Eileen Kennedy > Recent Status Updates

Elinor Coombes leads a privileged life in England, enviable from afar. Her reality is a cheating husband who married her money, a household that has no respect for her common roots and a baby boy who faces a bleak, cold future with no love. Fate hands her a second chance when her transatlantic voyage on the Titanic ends in tragedy. Holding tight to her son in a lifeboat, she is rescued and during the remainder of her

1965 Vermont farms are being threatened by highway development whil in h increasing d aft quotas are threatening their young men. Sylvia Weber, pregnant mother of four, a farmer’s wife, loses her husband in a barn fire, possibly by suicide. Despite her fragile appearance, she proves herself strong during the ordeal. Franklin Warren, former Boston detective, had accepted a job with the police in Bethan, Vermont. In ea

This is an interesting guide to the addresses and hang-outs of writers who lived part or their whole lives in New York City. Some inaccuracies about modern writers, however, make me question the validity of earlier statements.

Gia, wealthy woman, has married her soulmate Garrett and is in the process of selling her Greek island home for a large sum. Eager to reunite with the two people she loves the most, her brother Benny and her childhood friend Abby, she organized a trip to witness the Northern Lights together. The two meet but Gia is a no-show. Thus begins the search for Gia, her husband and the guests who had stayed with her before he

Since the day her father went missing, Diamond is the only Black person in Swift River. After seven years her white mother files for his death certificate to claim the needed insurance money. This same year Diamond is contacted by a relative of her father. Her letter along with those that follow reveal her father’s past and her family roots. After years of feeling alienated because of her weight, she makes a friend,

Elise seems to be finding herself throughout this work. Having just graduated from college she returns to Nantucket Island where she finds herself in charge of her eighteen year old sister; their mother has been deported to Brazil. They are soon evicted from their house and, homeless, they come to rely on the charity of Elise’s college friend Sheba. This friend is wealthy and seems enamored with the sisters. Elise’s

At Van Gogh’s funeral a self-portrait is stolen. Many years later it is accidentally sold in upstate New York. Jonathan Santlofer’s novel follows the winding, dangerous journey this work of art and its new owner travels, involving artists, art thieves and Interpol. I have been a fan of this artist-author for years. He has never disappointed.

Twin sisters are orphaned in the Nazi bombing of Belfast during WW II, one left with a permanently damaged leg. Sent to a convent school, they face the wrath of a sadistic Mother Superior. Lizzy “escapes;” Aelesh becomes a nun. Life is cruel to Lizzy and with the help of her sister she faces her demons and both sisters discover the horrific secrets of the convent residents in Melanie Maure’s tale of sisterhood.

Martha and Opaline are running from abusive men and find solace in a magical bookshop in Dublin. Despite being from different time periods, they have a deep connection and as the reader accompanies them on their quest for a purpose in life we discover this connection. Evie Woods’ novel is engaging from the start. I look forward to her next.

I enjoyed this book. Andy Pankhurst and Lucinda Hawksley have chosen specific art works to explain how they view the artist’s objective in each work. Several were new to me and I loved seeing them through the authors’ perspectives.

Edith Wharton is unhappy in her marriage, frustrated with her lover, and critical of almost everyone she meets. She is trapped. When a fellow author is murdered in broad daylight, she becomes obsessed with the motive. Happy to distract from her own troubles, she investigates the dead man’s personal life. Being stalked herself, she digs deeper. Mariah Fredericks’ depiction of this famous woman is spot on. I am a fan.

No matter how many books on the history of New York City I have read, there is always something new to discover. The Bowery Boys have provided so many of these new gems. I love this book. A delightful experience from beginning to end!

It took a while for me to engage with the characters in Lorena Hughes’ novel. Points of view and different time periods switched frequently back and forth, confusing the storyline at times. Once I committed, however, I saw the connections to the missing Michael Sabater and the women he charmed and the children left behind. It becomes a mystery and eventually all questions are answered. It is worth the pursuit.

The Donnelly girls are known throughout the California surfing beaches; mother Carol and daughters Mindy and Ginger. Never a doting mother, Carol has relied on the girls to raise themselves. Life choices send them in opposite directions, traveling different lives. Mindy goes “Hollywood” and becomes a recognized face. Ginger is obsessed with an elitist surfer who would rather delve into drug culture than join the esta

Cheating lovers, unwanted pregnancies, over-imbibing, looking for love, with the support of female friends. The setting: 1921 Manhattan. The women: Dorothy Parker and her three close pals. Sprinkled with familiar names from the worlds of publishing and Broadway, Gill Paul’s imagined account of what might have transpired in the days of the Algonquin is a delight.