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A Safe Distance
HOW CLOSE IS TOO CLOSE?Ellie Barrett and Joanna Fox are neighbors who used to be friends. Now they are neighbors who pretend to be friends. And that’s okay with Ellie. With three children, a sick mother and a difficult husband who admires the slim athletic Joanna a little too much, Ellie doesn’t have time for neurotic Joanna Fox. A wave and a nod across the cul-de-sac and the occasional car pool is enough for Ellie. She prefers to keep her distance.Yet, when a global pandemic strikes and the Barrett and Fox families are trapped together on their picturesque cul-de-sac, Joanna can no longer successfully suppress the demons of her childhood and Ellie can no longer ignore the cracks in her marriage or the strange attraction between her mercurial husband and her bothersome neighbor next door. Will the two families rally to protect themselves from the violence that threatens their suburban oasis? Or will long-held secrets blow the two families — and their respective marriages — apart?
220 pages, Paperback
Published May 13, 2021
About the author
Bernadette Walsh
21 books168 followersWhen Bernadette is not annoying her fellow commuters on the Long Island Rail Road with the tap-tap-tapping of her computer, she enjoys eating chocolate and indulging in her favorite mind candy -- reality TV.
While Bernadette has hopped around genres, from paranormal romance to humorous romance to serious women's fiction, all of her books to date have a common theme: strong women handling what life throws at them the best way they can.
Bernadette has written seven novels: Gold Coast Wives (contemporary romance); The Devlin Witch (paranormal romance); The Girls on Rose Hill (women's fiction); Friends Forever (women's fiction), Cold Spring (women's fiction), Johnny Be Good (women's fiction) and See Me (paranormal romance). She is also the host of NICE GIRLS READING NAUGHTY BOOKS on BlogTalkRadio http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search?q...
Bernadette’s Website: http://www.bernadettewalsh.com
Reader eMail: bernadettewalsh.author@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 3, 2021
There are times when you want to read a book with characters that you will laugh with, characters that you will hug when they are crying, and characters that deserve your long sigh and eye roll. Author Bernadette Walsh is a master at blending all these emotions into unforgettable stories. I highly recommend her latest book, “A Safe Distance”.
Author Walsh’s books are “go to” reads for me. I know I am going to love them. As she relates in her biographic info, she writes about “strong women handling what life throws at them in the best way they can.”
“A Safe Distance” (great title!) takes place during the Pandemic and is the first novel I have read that is set in this devastating time period. However, this really isn’t about the Pandemic, it’s about neighbors Joanna and Ellie and what goes on inside them.
The story starts at the World Irish Championships. Joanna and Ellie are there with their daughters, who are competing as members of the O’Brien Dance Academy. (Many of Walsh’s books feature Irish-American characters and families.) As Ellie notes, it’s best to be an Irish-born mother of championship dancers, next best is to be Irish American, a dancer and the mother of championship dancers. And of course, a glib, curly black-haired, Irish husband is a prize, too. (I paused writing this review to spend time on YouTube watching Irish dancers. Ok, I'm back now.)
But as the Pandemic begins, Joanna and Ellie have more to worry about then their Irish pedigrees. They live on the same cul de sac and they each have their own internal devils and black holes. Joanna has been a shell of herself since age eleven. Hurt and emotional trauma are even more serious than a virus, even a virus that is all too cruel. Can Joanna and Ellie survive it all? Will they always carry “stones in their pockets?”
Get ready to smile and sob. I know you will love “A Safe Distance.” Thanks to the author for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.
Author Walsh’s books are “go to” reads for me. I know I am going to love them. As she relates in her biographic info, she writes about “strong women handling what life throws at them in the best way they can.”
“A Safe Distance” (great title!) takes place during the Pandemic and is the first novel I have read that is set in this devastating time period. However, this really isn’t about the Pandemic, it’s about neighbors Joanna and Ellie and what goes on inside them.
The story starts at the World Irish Championships. Joanna and Ellie are there with their daughters, who are competing as members of the O’Brien Dance Academy. (Many of Walsh’s books feature Irish-American characters and families.) As Ellie notes, it’s best to be an Irish-born mother of championship dancers, next best is to be Irish American, a dancer and the mother of championship dancers. And of course, a glib, curly black-haired, Irish husband is a prize, too. (I paused writing this review to spend time on YouTube watching Irish dancers. Ok, I'm back now.)
But as the Pandemic begins, Joanna and Ellie have more to worry about then their Irish pedigrees. They live on the same cul de sac and they each have their own internal devils and black holes. Joanna has been a shell of herself since age eleven. Hurt and emotional trauma are even more serious than a virus, even a virus that is all too cruel. Can Joanna and Ellie survive it all? Will they always carry “stones in their pockets?”
Get ready to smile and sob. I know you will love “A Safe Distance.” Thanks to the author for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.
May 20, 2021
Great book.about two very different women who are neighbors.
Ellie is married to a lawyer and Joanna a doctor.
Joanna has been in therapy for yrs.over an accident that happened when she was eleven to her handicapped sister,that her mother blamed her for.Her sister died.
Ellie and Joanna used to be friends,when they first moved to the neighborhood, but for many yrs.have not been.
They're daughters are friends and compete in Irish dance competitions and Joanna has slept with Martin,Ellie's husband off and on for thirteen yrs.They have a daughter
together,which Joanna thinks,no one knows about,but the wrong people do.
The panademic hits and life for everyone changes.
The dance competitions are over for now,everyone stays home.
There are many deaths, Ellie loses her mother.
Joanna her father.
Things are said and there are things done,which cannot be forgotten.
I liked this book,as it is about real life and what could happen and often does.
The two women are so real,emotions and incidents are raw.
Read this book, to find out where these emotions and incidents lead.
You will find yourself on one or the other's side and see for yourself,just how much is "A Safe Distance."
Bernadette Walsh has written many novels,look for others at your favorite booksellers.
Ellie is married to a lawyer and Joanna a doctor.
Joanna has been in therapy for yrs.over an accident that happened when she was eleven to her handicapped sister,that her mother blamed her for.Her sister died.
Ellie and Joanna used to be friends,when they first moved to the neighborhood, but for many yrs.have not been.
They're daughters are friends and compete in Irish dance competitions and Joanna has slept with Martin,Ellie's husband off and on for thirteen yrs.They have a daughter
together,which Joanna thinks,no one knows about,but the wrong people do.
The panademic hits and life for everyone changes.
The dance competitions are over for now,everyone stays home.
There are many deaths, Ellie loses her mother.
Joanna her father.
Things are said and there are things done,which cannot be forgotten.
I liked this book,as it is about real life and what could happen and often does.
The two women are so real,emotions and incidents are raw.
Read this book, to find out where these emotions and incidents lead.
You will find yourself on one or the other's side and see for yourself,just how much is "A Safe Distance."
Bernadette Walsh has written many novels,look for others at your favorite booksellers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2021
First, I just have to say kudos to Bernadette Walsh because I really didn’t want to like Joanna, at all. By the end of this book, she won me over. No, this doesn’t mean I condone cheating, but she does the right thing in the end. I didn’t really care for Ellie all that much either because she whines way too much. All she really cares about is her mom and getting her books wrote. I’m not going to leave any spoilers because I want everyone to make their own decisions about this book. I will say I loved Warren.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews