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The Year of Lost and Found
Ordinary people. Extraordinary secrets … — It’s business as usual in the sleepy town of Lissbeg on the west coast of Ireland, but, as local librarian Hanna Casey gathers material for an exhibition on Ireland’s struggle for Independence, secrets revealed in her Great-Aunt’s diary expose her own family history of love, dishonour and revenge. Will Hanna risk personal and professional fallout by keeping those war-torn secrets to herself, or will she honour the exhibition’s spirit of shared storytelling?
Meanwhile, newly-wed Aideen has just had her first baby and becomes convinced that she needs to find her own dad, whom she’s never known. But is she really prepared for the consequences?
Hanna and Aideen each face decisions and it soon becomes clear that, when old wounds are opened and forgotten memories disturbed, history is never just about the past. Will they discover that finding happiness is all about living in the present?
Meanwhile, newly-wed Aideen has just had her first baby and becomes convinced that she needs to find her own dad, whom she’s never known. But is she really prepared for the consequences?
Hanna and Aideen each face decisions and it soon becomes clear that, when old wounds are opened and forgotten memories disturbed, history is never just about the past. Will they discover that finding happiness is all about living in the present?
368 pages, Paperback
Published June 3, 2021
6 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Felicity Hayes-McCoy
34 books547 followersUSA Today bestselling Irish writer Felicity Hayes-McCoy is the author of the 'Finfarran' novels, set in a fictional county on Ireland's West Coast. Marian Keyes calls her writing "a pitch-perfect delight", Cathy Kelly, bestselling author of "Between Sisters" and "Secrets of a Happy Marriage", has described the Finfarran books as "a delicious feast", and "sunshine on the page", while Jenny Colgan, bestselling author of "The Cafe by the Sea", calls them "charming and heartwarming".
Felicity's latest book, a standalone novel, The Keepsake Quilters (Hachette Irl), was published in October 2022 to critical acclaim. Best-selling Irish authors Roisin Meaney and Carmel Harringon called it "the perfect festive read" and "warm and wise ... an absolute joy"; Claudia Carroll and Patricia Scanlan wrote of it as "warm, funny and full of heart" and "a fascinating, beautifully-written generational saga"; and television presenters Barbara Scully and Mary Kennedy have described it as "a gorgeous novel" and "a beautifully-crafted story."
Finfarran #1, The Library at the Edge of The World, was published in June 2016: The Sunday Times called it "engaging, sparkling and joyous" and The Sunday Independent wrote "If you like reading a feelgood novel, take a journey to the edge of the world. An easy, pleasant summer read for fans of Maeve Binchy".
Summer at The Garden Café, the second in the Finfarran series, came out in the UK & Irl May 2017, The Mistletoe Matchmaker, a warm, empowering Christmas story, in October 2017, and The Month of Borrowed Dreams, in June 2018: The Irish Independent's review called it "a heartwarming novel which will leave you longing to read the earlier ones". The best-selling author Marian Keyes said she was "utterly charmed" by Finfarran #5, The Transatlantic Book Club, which was published in 2019.
A US & Canadian edition of The Library at the Edge of The World, published by Harper Perennial in Nov 2017, was chosen as a LibraryReads Pick. The US & Canadian edition of Summer at The Garden Café was published in 2018, The Mistletoe Matchmaker followed in 2019, The Transatlantic Book Club in 2020, The Month of Borrowed Dreams in 2021, and The Heart of Summer in 2022.
Finfarran #7, The Year of Lost and Found, was published by Hachette Irl in May 2021, and praised as "the perfect, page-turning escape" and "the best book of the year so far for me" by best-selling Irish authors Sinéad Moriarty and Claudia Carroll. It was preceded in 2020 by Finfarran #6, The Heart of Summer, of which Ireland's Sunday Business Post reviewer wrote "This works perfectly well as a standalone novel ... her writing sings", and bestselling author Patricia Scanlan commented "Fans of Maeve Binchy will adore it - she just gets better and better!"
The Finfarran novels have been translated into seven languages and can also be purchased in English as ebooks and audiobooks.
Described as 'wise, funny' and 'blazingly beautiful' by actress and writer Joanna Lumley, Felicity's first memoir, The House on an Irish Hillside was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2012. It takes the author to London, where she worked as an actress and met her English, opera-director husband, and back to Ireland, to a remarkable stone house on the Dingle peninsula.
Enough Is Plenty: The Year on the Dingle Peninsula, a sequel to The House on an Irish Hillside, was published by The Collins Press in 2015. Illustrated with photographs by Felicity and her husband, and with a foreword by the best-selling Irish writer Alice Taylor, it charts the cycle of the Celtic year in Felicity's own house and garden.
A second memoir, A Woven Silence: Memory, History & Remembrance, described by The Sunday Times as 'a powerful piece of personal and political history', was published in September 2015, also by The Collins Press. Inspired by the lost story of her grandmother's cousin Marion Stokes, one of three women who raised the tricolour over Enniscorthy town in Wexford dur
Felicity's latest book, a standalone novel, The Keepsake Quilters (Hachette Irl), was published in October 2022 to critical acclaim. Best-selling Irish authors Roisin Meaney and Carmel Harringon called it "the perfect festive read" and "warm and wise ... an absolute joy"; Claudia Carroll and Patricia Scanlan wrote of it as "warm, funny and full of heart" and "a fascinating, beautifully-written generational saga"; and television presenters Barbara Scully and Mary Kennedy have described it as "a gorgeous novel" and "a beautifully-crafted story."
Finfarran #1, The Library at the Edge of The World, was published in June 2016: The Sunday Times called it "engaging, sparkling and joyous" and The Sunday Independent wrote "If you like reading a feelgood novel, take a journey to the edge of the world. An easy, pleasant summer read for fans of Maeve Binchy".
Summer at The Garden Café, the second in the Finfarran series, came out in the UK & Irl May 2017, The Mistletoe Matchmaker, a warm, empowering Christmas story, in October 2017, and The Month of Borrowed Dreams, in June 2018: The Irish Independent's review called it "a heartwarming novel which will leave you longing to read the earlier ones". The best-selling author Marian Keyes said she was "utterly charmed" by Finfarran #5, The Transatlantic Book Club, which was published in 2019.
A US & Canadian edition of The Library at the Edge of The World, published by Harper Perennial in Nov 2017, was chosen as a LibraryReads Pick. The US & Canadian edition of Summer at The Garden Café was published in 2018, The Mistletoe Matchmaker followed in 2019, The Transatlantic Book Club in 2020, The Month of Borrowed Dreams in 2021, and The Heart of Summer in 2022.
Finfarran #7, The Year of Lost and Found, was published by Hachette Irl in May 2021, and praised as "the perfect, page-turning escape" and "the best book of the year so far for me" by best-selling Irish authors Sinéad Moriarty and Claudia Carroll. It was preceded in 2020 by Finfarran #6, The Heart of Summer, of which Ireland's Sunday Business Post reviewer wrote "This works perfectly well as a standalone novel ... her writing sings", and bestselling author Patricia Scanlan commented "Fans of Maeve Binchy will adore it - she just gets better and better!"
The Finfarran novels have been translated into seven languages and can also be purchased in English as ebooks and audiobooks.
Described as 'wise, funny' and 'blazingly beautiful' by actress and writer Joanna Lumley, Felicity's first memoir, The House on an Irish Hillside was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2012. It takes the author to London, where she worked as an actress and met her English, opera-director husband, and back to Ireland, to a remarkable stone house on the Dingle peninsula.
Enough Is Plenty: The Year on the Dingle Peninsula, a sequel to The House on an Irish Hillside, was published by The Collins Press in 2015. Illustrated with photographs by Felicity and her husband, and with a foreword by the best-selling Irish writer Alice Taylor, it charts the cycle of the Celtic year in Felicity's own house and garden.
A second memoir, A Woven Silence: Memory, History & Remembrance, described by The Sunday Times as 'a powerful piece of personal and political history', was published in September 2015, also by The Collins Press. Inspired by the lost story of her grandmother's cousin Marion Stokes, one of three women who raised the tricolour over Enniscorthy town in Wexford dur
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 19, 2021
Felicity Hayes McCoy is a natural storyteller. Her characters are convincing, her sense of place so well realised that you'd be forgiven for checking Kerry bus timetables for Finfarran. Her attention to detail is wonderful: you're there in the cafe, or in the library, or in the cottage. You see, you smell, you taste. Fans of the earlier Finfarran stories are in for a treat - but newcomers to Felicity's work won't feel stranded, as it's a totally standalone novel. Five stars from me.
August 7, 2022
I really hope this isn’t the last book of the Finfarran saga.
I loved reading about the stories of Hannah and Aideen who struggle between discoveries of their past and the influence these could have on their present and future.
I loved reading about the stories of Hannah and Aideen who struggle between discoveries of their past and the influence these could have on their present and future.
June 25, 2025
Another wonderful visit to Finfarran to spend some much needed time with Hanna Casey, her cantankerous mother, Mary, lovely daughter, Jazz, partner, Brian, and all the 'ordinary people' who grace the pages of Felicity Hayes-McCoy's books ... Aideen, Conor, Una, Brid, Dan, Charles, and of course, and never least of all, Fury and the Divil who hold such a special place in my heart. This book of The Year of Lost and Found was subtitled, "Ordinary People. Extraordinary Secrets." ... there really was nothing ordinary about the people ... they are warm, rough, difficult, gentle, thoughtful, intelligent, stubborn, kind, inquisitive, and so much like you and me that I feel I really know them after reading all the books in this series. And the secrets are no more extraordinary than those that we all hold in our own lives, our families, our friendships, towns, villages, or cities. Who do we really hurt holding secrets but ourselves? And who do we free upon sharing them? This book fleshes out the answers to those questions brilliantly. This was a truly beautiful book that I didn't want to end.
May 4, 2025
I bought this book as a holiday read from a local bookshop while visiting Ireland. It’s set on an imaginary peninsula of the Emerald Isle and is a charming story of small-town life, where everyone knows everyone. The pace is slow and relaxing, and the writing is truly beautiful.
From the cover, I expected the story to focus on just two main characters, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that every character had something unique about them. It’s simply heartwarming to read about ordinary people living their everyday lives.
The book lightly touches on the Irish War of Independence, but with an emphasis on the idea that the past is behind us and that life is meant to be lived in the present and future. All in all, it’s a perfect holiday read - gentle, thoughtful, and full of heart.
From the cover, I expected the story to focus on just two main characters, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that every character had something unique about them. It’s simply heartwarming to read about ordinary people living their everyday lives.
The book lightly touches on the Irish War of Independence, but with an emphasis on the idea that the past is behind us and that life is meant to be lived in the present and future. All in all, it’s a perfect holiday read - gentle, thoughtful, and full of heart.
November 25, 2025
Picked up this book while I was the UK and needed something to read. Very cozy, great before bed kind of a story.The ending felt a little anticlimactic for me, but I think that was the aim of the author.
It was really fun reading a story set in Ireland while I was in there and learning about the history/culture/geography. Though admittedly I was still reading it well after I returned. 😅 Being in school has -really- infringed on my reading time, but I'm trying to not lose it entirely!
Would love to check out some other books by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.
It was really fun reading a story set in Ireland while I was in there and learning about the history/culture/geography. Though admittedly I was still reading it well after I returned. 😅 Being in school has -really- infringed on my reading time, but I'm trying to not lose it entirely!
Would love to check out some other books by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.
June 21, 2021
A gorgeous return to Finfarran with Felicity Hayes McCoy. The Year of Lost and Found continues our journey with these well-loved characters. We walk once again with Mary, Hanna and Jazz as they make their way through life's challenges, new ventures, old hurts, forgiveness, discovery and redemption. This is a gentle meandering Irish story and I loved it!
June 24, 2025
It was hard to read until the end! The plot is weak — halfway through the book I was still wondering what the main focus was, and I never found it. The characters are underdeveloped and barely explored… it feels like a collection of stories that don’t really connect, except for the fact that the characters live in the same place and are somehow linked. It was a dull and tedious read.
May 12, 2023
When the public libraries team up to gather local materials for a joint exhibition on Ireland's struggle for independence, librarian Hanna Casey discovers secrets from her own family's past that she's not sure she wants displayed for the whole world to see.
June 28, 2021
And the engaging story continues. Get lost in a visit to Finfarran!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews