Leaving Clare

by Geraldine O'Neill

Growing up in the 1950s in Kilnagree,, a small village in Co Clare, Rose Barry lives a quiet, predictable life. Working part-time in the local pub while helping her grandmother at home, Rose's only ambition is to marry a decent local lad and stay close to her family in Kilnagree. In Offaly, Rose's pretty, precocious cousin Hannah Martin is hiding dark secrets. Dreaming of the day she can flee her vicious-tempered mother, Hannah finds a welcome escape with her cousins in Kilnagree where she is the life and soul of the party. Lenora Bentley, whose daughter lives in Kilnagree, also finds peace and tranquility when she visits Co Clare. A wealthy widow, living in a large empty house in Dublin, Lenora is nursing a wound that refuses to heal. In trying to come to terms with her grief. Lenora has closed herself off from a fulfilling social life and the one man who could open the door to a very different future. Will Rose find happiness in Killnagree or do her fortunes lie elsewhere Will Hannah break free from her domineering mother and her own dangerous behaviour And will Lenora ever be able to let her guard down to enjoy a full life again All three women are searching for a new life which means leaving the old behind. For Rose Barry it may well mean leaving Clare.

495 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2009

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed view on this book which in the first half I would only have rated 2 + largely due to its slow, slow pace. Life in rural Ireland in the 1950's came across well, especially the cramp living of Rose's family with seven members of a family in a small cottage. However too long was spent on a detailed step by step telling of routine tasks. It took about page 200 before I began to feel involved and the storyline developed beyond the initial one dimensional characterisation. I began to warm to Rose and could understand more about the background to Hannah's manipulative behaviour. I was less interested in the other strand of the story - Lenora. Two bad proof reading mistakes - on one page two sentences have Rose as the subject, when it is very clearly Hannah who is facing the crisis; also on a visit to Edinburgh, reference is made to "Princess" Street - not "Princes" Street. The ending was too pat with everything turning out well for everyone. An O.K. read and I am not entirely put off the author, so may well look for other books.

[Anni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know what the book is written for and what is the purpose or message from this book, but it was okay.
The way it is written was not exciting or special but okay. You could read it easily.The characters are okay as well, but nothing special.I guess they could have needed more good and bad sides, more profile.
And it takes time until the story and the plot is finally moving. Since the title of the book is leaving I thought it would happen earlier. But no, just boring stuff happens.
And also the love story, well left me with no emotions. She always hates him and then suddenly not anymore. could've been better, but overall it was okay.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not my favourite of her's, didn't really like the characters in this one all that much. And did anyone at all proof-read this before it was published?? The amount of full stops that were missing, and words and letters missing, was ridiculous! I felt like circling in red all the errors I found as I was reading. Most frustrating.
Apart from that, it was an okay story, but if you want to try out this author, I wouldn't start with this book. She's written better.