‘Serious Crimes,’ with Blinder Productions (Virgin Media) in IRE. A historical crime drama with Noho Film & TV (UK) and ‘Richter,’ an RTE/NZ TV co-production crime drama with Blinder Productions.
Anna’s first children’s book the ‘Fearless Five’ came out May 2019. Her next fiction novel ‘Below The Big Blue Sky,’ is on shelves in UK and IRE in April 2020 and she is currently working on her ninth commercial fiction title.
Anna started out briefly as an actress and stand-up comedian but although her heart wasn’t in performance, she revels in storytelling and shining a light in dark places. Anna’s USP is in tackling difficult subjects with understanding, empathy and humour that spills onto every page.
In the last few years Anna has been honing her TV scriptwriting skills working on medical drama ‘Holby City’ for the BBC (UK), legal drama ‘Striking Out,’ for RTE (IRE) and historical adaptation Jesus His Life for History Channel (USA).
Anna was nominated for an Irish Film & Television Academy award for her one off bi-lingual drama ‘School Run,’ and is currently in development with Hot Drop Films / Treasure Entertainment and funded by Screen Ireland for the film adaptation of ‘Rabbit Hayes.’ She is also in development for a crime series ‘Serious Crimes,’ with Blinder Productions (Virgin Media) in IRE. A historical crime drama with Noho Film & TV (UK) and ‘Richter,’ an RTE/NZ TV co-production crime drama with Blinder Productions.
Anna’s first children’s book the ‘Fearless Five’ came out May 2019. Her next fiction novel ‘Below The Big Blue Sky,’ is on shelves in UK and IRE in April 2020 and she is currently working on her ninth commercial fiction title.
Anna started out briefly as an actress and stand-up comedian but although her heart wasn’t in performance, she revels in storytelling and shining a light in dark places. Anna’s USP is in tackling difficult subjects with understanding, empathy and humour that spills onto every page.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
June 10, 2021
I've just looked back and I've been reading Anna McPartlin's books since way back in 2006, that's sixteen years of heartbreak and laughter. I love her writing, there is no other author who can reduce me to tears and then have me howling with laughter within one chapter.
I think it took around 35 pages of Wating For The Miracle before I had cried, both sad tears, and tears of laughter. Her writing is incredible, she takes the most serious of situations, she makes her characters go through so so much, yet she also makes me a laugh. This is a gift and I really admire her for it.
Waiting For The Miracle is set over two time periods. Catherine's story begins in 1976, and Caroline begins her tale in 2010. Dual time stories are my favourite, I think it's a clever way to allow readers lots more insight into the creation of character and situation, it works so well in this novel.
In 1976, sixteen year old Catherine is pregnant. This may be the 70s, where here in the UK, things were changing for the better for women, but Catherine is Irish and lives in deepest rural Ireland. Daughter of a pig farmer, in love with a boy from a well-to-do family, and desperate. Her family are shamed and before she knows it, she has been whisked away, out of sight from prying eyes and loose tongues.
In 2010 Caroline is desperate to become a mother. She knows that this journey has ended for her. So many failed pregnancies, so many desperate attempts at IVF. Her body is knackered and her marriage is hanging by a thread. Caroline is part of a support group for other women in the same situation and the story is told through the different experiences of the members of the group.
This story really broke me at times. I have a very very personal reason for that. I was born to an unmarried Irish Catholic woman in 1966. Ten whole years before Catherine's story, and every single day, I give thanks to the strength that my mother showed at that time. I give thanks that she managed to keep me, and rear me and find me a wonderful Daddy, and I cry on behalf of the women who were not able to do what she did.
Mc Partlin captures the anguish of these women so very well, she also explores the beauty of their friendship and their support system. When one of them becomes pregnant, her delight is overshadowed by her guilt at the thought of the continued suffering of her peers. This humanity is beautifully portrayed; the absolute strength of their commitment to each other is stunning and a testament to the amazing thing that is the friendship between women.
Back to Catherine. Oh, I adored her, and whilst I was totally taken by the modern day story, it was Catherine's tale that really did capture my heart. The inhumane conditions that she suffered, the indignities, the cruelties endured and her passion jumps from the page. Catherine is not only concerned about herself and her own unborn child, she feels so strongly about the other girls that she is locked away with; trying her best to be a supportive friend, which was almost impossible given the constraints put upon them by the Nuns who watched over them. I really do think that these women, who claim to have given their life to God, yet seem to relish the cruelty that they dish out were evil. I truly hope that not one of them can rest easily in their grave.
Despite the total devastation of the situations that the women in both parts of this story find themselves, there is a wonderful sense of wit and laughter running through the novel. McPartlin excels in the one-liner, and finding something to laugh about in the darkest of times.
The reader may wonder how the two threads tie together, and this becomes clear towards the end. The ending is bittersweet and once again, I cried.
I do not hesitate to recommend this magnificent book to everyone. Sure to be in my top books of this year.
I think it took around 35 pages of Wating For The Miracle before I had cried, both sad tears, and tears of laughter. Her writing is incredible, she takes the most serious of situations, she makes her characters go through so so much, yet she also makes me a laugh. This is a gift and I really admire her for it.
Waiting For The Miracle is set over two time periods. Catherine's story begins in 1976, and Caroline begins her tale in 2010. Dual time stories are my favourite, I think it's a clever way to allow readers lots more insight into the creation of character and situation, it works so well in this novel.
In 1976, sixteen year old Catherine is pregnant. This may be the 70s, where here in the UK, things were changing for the better for women, but Catherine is Irish and lives in deepest rural Ireland. Daughter of a pig farmer, in love with a boy from a well-to-do family, and desperate. Her family are shamed and before she knows it, she has been whisked away, out of sight from prying eyes and loose tongues.
In 2010 Caroline is desperate to become a mother. She knows that this journey has ended for her. So many failed pregnancies, so many desperate attempts at IVF. Her body is knackered and her marriage is hanging by a thread. Caroline is part of a support group for other women in the same situation and the story is told through the different experiences of the members of the group.
This story really broke me at times. I have a very very personal reason for that. I was born to an unmarried Irish Catholic woman in 1966. Ten whole years before Catherine's story, and every single day, I give thanks to the strength that my mother showed at that time. I give thanks that she managed to keep me, and rear me and find me a wonderful Daddy, and I cry on behalf of the women who were not able to do what she did.
Mc Partlin captures the anguish of these women so very well, she also explores the beauty of their friendship and their support system. When one of them becomes pregnant, her delight is overshadowed by her guilt at the thought of the continued suffering of her peers. This humanity is beautifully portrayed; the absolute strength of their commitment to each other is stunning and a testament to the amazing thing that is the friendship between women.
Back to Catherine. Oh, I adored her, and whilst I was totally taken by the modern day story, it was Catherine's tale that really did capture my heart. The inhumane conditions that she suffered, the indignities, the cruelties endured and her passion jumps from the page. Catherine is not only concerned about herself and her own unborn child, she feels so strongly about the other girls that she is locked away with; trying her best to be a supportive friend, which was almost impossible given the constraints put upon them by the Nuns who watched over them. I really do think that these women, who claim to have given their life to God, yet seem to relish the cruelty that they dish out were evil. I truly hope that not one of them can rest easily in their grave.
Despite the total devastation of the situations that the women in both parts of this story find themselves, there is a wonderful sense of wit and laughter running through the novel. McPartlin excels in the one-liner, and finding something to laugh about in the darkest of times.
The reader may wonder how the two threads tie together, and this becomes clear towards the end. The ending is bittersweet and once again, I cried.
I do not hesitate to recommend this magnificent book to everyone. Sure to be in my top books of this year.
June 23, 2021
One of my favourite books that I've read this year. The theme of infertility resonated deep within me, and I thoroughly appreciated how authentically it was portrayed.
Four main characters meet at an infertility group, each on their own upsetting and unique quest. I really enjoyed spending time with all four of them, and finding out why they attended the group and what obstacles were in their way on their journey to parenthood.
Anna McPartlin has a fabulous gift of creating characters that I care deeply about, and I felt so many emotions while reading this book. Some of them were unhappy personal memories, but reading about characters who experienced the same is always a little healing for me. And I know when I experience that shared emotion with the characters that the author has nailed it. Absolutely captured the emotional intensity and hammered it in hard.
Just brilliant. And highly recommended if you love richly developed characters and poignant plotlines.
Four main characters meet at an infertility group, each on their own upsetting and unique quest. I really enjoyed spending time with all four of them, and finding out why they attended the group and what obstacles were in their way on their journey to parenthood.
Anna McPartlin has a fabulous gift of creating characters that I care deeply about, and I felt so many emotions while reading this book. Some of them were unhappy personal memories, but reading about characters who experienced the same is always a little healing for me. And I know when I experience that shared emotion with the characters that the author has nailed it. Absolutely captured the emotional intensity and hammered it in hard.
Just brilliant. And highly recommended if you love richly developed characters and poignant plotlines.
June 11, 2022
This was my first Anna McPartlin book but she has been on my radar for a while. I’ve seen rave reviews of her books with lots of readers saying she’s an under-recognised author. I had thought that her books, usually categorised as contemporary women’s fiction, might not be for me but it turns out that a good story well-told is always a winner, and this is a really compelling, emotional read.
The book has a dual timeline - we meet Caroline in 2010, married to Dave and struggling with infertility. She wants to try one last round of IVF but he doesn’t. She attends a infertility support group and we meet some of the women in the group on their own difficult journeys (Janet, Natalie and Ronnie).
We also meet Catherine in 1976, who as a fifteen year old girl meets local heartthrob and rich kid Justin, falls madly in love and gets pregnant. Pregnant at 15 in Ireland 1976? I think we know where this is going.
McPartlin doesn’t just handle infertility with authenticity and respect, she casts a cold eye on Ireland’s past and keenly dissects the Mother and Baby Home experience for so many women. The detail is spot on, down to a heavily pregnant Catherine being slung across the priest’s crossbar in the death of night (this happened to a young girl sent to Tuam).
There’s a mystery at the heart of the book that slowly reveals itself and reaches a very emotional conclusion and I stayed up far too late to finish it. I’m not sure how much I loved the ending in the present day storyline - it was all a bit swift and there was a lot going on - Ronnie’s story needed a book of its own 💔.
If you love a book that will keep you up half the night reading, have you reaching for the tissues, and shines a light on Ireland’s dark past, then this is for you. 4/5 ⭐️
*Many thanks to Helen @gillhessltd for sending me a copy of this one, and book pals for recommending it. Waiting for the Miracle was published in paperback this week and is widely available. The audiobook is available on @Borrowbox too with no queue.*
The book has a dual timeline - we meet Caroline in 2010, married to Dave and struggling with infertility. She wants to try one last round of IVF but he doesn’t. She attends a infertility support group and we meet some of the women in the group on their own difficult journeys (Janet, Natalie and Ronnie).
We also meet Catherine in 1976, who as a fifteen year old girl meets local heartthrob and rich kid Justin, falls madly in love and gets pregnant. Pregnant at 15 in Ireland 1976? I think we know where this is going.
McPartlin doesn’t just handle infertility with authenticity and respect, she casts a cold eye on Ireland’s past and keenly dissects the Mother and Baby Home experience for so many women. The detail is spot on, down to a heavily pregnant Catherine being slung across the priest’s crossbar in the death of night (this happened to a young girl sent to Tuam).
There’s a mystery at the heart of the book that slowly reveals itself and reaches a very emotional conclusion and I stayed up far too late to finish it. I’m not sure how much I loved the ending in the present day storyline - it was all a bit swift and there was a lot going on - Ronnie’s story needed a book of its own 💔.
If you love a book that will keep you up half the night reading, have you reaching for the tissues, and shines a light on Ireland’s dark past, then this is for you. 4/5 ⭐️
*Many thanks to Helen @gillhessltd for sending me a copy of this one, and book pals for recommending it. Waiting for the Miracle was published in paperback this week and is widely available. The audiobook is available on @Borrowbox too with no queue.*
September 19, 2021
I’ve read most of Anna’s books and I always need to get myself emotionally psyched up before starting one of her books, because they always, always, make me cry.
Anna’s past books have been highly emotive and heartbreaking stories and Waiting For The Miracle is no exception.
This is the story of a group of women wanting to become mothers, actually it’s more than wanting, it’s needing to have a child and their journeys through IVF, miscarriages, infertility, relationships, marriage and hope.
Told over two timelines, both set in Ireland, Caroline, Janet, Natalie and Ronnie meet at an infertility support group in 2010. The reader follows these wonderful women through heartache and heartbreak as they try to fulfill their dreams of becoming parents.
The other timeline is the story of Catherine, a teenager in 1976, the daughter of a pig farmer in a rural village who falls pregnant bringing shame onto her family. Shunned by her boyfriend, she is sent to a Mother and Baby Home run by sadistic nuns. The abuse Catherine endures at the hands of the “sisters” is abhorrent, however we now know that these homes are based on FACT and the author has written about this barbaric time in Ireland without sugar coating anything.
As with all Anna’s books, there is a wonderful dry humour and clever wit, despite the heartbreak and emotions, and when the two timelines begin to merge together I defy any reader not to shed a tear or two.
Anna’s past books have been highly emotive and heartbreaking stories and Waiting For The Miracle is no exception.
This is the story of a group of women wanting to become mothers, actually it’s more than wanting, it’s needing to have a child and their journeys through IVF, miscarriages, infertility, relationships, marriage and hope.
Told over two timelines, both set in Ireland, Caroline, Janet, Natalie and Ronnie meet at an infertility support group in 2010. The reader follows these wonderful women through heartache and heartbreak as they try to fulfill their dreams of becoming parents.
The other timeline is the story of Catherine, a teenager in 1976, the daughter of a pig farmer in a rural village who falls pregnant bringing shame onto her family. Shunned by her boyfriend, she is sent to a Mother and Baby Home run by sadistic nuns. The abuse Catherine endures at the hands of the “sisters” is abhorrent, however we now know that these homes are based on FACT and the author has written about this barbaric time in Ireland without sugar coating anything.
As with all Anna’s books, there is a wonderful dry humour and clever wit, despite the heartbreak and emotions, and when the two timelines begin to merge together I defy any reader not to shed a tear or two.
June 7, 2021
Question-why is it only now that I am hearing about this quite incredible author?
I feel I should hand in my library cards, sack myself as a self confessed reader and go back to school, this amazing book will change lives, leave you feeling bereft , stunned and fully intending to plunder her back catalogue.
Honestly not even sure where to begin with how to describe the pure joy and release that reading 'Waiting For The Miracle' brings?
Maybe here-
''Who the fuck leaves their wife on a Tuesday?''
Weaving two seamless narratives, from the not so distant past and the present, in 2010, this is a deeply moving and well constructed meditation on the internal, and external, expectations of motherhood.
Taking Ireland as the back drop, in itself a character in the novel, the story explores the way in which farm girl Catherine, is used and discarded and ultimately abandoned in the 'care' of a local institution for girls who find themselves in the family way.
In 2010, the women who meet at a group for those undergoing IVF, and other ways of making their dreams of having a family come true, find themselves connecting in an all together unexpected way.
Catherine's narrative is absolutely devastating-her family, her town, the boy who got her pregnant, all leave her frightened and alone. Her strength to keep going in the face of unimaginable terror just alternately enrages and suffocates you, you feel her terror so keenly and relate the suffering to the horrendous, and still emerging, scandals of the Irish Catholic church selling babies. Families paid for them to take their errant family members, paid to have them back when they had been 'cured of their wilfulness' and the nuns pocketed the money they received in the sales of children to 'real mothers', often overseas.
The late 70's is not ancient history, there was the availability of contraception and access to abortions in mainland England, however, the alternatives for young girls who 'found themselves with child' (it was never the fault of the male, of course) were unthinkable, heart-breaking and often fatal.
That Catherine not only stands up for herself and demands to keep her baby is an astonishing feat of will power, she is adamant that her child will not be sold or given away. Her prayers to the saint of lost souls, St Jude, are for such a small miracle, to be allowed to keep her child. But the harsh reality of being a single parent in late 70's/early 80's Ireland are far from an attainable.
In 2010, Caroline, Nancy, Janet and Ronnie, things are very different. Caroline and husband Dave have agreed the toll of IVF is too much and the last attempt was the very last one. Except Caroline is still holding out for the tiniest miracle that Dave will change his mind...
Natalie and her partner, Linda, are hoping to use her twin Paul's sperm so that their IVF baby will have both their DNA. Is this just a little too close for comfort in the familial relations stakes?
Janet and her husband Jim have had multiple miscarriages followed by a Molar Pregnancy which has devastated them both. Do they have anything left to try again?
And then there is newcomer Ronnie, an American who breezes in and has a Marmite effect on the friends. But is there more to her than meets the eye?
As the dual time lines come together, you find yourself completely immersed in the voices of the women-their fight and conflict to have a child is detailed so thoroughly and realistically, and yet , there is such a sense of humour that I think comes out in the darkest of situations. For example, I got the biggest belly laugh at Janet and Jim calling their molar pregnancy 'Derek', after his father,because he is a major pain in the arse. As the women rationalise, their chances of having a baby are 1:3, 1 of them could be lucky. But which one?
The way that Anna writes is so brilliantly simple and clever, she captures not only the dialogue between several different types of couples but that of a group of women so succinctly that you can see all the characters vividly. And whilst Catherine's story is a lynchpin of the story of how it can be to have a baby when you step outside the rigid rules of a patriarchal society leaving the woman tarnished, and the man spotlessly clean, the process of patriarchal bargaining takes place with the nuns and the girls' mothers as much as it does in the way that the men uphold their virtue.
The expectations on women to choose between career and children, the notion of having it all and being able to pick and choose when to have a child is so fraught with so very many potholes that sometimes I am genuinely amazed we ever even had any. The odds of you being you are so astronomical that to choose to push down and denigrate a non traditional family, an alternative family unit, or not help those in need of support is sincerely baffling. The tears will flow long and hard reading about the abuses done in the name of religion, which stills affects so many thousands of displaced women and childless mothers to this very day. And maybe, the miracle that each of these women were waiting for, already existed within themselves as they fought to be the best version of themselves that they could be, whether they were parents or not. The fact that Catherine's child did not leave the Institution with her does not negate her love or her mission to let her child know she was loved.
This is a truly spectacular novel on so many fronts, I urge you to read it!
I feel I should hand in my library cards, sack myself as a self confessed reader and go back to school, this amazing book will change lives, leave you feeling bereft , stunned and fully intending to plunder her back catalogue.
Honestly not even sure where to begin with how to describe the pure joy and release that reading 'Waiting For The Miracle' brings?
Maybe here-
''Who the fuck leaves their wife on a Tuesday?''
Weaving two seamless narratives, from the not so distant past and the present, in 2010, this is a deeply moving and well constructed meditation on the internal, and external, expectations of motherhood.
Taking Ireland as the back drop, in itself a character in the novel, the story explores the way in which farm girl Catherine, is used and discarded and ultimately abandoned in the 'care' of a local institution for girls who find themselves in the family way.
In 2010, the women who meet at a group for those undergoing IVF, and other ways of making their dreams of having a family come true, find themselves connecting in an all together unexpected way.
Catherine's narrative is absolutely devastating-her family, her town, the boy who got her pregnant, all leave her frightened and alone. Her strength to keep going in the face of unimaginable terror just alternately enrages and suffocates you, you feel her terror so keenly and relate the suffering to the horrendous, and still emerging, scandals of the Irish Catholic church selling babies. Families paid for them to take their errant family members, paid to have them back when they had been 'cured of their wilfulness' and the nuns pocketed the money they received in the sales of children to 'real mothers', often overseas.
The late 70's is not ancient history, there was the availability of contraception and access to abortions in mainland England, however, the alternatives for young girls who 'found themselves with child' (it was never the fault of the male, of course) were unthinkable, heart-breaking and often fatal.
That Catherine not only stands up for herself and demands to keep her baby is an astonishing feat of will power, she is adamant that her child will not be sold or given away. Her prayers to the saint of lost souls, St Jude, are for such a small miracle, to be allowed to keep her child. But the harsh reality of being a single parent in late 70's/early 80's Ireland are far from an attainable.
In 2010, Caroline, Nancy, Janet and Ronnie, things are very different. Caroline and husband Dave have agreed the toll of IVF is too much and the last attempt was the very last one. Except Caroline is still holding out for the tiniest miracle that Dave will change his mind...
Natalie and her partner, Linda, are hoping to use her twin Paul's sperm so that their IVF baby will have both their DNA. Is this just a little too close for comfort in the familial relations stakes?
Janet and her husband Jim have had multiple miscarriages followed by a Molar Pregnancy which has devastated them both. Do they have anything left to try again?
And then there is newcomer Ronnie, an American who breezes in and has a Marmite effect on the friends. But is there more to her than meets the eye?
As the dual time lines come together, you find yourself completely immersed in the voices of the women-their fight and conflict to have a child is detailed so thoroughly and realistically, and yet , there is such a sense of humour that I think comes out in the darkest of situations. For example, I got the biggest belly laugh at Janet and Jim calling their molar pregnancy 'Derek', after his father,because he is a major pain in the arse. As the women rationalise, their chances of having a baby are 1:3, 1 of them could be lucky. But which one?
The way that Anna writes is so brilliantly simple and clever, she captures not only the dialogue between several different types of couples but that of a group of women so succinctly that you can see all the characters vividly. And whilst Catherine's story is a lynchpin of the story of how it can be to have a baby when you step outside the rigid rules of a patriarchal society leaving the woman tarnished, and the man spotlessly clean, the process of patriarchal bargaining takes place with the nuns and the girls' mothers as much as it does in the way that the men uphold their virtue.
The expectations on women to choose between career and children, the notion of having it all and being able to pick and choose when to have a child is so fraught with so very many potholes that sometimes I am genuinely amazed we ever even had any. The odds of you being you are so astronomical that to choose to push down and denigrate a non traditional family, an alternative family unit, or not help those in need of support is sincerely baffling. The tears will flow long and hard reading about the abuses done in the name of religion, which stills affects so many thousands of displaced women and childless mothers to this very day. And maybe, the miracle that each of these women were waiting for, already existed within themselves as they fought to be the best version of themselves that they could be, whether they were parents or not. The fact that Catherine's child did not leave the Institution with her does not negate her love or her mission to let her child know she was loved.
This is a truly spectacular novel on so many fronts, I urge you to read it!
June 20, 2021
For me, Anna McPartlin is an APA – an Automatic Purchase Author! Anyone who knows me well will tell you that The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes (2014) is one of my all-time favourite books. Ever since reading that, I’ve been completely hooked on Anna’s books! So, as soon as I heard about a new book, I immediately jumped up and down, waving my arms in the air (virtually speaking, of course)!
Once again, Anna has taken a sensitive, often taboo topic, and turned it into an unputdownable story. She can make you cry the ugly cry and laugh out loud, all within the same paragraph! Her particular brand of empathy together with her unique, rollicking wit and humour, are unparalleled.
The overriding theme in Waiting for the Miracle is infertility, but in addition to this, secondary themes also include the treatment meted out to unmarried mothers in Ireland in the not too distant past, friendship, resilience, family values and the fact that sometimes we do get to choose and create our own families.
The story is told in two timelines and I really had no problem keeping up with both. You know that eventually, the two parallel narratives will intertwine but until then, each one is equally riveting.
2010 – Caroline, Natalie, Janet and Ronnie are all members of the same infertility support group.
Caroline and her husband Dave have been trying for a baby for years. But after numerous failed IVF’s and various other surgeries, they’ve agreed that enough is enough. Having their own baby just isn’t on the cards, and that book is closed for them. But Caroline is thinking about opening a new book … even if she needs to do it without Dave.
Natalie and her partner Linda want a baby, but they really want it to have their DNA. Linda’s twin brother Paul is willing to be the sperm donor, but Natalie has her doubts – he’s not exactly the candidate she’d choose if she was paging through a catalogue of options!
Janet and hubby Jim have suffered through countless miscarriages and a molar pregnancy. So the problem isn’t actually being able to fall pregnant, it’s keeping a healthy pregnancy, and carrying a baby to term that seems to be the issue. Are they so drained from their previous trauma that they can’t even hope to try again?
And then there’s newcomer Ronnie. Nobody can quite figure her out. But they know enough to realise that she doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the group. Will anyone be able to get her to share her story?
1976 – teenager Catherine is brought up on a rural Irish pig farm. She knows that there are bigger, better things out there in the world, but she has no idea how she will ever be able to escape the simplicity and tedium of farm life. However, she is sure in the knowledge that her parents and brothers love her. They are salt of the earth people – they work the land, regardless of the hardships it brings, and they attend church. This is their life and they don’t waver from it. Until Catherine falls in love with a boy who is from a well-respected, well-to-do family. In her naivete, she believes this is her key to freedom that will allow her to escape her future on the pig farm. But when she falls pregnant, she discovers how very wrong she is.
Catherine is shunned by her boyfriend and banished by those closest to her for shaming both herself and the family name. She is packed off to a mother and baby home and suffers the most horrific abuse at the hands of the Catholic nuns who run the institution. Determined that she’s going to keep her baby, Catherine fights tooth and nail against those who now hold her future, and that of her baby, in their hands.
The telling of Catherine’s story is chilling. When you think about it, 1976 is really not that long ago and the background and information that the author gives of these mother and baby homes (now also known as Magdalene laundries or Magdalene asylums) is based on cold, hard fact. To think that thousands of young women were sent away to suffer in the most inhumane ways by the very people who were meant to care for them: their families and the Church … and then to be forced to give up their babies almost immediately after birth, beggars belief! The wrongs done to them can never be taken back and although the Irish government has led numerous enquiries, and also extended compensation to those who have no come forward as having been “coercively confined”, these are scars that will never heal.
Unbelievably, the last Magdalene laundry only closed in 1998 (although some research puts this closure earlier, in 1996)!
Catherine is nothing if not determined, and I absolutely loved reading about her fighting spirit! I also loved reading about Dublin during this time. No matter how rigid and staid society is, as a whole, there will always be those who fall just outside of what’s accepted. When they find each other it’s a beautiful thing. McPartlin’s description of the judgment and discrimination of this era that was experienced by anyone considered to be “other” is harsh and jarring. I felt incredibly uneasy reading about it and knowing that much of this still exists today, and that many people who don’t fit into some ridiculously defined mould of “normality” still experience this treatment.
The two timelines do eventually merge, as you know they will, and whether you see it all fall into place before that, or as it happens, you’re sure to be enveloped by a sense of uplifting warmth and that feeling that you’ve just been witness to something extremely special and unique, which is what this book is.
I’d rate this at more than 5 stars if I could! I adored it. And a massive thank you to Anna McPartlin for writing this gorgeous book, and for being open about her own journey with infertility.
Once again, Anna has taken a sensitive, often taboo topic, and turned it into an unputdownable story. She can make you cry the ugly cry and laugh out loud, all within the same paragraph! Her particular brand of empathy together with her unique, rollicking wit and humour, are unparalleled.
The overriding theme in Waiting for the Miracle is infertility, but in addition to this, secondary themes also include the treatment meted out to unmarried mothers in Ireland in the not too distant past, friendship, resilience, family values and the fact that sometimes we do get to choose and create our own families.
The story is told in two timelines and I really had no problem keeping up with both. You know that eventually, the two parallel narratives will intertwine but until then, each one is equally riveting.
2010 – Caroline, Natalie, Janet and Ronnie are all members of the same infertility support group.
Caroline and her husband Dave have been trying for a baby for years. But after numerous failed IVF’s and various other surgeries, they’ve agreed that enough is enough. Having their own baby just isn’t on the cards, and that book is closed for them. But Caroline is thinking about opening a new book … even if she needs to do it without Dave.
Natalie and her partner Linda want a baby, but they really want it to have their DNA. Linda’s twin brother Paul is willing to be the sperm donor, but Natalie has her doubts – he’s not exactly the candidate she’d choose if she was paging through a catalogue of options!
Janet and hubby Jim have suffered through countless miscarriages and a molar pregnancy. So the problem isn’t actually being able to fall pregnant, it’s keeping a healthy pregnancy, and carrying a baby to term that seems to be the issue. Are they so drained from their previous trauma that they can’t even hope to try again?
And then there’s newcomer Ronnie. Nobody can quite figure her out. But they know enough to realise that she doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the group. Will anyone be able to get her to share her story?
1976 – teenager Catherine is brought up on a rural Irish pig farm. She knows that there are bigger, better things out there in the world, but she has no idea how she will ever be able to escape the simplicity and tedium of farm life. However, she is sure in the knowledge that her parents and brothers love her. They are salt of the earth people – they work the land, regardless of the hardships it brings, and they attend church. This is their life and they don’t waver from it. Until Catherine falls in love with a boy who is from a well-respected, well-to-do family. In her naivete, she believes this is her key to freedom that will allow her to escape her future on the pig farm. But when she falls pregnant, she discovers how very wrong she is.
Catherine is shunned by her boyfriend and banished by those closest to her for shaming both herself and the family name. She is packed off to a mother and baby home and suffers the most horrific abuse at the hands of the Catholic nuns who run the institution. Determined that she’s going to keep her baby, Catherine fights tooth and nail against those who now hold her future, and that of her baby, in their hands.
The telling of Catherine’s story is chilling. When you think about it, 1976 is really not that long ago and the background and information that the author gives of these mother and baby homes (now also known as Magdalene laundries or Magdalene asylums) is based on cold, hard fact. To think that thousands of young women were sent away to suffer in the most inhumane ways by the very people who were meant to care for them: their families and the Church … and then to be forced to give up their babies almost immediately after birth, beggars belief! The wrongs done to them can never be taken back and although the Irish government has led numerous enquiries, and also extended compensation to those who have no come forward as having been “coercively confined”, these are scars that will never heal.
Unbelievably, the last Magdalene laundry only closed in 1998 (although some research puts this closure earlier, in 1996)!
Catherine is nothing if not determined, and I absolutely loved reading about her fighting spirit! I also loved reading about Dublin during this time. No matter how rigid and staid society is, as a whole, there will always be those who fall just outside of what’s accepted. When they find each other it’s a beautiful thing. McPartlin’s description of the judgment and discrimination of this era that was experienced by anyone considered to be “other” is harsh and jarring. I felt incredibly uneasy reading about it and knowing that much of this still exists today, and that many people who don’t fit into some ridiculously defined mould of “normality” still experience this treatment.
The two timelines do eventually merge, as you know they will, and whether you see it all fall into place before that, or as it happens, you’re sure to be enveloped by a sense of uplifting warmth and that feeling that you’ve just been witness to something extremely special and unique, which is what this book is.
I’d rate this at more than 5 stars if I could! I adored it. And a massive thank you to Anna McPartlin for writing this gorgeous book, and for being open about her own journey with infertility.
June 14, 2024
Wow! What an amazing storyline. I loved it all and highly recommend that everyone look into reading this.
June 8, 2021
Raw, Real... Painfully Relatable - A Must Read
I have long been a fan of Anna McPartlin's writing. Her novel, The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes sucked me in from the first page, and I only recently read Below the Big Blue Sky (which, I devoured in a single day!). So, when I was asked to read and review Waiting for the Miracle for this blog tour, I was more than happy to oblige. It's a tough job really when you have to find time to read a book in the sun and call it 'work'.
Reading this beautiful novel was not hard work at all. In fact, it was a privilege.
This expertly crafted story weaves two narratives so seamlessly that you are left believing this story was only ever meant to be told this way. As if this story was born on the page, and it simply being relayed to us by a skilled storyteller over pot of tea with a blanket tucked over your lap. Most novelists aim for this to be the case, but in my opinion, there are only a few authors who truly execute the effortlessness that McPartlin achieves with her storytelling. The setting, historical references, and emotion help her achieve this.
At its heart, this is a story that taps into something deeply rooted in so many mothers across the globe. It explores the expectations we all have of motherhood. The internal and external struggles we all compete with. That idea that we still think we should fight to 'have it all'.
We live in a society now that makes us believe we can. That we can choose a career, put our family ideas on pause, and decide when it's the right time to have a child. When, in reality, so few of us get the chance to choose when life throws us curve balls. Having a child is not a given, and although infertility (in all its different guises) is a really tough subject to tackle, Anna McPartlin does it with care.
Part of me doesn't want to go into too much detail in this review - I don't want to skew anyone's opinion, I want you to pick up this book and read it from cover to cover.. not because I told you to, but because I think everyone should. Because it tackles history, pain, and expectation. Because stories like this deserve to be written into the history books so we never forget.
Catherine's story takes place in 1970's Ireland, in a time when if you found yourself 'with child' as a young girl, there was an easy fix for that. You would simply be placed with the Nuns of the Catholic Church, but don't expect to have a choice over what happens to you in there. Catherine finds herself pregnant, and rather than being protected by those she loves, her parents and even the baby's father turn their back on her. The nuns plan to take her child away from her, but Catherine is determined not to let that happen. The problem is, despite our own beliefs these days that it's a mother's choice, back then (and it really wasn't that long ago) they had no choice at all.
So many children were 'lost' into a system that even their own mothers fought against. Catherine fought. She was determined not to have her baby sold or adopted. She wanted her child. But life wasn't that easy back then.
Despite praying, to all the saints she can think of, for one small miracle to help her keep her baby, life in Catholic Ireland in the '70s was never going to make that easy.
Catherine's story really affected me. I was raised Catholic myself, and the sins of the Catholic Church are never far from my mind, but to read such raw emotions surrounding the pain and abuse done 'in the name of religion' makes me so incredibly sad. I won't deny that I shed a few tears.
This story gets under your skin, mostly because we know these stories are real. It's no secret that so many girls/young women found themselves in similar situations. We hear stories all the time from those who spent a lifetime searching for their 'lost children'.
Yes - this is a dual timelines novel, but the 'past' doesn't feel that long ago. The 70's really wasn't that long ago and the pain on the pages of this timeline still stings, it still feels real and raw.
In 2010, we meet Caroline, Ronnie, Janet, and Nancy. Each struggling with their own battles. IVF, sperm donor issues and Molar pregnancies see these women struggle to get the one thing they really want. Then there's Ronnie, the American who could raise a smile one moment and raise heckles the next. Different women, with different stories and personalities thrown together in a support group that facilitates an important friendship and support system for each of them.
When you are dealing with a dual timeline, and then multiple characters and relationships all in one book, you run the risk of not truly connecting with all the characters on the page, but Anna McPartlin works so well with her cleverly crafted (and often humorous) dialogue that you turn the pages knowing every character equally, invested in each of their lives in different ways.
The truth is, each of these women is praying for a miracle. Each of these women hope that someone or something will fix their world for them and give them the one thing they truly want, but will any of them receive a miracle from above or will they find it within themselves?
Anna's books are always expertly written, highly emotional, and thought-provoking. Her latest has lived up to all of the above and more.
Waiting for the Miracle is delicate in its approach. Considered. Raw and real but gentle.
Like a hug from a best friend after a heartbreaking ordeal. It is everything I expected and so much more.
I urge you to read this book. Have a box of tissues nearby, but devour it and then pass it on. It's a book that deserves to be read.
Many Thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers and Zaffre Books for inviting us on this Blog Tour.
I have long been a fan of Anna McPartlin's writing. Her novel, The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes sucked me in from the first page, and I only recently read Below the Big Blue Sky (which, I devoured in a single day!). So, when I was asked to read and review Waiting for the Miracle for this blog tour, I was more than happy to oblige. It's a tough job really when you have to find time to read a book in the sun and call it 'work'.
Reading this beautiful novel was not hard work at all. In fact, it was a privilege.
This expertly crafted story weaves two narratives so seamlessly that you are left believing this story was only ever meant to be told this way. As if this story was born on the page, and it simply being relayed to us by a skilled storyteller over pot of tea with a blanket tucked over your lap. Most novelists aim for this to be the case, but in my opinion, there are only a few authors who truly execute the effortlessness that McPartlin achieves with her storytelling. The setting, historical references, and emotion help her achieve this.
At its heart, this is a story that taps into something deeply rooted in so many mothers across the globe. It explores the expectations we all have of motherhood. The internal and external struggles we all compete with. That idea that we still think we should fight to 'have it all'.
We live in a society now that makes us believe we can. That we can choose a career, put our family ideas on pause, and decide when it's the right time to have a child. When, in reality, so few of us get the chance to choose when life throws us curve balls. Having a child is not a given, and although infertility (in all its different guises) is a really tough subject to tackle, Anna McPartlin does it with care.
Part of me doesn't want to go into too much detail in this review - I don't want to skew anyone's opinion, I want you to pick up this book and read it from cover to cover.. not because I told you to, but because I think everyone should. Because it tackles history, pain, and expectation. Because stories like this deserve to be written into the history books so we never forget.
Catherine's story takes place in 1970's Ireland, in a time when if you found yourself 'with child' as a young girl, there was an easy fix for that. You would simply be placed with the Nuns of the Catholic Church, but don't expect to have a choice over what happens to you in there. Catherine finds herself pregnant, and rather than being protected by those she loves, her parents and even the baby's father turn their back on her. The nuns plan to take her child away from her, but Catherine is determined not to let that happen. The problem is, despite our own beliefs these days that it's a mother's choice, back then (and it really wasn't that long ago) they had no choice at all.
So many children were 'lost' into a system that even their own mothers fought against. Catherine fought. She was determined not to have her baby sold or adopted. She wanted her child. But life wasn't that easy back then.
Despite praying, to all the saints she can think of, for one small miracle to help her keep her baby, life in Catholic Ireland in the '70s was never going to make that easy.
Catherine's story really affected me. I was raised Catholic myself, and the sins of the Catholic Church are never far from my mind, but to read such raw emotions surrounding the pain and abuse done 'in the name of religion' makes me so incredibly sad. I won't deny that I shed a few tears.
This story gets under your skin, mostly because we know these stories are real. It's no secret that so many girls/young women found themselves in similar situations. We hear stories all the time from those who spent a lifetime searching for their 'lost children'.
Yes - this is a dual timelines novel, but the 'past' doesn't feel that long ago. The 70's really wasn't that long ago and the pain on the pages of this timeline still stings, it still feels real and raw.
In 2010, we meet Caroline, Ronnie, Janet, and Nancy. Each struggling with their own battles. IVF, sperm donor issues and Molar pregnancies see these women struggle to get the one thing they really want. Then there's Ronnie, the American who could raise a smile one moment and raise heckles the next. Different women, with different stories and personalities thrown together in a support group that facilitates an important friendship and support system for each of them.
When you are dealing with a dual timeline, and then multiple characters and relationships all in one book, you run the risk of not truly connecting with all the characters on the page, but Anna McPartlin works so well with her cleverly crafted (and often humorous) dialogue that you turn the pages knowing every character equally, invested in each of their lives in different ways.
The truth is, each of these women is praying for a miracle. Each of these women hope that someone or something will fix their world for them and give them the one thing they truly want, but will any of them receive a miracle from above or will they find it within themselves?
Anna's books are always expertly written, highly emotional, and thought-provoking. Her latest has lived up to all of the above and more.
Waiting for the Miracle is delicate in its approach. Considered. Raw and real but gentle.
Like a hug from a best friend after a heartbreaking ordeal. It is everything I expected and so much more.
I urge you to read this book. Have a box of tissues nearby, but devour it and then pass it on. It's a book that deserves to be read.
Many Thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers and Zaffre Books for inviting us on this Blog Tour.
April 28, 2022
I am a huge fan of Anna McPartlins books, they never fail to leave me a total emotional mess.
Having 4 children of my own, fertility is an issues I had thought of here and there over the years. It's also an issue I now realise I had taken for granted many times.
This book is a huge eye opener to the struggle and many sides of fertility I hadn't considered before.
There are many sensitive issues covered in this book, I feel they are covered in a delicate, honest and respectful manner.
Having 4 children of my own, fertility is an issues I had thought of here and there over the years. It's also an issue I now realise I had taken for granted many times.
This book is a huge eye opener to the struggle and many sides of fertility I hadn't considered before.
There are many sensitive issues covered in this book, I feel they are covered in a delicate, honest and respectful manner.
July 5, 2021
I know it might be hard to believe but I hadn't read an Anna McPartlin book before picking up her new book Waiting for the Miracle, but what a wonderful book it is to introduce me to this fabulous author. Although I love reading paperbacks, for once I was glad to be reading on kindle as my pages would have been well soggy with all the tears I shed.
Caroline's story starts with a bang when she loses everything in one day. I was absolutely furious with her husband and his terrible timing but I was more upset about the dog. The author's ability to produce such emotions in the reader at such an early point in the book is astonishing. I knew I was in for a ride on the emotional rollercoaster from the very start and what a ride it is.
The addition of Catherine's story in a dual timeline that takes the reader back to 1976 Ireland is completely heartrending, it's a disturbing time where young pregnant girls were sent away to give birth in convents. It's a true story we hear often with babies being separated from mothers and searching for them many years later, only to be hit with a brick wall as the church closes ranks. Catherine's treatment in the convent is disturbing and shocking, especially when she gives birth. I don't know how nuns such as these managed to live with themselves, all the while believing they are doing a forgiving God's work.
Caroline is part of an infertility group and I loved all of the women in the group. Newcomer Ronnie seems to be holding back so my desire to uncover her story was immense. I was also incredibly intrigued to find out how Catherine's story was going to fit into the storyline and I had an idea but of course I was wrong. Reading books is one time when I love being wrong; it means that the author has successfully misdirected me and given me a wonderful surprise.
Heart-shatteringly breathtaking, I read Waiting for the Miracle with a lump in my throat and I was left in bits at the end. I lived and breathed these women's lives with them, fully experiencing every moment of joy and sadness that rendered me powerless to stop the tears from falling.
A stunning and very highly recommended novel but make sure you have a packet of tissues handy while you're reading.
I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Caroline's story starts with a bang when she loses everything in one day. I was absolutely furious with her husband and his terrible timing but I was more upset about the dog. The author's ability to produce such emotions in the reader at such an early point in the book is astonishing. I knew I was in for a ride on the emotional rollercoaster from the very start and what a ride it is.
The addition of Catherine's story in a dual timeline that takes the reader back to 1976 Ireland is completely heartrending, it's a disturbing time where young pregnant girls were sent away to give birth in convents. It's a true story we hear often with babies being separated from mothers and searching for them many years later, only to be hit with a brick wall as the church closes ranks. Catherine's treatment in the convent is disturbing and shocking, especially when she gives birth. I don't know how nuns such as these managed to live with themselves, all the while believing they are doing a forgiving God's work.
Caroline is part of an infertility group and I loved all of the women in the group. Newcomer Ronnie seems to be holding back so my desire to uncover her story was immense. I was also incredibly intrigued to find out how Catherine's story was going to fit into the storyline and I had an idea but of course I was wrong. Reading books is one time when I love being wrong; it means that the author has successfully misdirected me and given me a wonderful surprise.
Heart-shatteringly breathtaking, I read Waiting for the Miracle with a lump in my throat and I was left in bits at the end. I lived and breathed these women's lives with them, fully experiencing every moment of joy and sadness that rendered me powerless to stop the tears from falling.
A stunning and very highly recommended novel but make sure you have a packet of tissues handy while you're reading.
I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
September 16, 2024
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 397
Publisher - Zaffre
Source - Bought
Blurb from Goodreads
2010
Caroline has hit rock bottom. After years of trying, it's clear she can't have children, and the pain has driven her and her husband apart. She isn't pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead.
The other women at her infertility support group have their own problems, too. Natalie's girlfriend is much less excited about having children than her. Janet's husband might be having an affair. And then there's Ronnie, intriguing, mysterious Ronnie, who won't tell anyone her story.
1976
Catherine is sixteen and pregnant. Her boyfriend wants nothing to do with her, and her parents are ashamed. When she's sent away to a convent for pregnant girls, she is desperate not to be separated from her child. But she knows she might risk losing the baby forever.
My Review
Split over a duo timeline with multicharacters, 1976 we meet Catherine a girl who falls for sweet talk and ends up in a horrible position and sent to the nuns. Present day, well 2010 and we meet Caroline, desperate for children, attending group for women also finding it difficult to conceive. We flip between both timelines, a pregnancy with a young girl and in that time the stigma and struggles that come with it. To Caroline and the group of unlikely friends all going through their own struggles, all very different.
The book packs an emotional punch, we feel for poor Catherine who gets heartache and disappointment again and again with very much there but the grace of God go I vibes. Then the obsession, heartache, trials and tribulations of trying to get pregnant, loss, relationship impact, devastation ooft it is heartbreaking. Whilst all that sounds so dark and it is very emotive it also has lightness, joy, irish humour, love, friendship, strength and determination, so so very much determination for all of the issues these women face.
McPartlin has a way of writing characters that you can't help but investing in and or relating to. Drawing a wealth of emotions and reactions as we experience everything the ladies are as we have reveals and more exposures to their daily lives and getting back up again when they go through some of the lowest times and battles a woman can face. 4.5/5 for me, I have read McPartlin before and sure I have one or two others on my tbrm.
Pages - 397
Publisher - Zaffre
Source - Bought
Blurb from Goodreads
2010
Caroline has hit rock bottom. After years of trying, it's clear she can't have children, and the pain has driven her and her husband apart. She isn't pregnant, her husband is gone and her beloved dog is dead.
The other women at her infertility support group have their own problems, too. Natalie's girlfriend is much less excited about having children than her. Janet's husband might be having an affair. And then there's Ronnie, intriguing, mysterious Ronnie, who won't tell anyone her story.
1976
Catherine is sixteen and pregnant. Her boyfriend wants nothing to do with her, and her parents are ashamed. When she's sent away to a convent for pregnant girls, she is desperate not to be separated from her child. But she knows she might risk losing the baby forever.
My Review
Split over a duo timeline with multicharacters, 1976 we meet Catherine a girl who falls for sweet talk and ends up in a horrible position and sent to the nuns. Present day, well 2010 and we meet Caroline, desperate for children, attending group for women also finding it difficult to conceive. We flip between both timelines, a pregnancy with a young girl and in that time the stigma and struggles that come with it. To Caroline and the group of unlikely friends all going through their own struggles, all very different.
The book packs an emotional punch, we feel for poor Catherine who gets heartache and disappointment again and again with very much there but the grace of God go I vibes. Then the obsession, heartache, trials and tribulations of trying to get pregnant, loss, relationship impact, devastation ooft it is heartbreaking. Whilst all that sounds so dark and it is very emotive it also has lightness, joy, irish humour, love, friendship, strength and determination, so so very much determination for all of the issues these women face.
McPartlin has a way of writing characters that you can't help but investing in and or relating to. Drawing a wealth of emotions and reactions as we experience everything the ladies are as we have reveals and more exposures to their daily lives and getting back up again when they go through some of the lowest times and battles a woman can face. 4.5/5 for me, I have read McPartlin before and sure I have one or two others on my tbrm.
August 18, 2022
Beautiful. So emotive. Such a lovely story about friendship and relationships through the ups and downs of life. Heartbreaking in places, leaving me angry of how young girls were treated, praying that there aren't any stuck in these situations nowadays and that we have left these days behind. Listened to this as an audio book and think it added to the different emotions of the characters.
October 19, 2021
In the market for a good (read "ugly") cry? This should do it. Only Anna McPartlin can start with the dog dying and crank up the emotion from there! I listened to the beautifully narrated audiobook in a day. Unforgettable.
August 10, 2021
By far the BEST book I've read this year !! I laughed and cried in equal measures.🤣 😭.
September 14, 2022
Heart warming and heartbreaking. This is a beautiful book, intertwining stories of the female experience, the dreams and realities of wanting children, and the cruelty and beauty that life offers us.
December 4, 2023
A nice story about a couple of very sensitive topics.
February 2, 2024
Made me tear up a couple of times
February 18, 2024
No one captures sorrow and sweetness quite like Anna McPartlin. 🫶🏻
March 2, 2025
After a slow start, with fairly annoying self centred characters this suddenly took off to become a real page turner, depicting the power of female friendship. Had a good old cry.
May 18, 2025
Loved this book, the topic of infertility and mother and baby homes was handled so well , such a good read
June 25, 2025
A really interesting story. A teenage pregnancy turns to heartbreak but a story of hope and modern day fertility runs alongside.
July 31, 2025
I cried. beautifully written, if you like (?) reading about the laundries then this is for you.
August 26, 2023
A really great read. The four main modern day characters’ various struggles with fertility were well told as was the collateral emotional fall out for all involved.
The parallel telling of Catherine’s heart wrenching experience as an unmarried mother during Ireland’s shameful ‘Magdalene laundry’ era was skilfully merged.
The parallel telling of Catherine’s heart wrenching experience as an unmarried mother during Ireland’s shameful ‘Magdalene laundry’ era was skilfully merged.
August 16, 2025
A beautiful and emotional journey of female warriors. 💖
June 7, 2021
Set in Ireland in 2010 this wonderful story transports you between modern day and the Ireland of 1976 where unmarried girls were sent away in sin to have their babies. This story contains triggers for infertility, child loss and discusses adoption, taking you on an emotional rollercoaster that you don't quite see coming.
I love books by this author and once again her words are powerful on the page and bring to life the anguish and heartbreak of these strong young mothers. Catherine is just 16 when she falls pregnant and enters a living hell where her baby girl is stolen away from her never to be seen again. Fast forward to 2010 and we meet Caroline at her support groups as she struggles to come to terms with never becoming a mother.
A super yet emotional story, filled with strong women that all bring different personalities to the table to provide a support network and friendship to eachother. This will pull at your heartstrings and leave your emotions feeling raw. A highly recommended read from an author whose books are always emotionally charged and insightful, as you think back to how these young women suffered and the loss that they could never recover from.
I love books by this author and once again her words are powerful on the page and bring to life the anguish and heartbreak of these strong young mothers. Catherine is just 16 when she falls pregnant and enters a living hell where her baby girl is stolen away from her never to be seen again. Fast forward to 2010 and we meet Caroline at her support groups as she struggles to come to terms with never becoming a mother.
A super yet emotional story, filled with strong women that all bring different personalities to the table to provide a support network and friendship to eachother. This will pull at your heartstrings and leave your emotions feeling raw. A highly recommended read from an author whose books are always emotionally charged and insightful, as you think back to how these young women suffered and the loss that they could never recover from.
June 13, 2021
Anna McPartlin is an author who I have long thought deserves much wider recognition than she receives. She has written some incredible books, The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes and Below the Big Blue Sky, just two which have long remained in my mind. Her new book Waiting for the Miracle again deals with heart-wrenching topics that leave you both angry and deeply sad. She is a brilliant storyteller and has a unique way of making you both laugh and cry on the one page. This time around she has chosen to write about infertility and a group of women and how they are each dealing with their longing and need to become a mother. Each journey is so difficult to navigate and it’s amazing the different backgrounds and situations each woman comes to the group with. The story is told through a dual timeline and it works seamlessly switching back and forth between the present day with the group and back to the past as we follow one young girl’s story through the most harrowing, distressing and unbelievable of times.
When we first meet Caroline, she is in a very lonely and sad place. She has hit rock bottom. The cracks in her marriage are widening by the day given the intense pressure that has been placed upon it trying for years to have a baby. Her husband, Dave, has reached that end point where enough is enough and he is walking out the door but Caroline is dogged in her determination to keep going, to try more IVF, to try any method out there that will see her dream fulfilled. She had never wanted children but once that urge and desire materialised it never left and it was all that fuelled her. So when it didn’t happen naturally, her world fell apart. She has become isolated from her friends and family and reached that point where any news of someone being pregnant just drives her insane and makes her bitter and unable to communicate any form of happiness for that person.
Caroline attends the infertility group in the hopes of sharing her story, of finding solace and comfort with those who are going through the same experiences. She feels needed and wanted there. That she can unburden her load and they will not judge her for feeling the way she does when time and time again bad news just widens the chasm with Dave. But one line sums up how I felt Caroline should try and deal with her situation because I felt she was on a road that wouldn’t give her the outcome she needed. ’Sometimes we don’t get what we want or what we need. Sometimes we have to find a way to find peace regardless’. I felt from the beginning Caroline needed to find an alternative peace which I know is incredibly hard to do but until she could reach this point she was torturing herself and in my mind causing untold harm to the life she could have lead and to those around her.
I loved how each of the women came from all walks of live and were dealing with significant obstacles/problems in their path to motherhood. You don’t ever really stop and think how difficult it is. As with Caroline, when you reach that point in life where you are ready to become a mother you just expect it to happen. Natalie has no fertility issues. Her issue is that her partner is a woman. She is almost in a battle with her partner Linda. It’s a silent one as I felt there was so much unsaid from Linda and the manner in which they set about their journey, I thought it was too close to home and perhaps more of an outsider was needed. Natalie is wracked with indecision and the closeness she once had with Linda is dissipating. Communication is needed but she fears once things are said they cannot be taken back and really a child is what she craves so she daren’t say anything which would upset the apple cart.
Janet, I felt was the most vulnerable of the group and almost child like. She had been through a horrific experience of loss through something I had never heard about before. Jim, her husband, is her rock and strong support system but she questions, has he had enough of dealing with her and how she reacted to her loss. Can she bear to try again for a child? Will history repeat itself? I thought the other women in the group were like mother hens to Janet in the most positive and natural of ways and out of all the women she was the one I wanted something positive to happen too. As for Ronnie, she is the real enigma of the group. For some strange reason, I thought she came across as very aloof and somewhat manly. That the group wasn’t the place for her. She kept her cards close to her chest and at times riled people up the wrong way. There were so many questions surrounding her and it’s only as I neared the end I realised the crucial part she had to play and my opinions of her changed and I thought she was the most perfect inclusion to the story.
Without doubt the strongest part of the story where the chapters set back in the past where we follow Catherine from her childhood, reared on a pig farm in rural Ireland, through the worst trauma to befall a young woman in Ireland at the time and as she grows into an adult dealing with the repercussions of an event that never truly leaves her. She was an outstanding character and I found myself desperate to get back to her story when reading of the group in the present. We see the innocence of a young girl believing she has found true love only to be shunted to one side and more or less sold off like a piece of meat. Tossed to one side, conveniently forgotten about because power and money could get you a lot in those days. Her mother was the weakest and most spineless of characters and I don’t care what anyone would think no way did Catherine deserve what befell her.
To be abandoned, betrayed and abused like that should never have happened to her. Nor to the thousands of young women who suffered at the hands of the Catholic church and the nuns running the Magdalene laundries. It’s a shameful part of Irish history and the devastation and repercussions are still being felt today with horrendous stories emerging. I could feel the anger that Anna McPartlin felt when writing these parts of the book and rightly so. I think she is expressing how so many Irish women feel today when the truth emerged as to what happened at that time. So many people have so much to answer for but they never will and it both saddens and angers me. Catherine was a fighter, a survivor whose love for what was taken from her never ever diminished. She wanted answers, clarity and to find what was gone and she would not rest until this was achieved. She picked herself up from the very bottom, a place where degradation and disdain was rife and she would seek what was rightfully hers. I admired her so much and wanted nothing but the evil to turn to good for her.
I’ll be honest and say and reluctantly so that this book wasn’t my favourite by this author, not that there was anything wrong with it. It’s written in the author’s usual brilliant writing style and the themes are hard hitting and thought provoking with well developed characters and once again this book would be ideal as a book club selection. So much research and thought had gone into every storyline and you just knew she was writing from some of her own personal experiences and had the sensitivity and tact with how to deal with everything being explored. But the fact is, it’s simply down to me as to why it’s not my favourite although I would highly recommend it. I really appreciated what a brilliant book it was and how strong of the author to tackle the subject matter but honestly not having any children myself and no strong desire to do so perhaps the characters as a collective apart from Catherine didn’t resonate with me as much as they should have. I could see their hurt, loss, despair, anger and the injustice they felt at the knockbacks, negativity and torture they were going through and if I had felt the same way maybe I would have been really deeply invested in them but giving my own personal circumstances and viewpoints the set of women and their both their individual and collective journeys as a group although making for an excellent read I just couldn’t fully relate to them all and at times I found parts of the story told in the present day to drag.
Waiting for the Miracle is a fantastic read and I thought the title was so apt given the overall themes and how each women is waiting for that miracle, so desperately clinging on to any shred of hope that they can latch on to. I’m sorry I felt this way in general about the book but again it’s nothing to do with the author because I thinks she is phenomenal just this one wasn’t the right one for me but I will always read whatever she publishes in the future.
When we first meet Caroline, she is in a very lonely and sad place. She has hit rock bottom. The cracks in her marriage are widening by the day given the intense pressure that has been placed upon it trying for years to have a baby. Her husband, Dave, has reached that end point where enough is enough and he is walking out the door but Caroline is dogged in her determination to keep going, to try more IVF, to try any method out there that will see her dream fulfilled. She had never wanted children but once that urge and desire materialised it never left and it was all that fuelled her. So when it didn’t happen naturally, her world fell apart. She has become isolated from her friends and family and reached that point where any news of someone being pregnant just drives her insane and makes her bitter and unable to communicate any form of happiness for that person.
Caroline attends the infertility group in the hopes of sharing her story, of finding solace and comfort with those who are going through the same experiences. She feels needed and wanted there. That she can unburden her load and they will not judge her for feeling the way she does when time and time again bad news just widens the chasm with Dave. But one line sums up how I felt Caroline should try and deal with her situation because I felt she was on a road that wouldn’t give her the outcome she needed. ’Sometimes we don’t get what we want or what we need. Sometimes we have to find a way to find peace regardless’. I felt from the beginning Caroline needed to find an alternative peace which I know is incredibly hard to do but until she could reach this point she was torturing herself and in my mind causing untold harm to the life she could have lead and to those around her.
I loved how each of the women came from all walks of live and were dealing with significant obstacles/problems in their path to motherhood. You don’t ever really stop and think how difficult it is. As with Caroline, when you reach that point in life where you are ready to become a mother you just expect it to happen. Natalie has no fertility issues. Her issue is that her partner is a woman. She is almost in a battle with her partner Linda. It’s a silent one as I felt there was so much unsaid from Linda and the manner in which they set about their journey, I thought it was too close to home and perhaps more of an outsider was needed. Natalie is wracked with indecision and the closeness she once had with Linda is dissipating. Communication is needed but she fears once things are said they cannot be taken back and really a child is what she craves so she daren’t say anything which would upset the apple cart.
Janet, I felt was the most vulnerable of the group and almost child like. She had been through a horrific experience of loss through something I had never heard about before. Jim, her husband, is her rock and strong support system but she questions, has he had enough of dealing with her and how she reacted to her loss. Can she bear to try again for a child? Will history repeat itself? I thought the other women in the group were like mother hens to Janet in the most positive and natural of ways and out of all the women she was the one I wanted something positive to happen too. As for Ronnie, she is the real enigma of the group. For some strange reason, I thought she came across as very aloof and somewhat manly. That the group wasn’t the place for her. She kept her cards close to her chest and at times riled people up the wrong way. There were so many questions surrounding her and it’s only as I neared the end I realised the crucial part she had to play and my opinions of her changed and I thought she was the most perfect inclusion to the story.
Without doubt the strongest part of the story where the chapters set back in the past where we follow Catherine from her childhood, reared on a pig farm in rural Ireland, through the worst trauma to befall a young woman in Ireland at the time and as she grows into an adult dealing with the repercussions of an event that never truly leaves her. She was an outstanding character and I found myself desperate to get back to her story when reading of the group in the present. We see the innocence of a young girl believing she has found true love only to be shunted to one side and more or less sold off like a piece of meat. Tossed to one side, conveniently forgotten about because power and money could get you a lot in those days. Her mother was the weakest and most spineless of characters and I don’t care what anyone would think no way did Catherine deserve what befell her.
To be abandoned, betrayed and abused like that should never have happened to her. Nor to the thousands of young women who suffered at the hands of the Catholic church and the nuns running the Magdalene laundries. It’s a shameful part of Irish history and the devastation and repercussions are still being felt today with horrendous stories emerging. I could feel the anger that Anna McPartlin felt when writing these parts of the book and rightly so. I think she is expressing how so many Irish women feel today when the truth emerged as to what happened at that time. So many people have so much to answer for but they never will and it both saddens and angers me. Catherine was a fighter, a survivor whose love for what was taken from her never ever diminished. She wanted answers, clarity and to find what was gone and she would not rest until this was achieved. She picked herself up from the very bottom, a place where degradation and disdain was rife and she would seek what was rightfully hers. I admired her so much and wanted nothing but the evil to turn to good for her.
I’ll be honest and say and reluctantly so that this book wasn’t my favourite by this author, not that there was anything wrong with it. It’s written in the author’s usual brilliant writing style and the themes are hard hitting and thought provoking with well developed characters and once again this book would be ideal as a book club selection. So much research and thought had gone into every storyline and you just knew she was writing from some of her own personal experiences and had the sensitivity and tact with how to deal with everything being explored. But the fact is, it’s simply down to me as to why it’s not my favourite although I would highly recommend it. I really appreciated what a brilliant book it was and how strong of the author to tackle the subject matter but honestly not having any children myself and no strong desire to do so perhaps the characters as a collective apart from Catherine didn’t resonate with me as much as they should have. I could see their hurt, loss, despair, anger and the injustice they felt at the knockbacks, negativity and torture they were going through and if I had felt the same way maybe I would have been really deeply invested in them but giving my own personal circumstances and viewpoints the set of women and their both their individual and collective journeys as a group although making for an excellent read I just couldn’t fully relate to them all and at times I found parts of the story told in the present day to drag.
Waiting for the Miracle is a fantastic read and I thought the title was so apt given the overall themes and how each women is waiting for that miracle, so desperately clinging on to any shred of hope that they can latch on to. I’m sorry I felt this way in general about the book but again it’s nothing to do with the author because I thinks she is phenomenal just this one wasn’t the right one for me but I will always read whatever she publishes in the future.
January 17, 2023
— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Waiting for the Miracle
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Anna McPartlin
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Historical Contemporary
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 10th June 2021
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 5/5
TW: baby loss, abuse, infertility
1976
Catherine is sixteen and finds herself pregnant after having sex three times. She finds out when her mother sees her five month swell, slaps her in the face, and hisses shameful words at her. Catherine believes her boyfriend will do the right thing and marry her, instead she is sent away to a mother and baby home run by nuns. But it’s not the nuns divine intervention she needs.
2010
Caroline has so far been unsuccessful of having a baby. After six failed IVF attempts, she tries again against her husbands wishes. Now she has to choose between a low probability chance of a baby, and her marriage. Her friends in the infertility group have their own issues. Natalie and her partner Linda are having IVF with a sperm donor, Linda’s brother, except nothing feels right. Janet and her husband Jim have been fragile since losing their last baby, and now Jim may possibly be having an affair, and Janet’s not entirely sure she can blame him. Ronnie mysteriously appears at the group one day, refusing to tell her back story, but befriending the girls anyway. These women's live weave into one another, creating an emotional bond borne from shared trauma.
First of all, why didn’t anybody warn me this would hit so damn hard?? I’ve never read an AM novel before but I added a whole bunch to my wish list after reading this. I was in absolute pieces reading this. Every loss and every gain for these female characters felt like they were happening to real-life friends. In fact, I actually finished this whilst waiting to start work and was then weeping in the staff room like a proper silly sausage.
The split time dual POV took a little while to get into and not get confused but by the end of the story I realised it works an absolute treat. The writing was incredibly emotionally provocative. I can honestly say I have never cried over a book as much as I cried over this one.
However, there is humour present too. This story actually made me laugh and cry in such equal amounts, it’s so emotionally wretched yet lent me this warm glow as I was reading. The plot twist I never saw coming as I was too wrapped up in everyone's lives to look at the bigger picture. AM has done a seriously excellent job.
Although I have specially mention Catherine’s story here, as it is the one which absolutely BROKE me. It’s a story that’s been told many times but never gets any less sad or poignant.
This is a book that swings and doesn’t miss though and it’s 100% worth reading. I recommend this wholly to anyone who likes contemporary fiction. This book focuses on motherhood, infertility, and historic prejudices against pregnant women. (I also recommend reading the end in private with no one around too witness any tears.)
🧚🏻♀️
♡ my bookstagram • my twitter ♡
↑ follow my socials for more bookish content. ↑
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Waiting for the Miracle
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Anna McPartlin
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Historical Contemporary
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 10th June 2021
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 5/5
TW: baby loss, abuse, infertility
1976
Catherine is sixteen and finds herself pregnant after having sex three times. She finds out when her mother sees her five month swell, slaps her in the face, and hisses shameful words at her. Catherine believes her boyfriend will do the right thing and marry her, instead she is sent away to a mother and baby home run by nuns. But it’s not the nuns divine intervention she needs.
2010
Caroline has so far been unsuccessful of having a baby. After six failed IVF attempts, she tries again against her husbands wishes. Now she has to choose between a low probability chance of a baby, and her marriage. Her friends in the infertility group have their own issues. Natalie and her partner Linda are having IVF with a sperm donor, Linda’s brother, except nothing feels right. Janet and her husband Jim have been fragile since losing their last baby, and now Jim may possibly be having an affair, and Janet’s not entirely sure she can blame him. Ronnie mysteriously appears at the group one day, refusing to tell her back story, but befriending the girls anyway. These women's live weave into one another, creating an emotional bond borne from shared trauma.
First of all, why didn’t anybody warn me this would hit so damn hard?? I’ve never read an AM novel before but I added a whole bunch to my wish list after reading this. I was in absolute pieces reading this. Every loss and every gain for these female characters felt like they were happening to real-life friends. In fact, I actually finished this whilst waiting to start work and was then weeping in the staff room like a proper silly sausage.
The split time dual POV took a little while to get into and not get confused but by the end of the story I realised it works an absolute treat. The writing was incredibly emotionally provocative. I can honestly say I have never cried over a book as much as I cried over this one.
However, there is humour present too. This story actually made me laugh and cry in such equal amounts, it’s so emotionally wretched yet lent me this warm glow as I was reading. The plot twist I never saw coming as I was too wrapped up in everyone's lives to look at the bigger picture. AM has done a seriously excellent job.
Although I have specially mention Catherine’s story here, as it is the one which absolutely BROKE me. It’s a story that’s been told many times but never gets any less sad or poignant.
This is a book that swings and doesn’t miss though and it’s 100% worth reading. I recommend this wholly to anyone who likes contemporary fiction. This book focuses on motherhood, infertility, and historic prejudices against pregnant women. (I also recommend reading the end in private with no one around too witness any tears.)
🧚🏻♀️
♡ my bookstagram • my twitter ♡
↑ follow my socials for more bookish content. ↑
May 10, 2021
I love Anna McPartlin books, 'The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes' is one of my favourite books ever, so I know I'll get a great story, some amusing parts and that I'll need a big box of tissues!
This book flips back and forth between a current group of women trying to get pregnant and attending a support group of like-minded women, and Catherine in the 1970s who falls pregnant and ends up in one of those awful mother and baby institutions for 'fallen' pregnant women.
There was a real diverse group of women and I really enjoyed all their stories, including the mysterious Ronnie who is a newcomer to the group, but Catherine's story was my favourite part of the book. She was very innocent to start off with but, because of everything, became a strong woman because she had to.
I did wonder how it would all come together initially, but as the book goes on I started to suspect the connection, although I never really knew how it was all going to end.
It is certainly an emotional journey for all the women, some more than others, a real roller-coaster of a read involving pregnancies and the various relationships, some who survive the stress and some who don't, and you will definitely need a big box of tissues by the end. Another unforgettable read by the very talented Anna McPartlin.
This book flips back and forth between a current group of women trying to get pregnant and attending a support group of like-minded women, and Catherine in the 1970s who falls pregnant and ends up in one of those awful mother and baby institutions for 'fallen' pregnant women.
There was a real diverse group of women and I really enjoyed all their stories, including the mysterious Ronnie who is a newcomer to the group, but Catherine's story was my favourite part of the book. She was very innocent to start off with but, because of everything, became a strong woman because she had to.
I did wonder how it would all come together initially, but as the book goes on I started to suspect the connection, although I never really knew how it was all going to end.
It is certainly an emotional journey for all the women, some more than others, a real roller-coaster of a read involving pregnancies and the various relationships, some who survive the stress and some who don't, and you will definitely need a big box of tissues by the end. Another unforgettable read by the very talented Anna McPartlin.
February 1, 2022
Waiting for the Miracle - Anna McPartlin
Honestly, I'm not even sure where to begin to describe this book! This author is hugely under acknowledged in my opinion, her writing is incredible - she has such a unique way of making you both laugh and cry in the one chapter - no scrap that, in the one page in fact. The story was so deeply moving and the author absolutely captured the emotional intensity and hammered it in hard from the get go.
I read two of Anna's books 'The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes' and the follow up to the Hayes story 'Below the Big Blue Sky' last year and adored them both, I don't know why I hadn't gotten round to reading another of Anna's books until now.... That was defo my loss and I'll make sure to move this author to the top of my 'to be read' pile until I've read every single thing she has written.
The story is told in two timelines but is so simply and beautifully written you won't have a problem keeping up with both, the overriding theme in 'Waiting for the Miracle' is infertility, as well as the secondary theme which focused on Catherine and her story and treatment as an unmarried pregnant woman in Ireland in the 1970s (the not so distant past) and her time in a Mother and Baby home - Catherine's story just captured my heart and broke me by the end of it. Despite the total devastation of the situations that the women in both parts of the book find themselves, the humanity is so beautifully portrayed and the beauty of the women's friendships and their support system just jump out and make the book full of wit and happy moments despite the harrowing and heartbreaking story.
It's just overtaken 'Shuggie Bain' for the top spot as my book of 2021 so far and I know it's only July but I just know it'll be a hard one to beat! It is everything I expected and so much more. I'd rate this more than 5 stars if I could.
A must read.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Honestly, I'm not even sure where to begin to describe this book! This author is hugely under acknowledged in my opinion, her writing is incredible - she has such a unique way of making you both laugh and cry in the one chapter - no scrap that, in the one page in fact. The story was so deeply moving and the author absolutely captured the emotional intensity and hammered it in hard from the get go.
I read two of Anna's books 'The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes' and the follow up to the Hayes story 'Below the Big Blue Sky' last year and adored them both, I don't know why I hadn't gotten round to reading another of Anna's books until now.... That was defo my loss and I'll make sure to move this author to the top of my 'to be read' pile until I've read every single thing she has written.
The story is told in two timelines but is so simply and beautifully written you won't have a problem keeping up with both, the overriding theme in 'Waiting for the Miracle' is infertility, as well as the secondary theme which focused on Catherine and her story and treatment as an unmarried pregnant woman in Ireland in the 1970s (the not so distant past) and her time in a Mother and Baby home - Catherine's story just captured my heart and broke me by the end of it. Despite the total devastation of the situations that the women in both parts of the book find themselves, the humanity is so beautifully portrayed and the beauty of the women's friendships and their support system just jump out and make the book full of wit and happy moments despite the harrowing and heartbreaking story.
It's just overtaken 'Shuggie Bain' for the top spot as my book of 2021 so far and I know it's only July but I just know it'll be a hard one to beat! It is everything I expected and so much more. I'd rate this more than 5 stars if I could.
A must read.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
June 25, 2021
I have read lots of Anna's books but this is exceptional. The storyline is heartbreaking- right to the end . Lovely characters- who developed a deep friendship amid heartbreak. but the last page nearly finished me off. An Excellent read
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