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Finding Their Way Home #2
Everything Will Be All Right
Splintered by emigration, World War Two and long-kept secrets, the Prestons are a family grappling with the past and dislocation.
Belfast, 1941. Meg Preston’s seventeen-year-old nephew Robert Henderson is planning to enlist in the Royal Navy, both to escape his smothering parents and the dawning knowledge that he is gay. Meanwhile, Meg and her partner Lillian Watson escape the bombing of Belfast to the Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland.
Years later, the post mid-century sectarian violence, known as The Troubles, erupts. Throughout their lives, members of the Preston family are split into strongly supporting one another, or barely holding together. Facing the misogynistic mores of their time, can they find the strength to reunite?
Enduring the stresses of intimate relationships and global catastrophes, but thriving due to the relief found in community both inside and outside of the family, the Prestons' story is one that resonates during our own, stressful times as well.
Belfast, 1941. Meg Preston’s seventeen-year-old nephew Robert Henderson is planning to enlist in the Royal Navy, both to escape his smothering parents and the dawning knowledge that he is gay. Meanwhile, Meg and her partner Lillian Watson escape the bombing of Belfast to the Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland.
Years later, the post mid-century sectarian violence, known as The Troubles, erupts. Throughout their lives, members of the Preston family are split into strongly supporting one another, or barely holding together. Facing the misogynistic mores of their time, can they find the strength to reunite?
Enduring the stresses of intimate relationships and global catastrophes, but thriving due to the relief found in community both inside and outside of the family, the Prestons' story is one that resonates during our own, stressful times as well.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 4, 2022
6 people are currently reading
1160 people want to read
About the author
Constance Emmett
5 books33 followersConstance Emmett was born in Brooklyn, New York, where her mother's family landed after leaving Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Irish family stories formed her as a writer. Everything Will Be All Right (reviewed in the August 2022 Historical Novel Review), is the sequel to Heroine of Her Own Life. Constance is at work on the third book in the series and has completed a novel set in Revolutionary New York, also based on an ancestor, which she hopes will be published in 2026, the 250th anniversary of the War of Independence.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 1, 2023
In this follow up to Heroine of Her Own Life, the author focuses on Meg's nephew Robert, a young gay man who enlists in the British Navy in WWII to get away from his family and prove his metal. He soon regrets this decision as he sits in a warship worried about being blown up by a U-Boat. But he's also missing Albert, Lillian's nephew with whom he's begun a relationship. We still get quite a bit from Meg and Lillian here as well as the rest of the extended family, including those who moved to NYC.
I was headed for a 4 star rating but then toward the end of the book there was a scene involving Mary Quinn, Meg's former gf, that was so well written I couldn't stop laughing. And those last few chapters were very moving.
So read both books. You won't be sorry.
I was headed for a 4 star rating but then toward the end of the book there was a scene involving Mary Quinn, Meg's former gf, that was so well written I couldn't stop laughing. And those last few chapters were very moving.
So read both books. You won't be sorry.
March 4, 2023
I loved the first book in this series, which I listened to on audible, and the characters, of course the characters are still here, but with some new additions. At first this book seemed OK, but as it went on there was an increasingly scattergun approach to the multiple story lines and the characterisations and pacing was lost. The narrative jumped years, sometimes decades in a flash with no real linking. At different times excessive time was laboured over incidental conversations, which were detailed with daily facts that gave a tiny bit of flavour to the time and place, but added nothing to character development or plotting, becoming quite tedious. Characters were reintroduced (eg Mary) fir seemingly no purpose as again she was there seemingly to show how she missed another character, Meg, whom she had wronged in the previous book and who was now fat and drunk as a result of her sadness. She didn't affect the other characters at all, so I am not sure why she was there.
Sadly with a wee bit more care, rather than rushing through in one book, if the author had given more consideration to narrative and character development this could have been 2 better books.
Sadly with a wee bit more care, rather than rushing through in one book, if the author had given more consideration to narrative and character development this could have been 2 better books.
January 27, 2022
This second novel in Constance Emmett’s series about an extended Belfast family during World War II and after centers on Robert – and it’s a pleasure to read. We get to know Robert from the time he first falls in love with his childhood friend, Albert, on through his experiences in the navy, and into his later years as a mature and loving partner and father. We get to know Robert within the context of his family as we witness the conflicts they face and the heartfelt ways they support one another. The author’s vivid descriptions of daily life and conversations, incorporating local dialect and visual details, make the characters and their experiences come to life. What I especially like about Emmett’s writing is how she develops characters we come to care about, even after we’ve finished the last page.
April 28, 2022
Readers who delighted in Constance Emmett’s first Belfast novel, "Heroine of Her Own Life", should be ecstatic to discover that them subsequent novel, "Everything Will Be All Right", expands the cast of characters, adds further depth and dimension to characters readers have come to love, continues Ms. Emmett’s impressive gift for writing utterly believable dialogue, and offers details that underscore the times and places that fill this novel. This latest novel covers a span of history from the beginning of the Second World War to the 1970s, straddles both sides of the Atlantic (and both sides of the Irish Sea), and movingly portrays the changes the violent world around the members of the Preston, Watson and (introduced in this novel) Henderson families. Ms. Emmett shows us, without artifice or polemic, how these families dealt with the turbulence around them, whether war, economic collapse, religious persecution and intolerance, homophobia, and cultural chauvinism. A promised third novel might well cause these interwoven novels to be called “The Endurance Trilogy”. Endurance might be the right word to describe the strong bonds between the families through the decades, but this is not a novel about traditional families. Rather it is about the self-created families – made up of relatives, friends, colleagues, allies and neighbors that every fortunate human comes to regard and rely upon as their “real” family. As Emmett’s novel reaches its conclusion, the bonds between the many characters could not be more evident: the strength and love and decency of these ties between good people is thoroughly, unabashedly moving.
It will be interesting to see which of the big tech media companies (such as Netflix or HBO) or a traditional movie studio, has the wit and perspicacity to acquire these novels. The resulting film, or streaming series, would have the details, the roles and the riveting dialogue to captivate an audience, just as this latest Emmett novel and its predecessor have done. Need I say I loved both books?
It will be interesting to see which of the big tech media companies (such as Netflix or HBO) or a traditional movie studio, has the wit and perspicacity to acquire these novels. The resulting film, or streaming series, would have the details, the roles and the riveting dialogue to captivate an audience, just as this latest Emmett novel and its predecessor have done. Need I say I loved both books?
March 7, 2022
Everything Will Be All Right
When I finished Constance Emmett’s novel, Heroine of Her Own Life, I wanted very much to keep reading about those people. I had come to care a great deal about them, thanks to the depth and sensitivity with which they were written. And, I was not alone. Now, in Everything Will Be All Right, Emmett has given us a rich, broad-ranging sequel that takes us through World War II and its troubled aftermath in 1950s and ‘60s Northern Ireland. The central characters in Heroine are now the older generation. The plot is focused on Meg Preston’s nephew, Robert, and the love that develops between him and Albert, her partner Lillian’s nephew. But, the novel also provides us with a full cast of men and women, living through the changes in post-WWII Ireland, and forging relationships that are portrayed with warmth, humor, and an exceptionally keen eye, to capture the complexities of family, love, and friendship. The historical details of British WWII naval operations and the secret intelligence work carried out at Bletchley Park are well-researched and accurate; and Robert’s brief stay with his Brooklyn relatives gives us a warmly nostalgic, humorous visit to 1940s New York. This is a book that offers us exactly what we, who are now living through another very dark time in world history, need: depictions of human relationships that have a deep truth about them, and engender hope that everything will, after all, be all right.
When I finished Constance Emmett’s novel, Heroine of Her Own Life, I wanted very much to keep reading about those people. I had come to care a great deal about them, thanks to the depth and sensitivity with which they were written. And, I was not alone. Now, in Everything Will Be All Right, Emmett has given us a rich, broad-ranging sequel that takes us through World War II and its troubled aftermath in 1950s and ‘60s Northern Ireland. The central characters in Heroine are now the older generation. The plot is focused on Meg Preston’s nephew, Robert, and the love that develops between him and Albert, her partner Lillian’s nephew. But, the novel also provides us with a full cast of men and women, living through the changes in post-WWII Ireland, and forging relationships that are portrayed with warmth, humor, and an exceptionally keen eye, to capture the complexities of family, love, and friendship. The historical details of British WWII naval operations and the secret intelligence work carried out at Bletchley Park are well-researched and accurate; and Robert’s brief stay with his Brooklyn relatives gives us a warmly nostalgic, humorous visit to 1940s New York. This is a book that offers us exactly what we, who are now living through another very dark time in world history, need: depictions of human relationships that have a deep truth about them, and engender hope that everything will, after all, be all right.
January 28, 2022
I’ve been looking forward to this second instalment in the life of the Preston Family and it didn’t disappoint. It was wonderful to be reunited with the characters and I enjoyed discovering the many directions of growth they’ve undergone as they acquired more friends and family members.
Constance Emmett has a way of painting small moments and those details bring the story to life without bogging things down. This is something I love about her writing. One could call it efficient but at the same time it’s warm and the reader feels continually immersed in the story.
Like her previous book ‘Heroine of Her Own Life’ setting truly matters here. Yes, many elsewhere will have faced similar struggles in life but you can’t separate these novels from their home in Belfast and Northern Ireland. The struggles, The Troubles, relationships with the Republic of Ireland, England, and the US are a crucial backdrop. The characters’ authentic dialogue, the placement near city landmarks or coastal shores are all integral to the story. I imagine I can see and feel it all through these characters’ eyes.
I have a no-spoilers rule when it comes to reviews because I’d never wish to reveal what you can discover on your own. So, meet the characters and witness their loves and loyalties in action; for their partners, family members, homeland, careers, landscape, and even that bit of tipple.
One negative note: This book deserves a better cover. The cut and paste characters are clunky and awkward. Someone let the book down there.
Constance Emmett has a way of painting small moments and those details bring the story to life without bogging things down. This is something I love about her writing. One could call it efficient but at the same time it’s warm and the reader feels continually immersed in the story.
Like her previous book ‘Heroine of Her Own Life’ setting truly matters here. Yes, many elsewhere will have faced similar struggles in life but you can’t separate these novels from their home in Belfast and Northern Ireland. The struggles, The Troubles, relationships with the Republic of Ireland, England, and the US are a crucial backdrop. The characters’ authentic dialogue, the placement near city landmarks or coastal shores are all integral to the story. I imagine I can see and feel it all through these characters’ eyes.
I have a no-spoilers rule when it comes to reviews because I’d never wish to reveal what you can discover on your own. So, meet the characters and witness their loves and loyalties in action; for their partners, family members, homeland, careers, landscape, and even that bit of tipple.
One negative note: This book deserves a better cover. The cut and paste characters are clunky and awkward. Someone let the book down there.
March 6, 2023
This is why I general stay away from sequels. Often, the writer has run out of inspiration and is counting on our loyalty to keep her afloat. This sequel to Heroine Of Her Own Life: A Novel is disjointed, with far too much (or maybe too little) happening to too many characters. Constance Emmett is good at writing scenes and dialogue, but here she’s including scenes and dialogue so trivial and irrelevant to the plot as to border on the absurd. I mean, why does she feel compelled to write about mundane trips to the bathroom by a couple of side characters? It all became quite dull and tedious after a while.
A more disturbing misstep was the brief re-introduction of Mary, Mel’s first love from the first book. Mary blew it with Mel back in the day so now, decades later, she’s become a fat, pitiable lush, an object of ridicule and scorn. It seemed mean-spirited and moralistic, and really turned me off.
A more disturbing misstep was the brief re-introduction of Mary, Mel’s first love from the first book. Mary blew it with Mel back in the day so now, decades later, she’s become a fat, pitiable lush, an object of ridicule and scorn. It seemed mean-spirited and moralistic, and really turned me off.
March 5, 2022
I so enjoyed Constance Emmett’s first novel, Heroine of Her Own Life and looked very much forward to her second book. Like many well written books I didn’t want it to end and hoped to meet her well drawn characters again in her next novel, Everything Will Be All Right. Besides her richly described characters, it was evident to me that Ms Emmett did a lot of research on the period of history, culture and language of the time and place in which they lived. Her characters come to life as as do their struggles and life challenges during a turbulent time in history. I look forward to book three!
January 24, 2022
Heartwarming Irish family tale
The second installment in Ms Emmett's Belfast trilogy brings to life the trials of living in Belfast during World War II and the generosity of spirit of Irish families across miles and over decades. Gently touched on was a beautiful male relationship and the hardship of being gay during those years. Though it is part of a trilogy Everything Will Be All Right is a satisfying stand alone family saga. Well done Me Emmett.
The second installment in Ms Emmett's Belfast trilogy brings to life the trials of living in Belfast during World War II and the generosity of spirit of Irish families across miles and over decades. Gently touched on was a beautiful male relationship and the hardship of being gay during those years. Though it is part of a trilogy Everything Will Be All Right is a satisfying stand alone family saga. Well done Me Emmett.
September 18, 2022
Wonderful follow up to Heroine of Her Own Life. Amazing history that is totally engaging. The continuation and introduction of more character's in this lovely family are heartwarming.
Extraordinary period of time to live through.
It is a story you will want to read without putting it down.
Thoroughly enjoyed. A writer of considerable talent.
Extraordinary period of time to live through.
It is a story you will want to read without putting it down.
Thoroughly enjoyed. A writer of considerable talent.
February 20, 2022
A wonderfully written storyline that drew me in from the start
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews