Roisin Meaney

Wow. I can see why many are calling Roisin Meaney the new Maeve Binchy. I really enjoyed this one a lot.

We get to follow a cast of characters through one week taking place in the Kilpatrick, Ireland. Not everyone gets a happy ending, and some people still seem to be obtuse as hell at the end of the book, but I really enjoyed this one.

The main characters are:

May, dealing with heartbreak, moved to Kilpatrick and doing odd jobs to support herself and her father.

Pam, takes care of May's father while she is out at work and is dealing with some things with her husband Jack which are causing her to be worried about their future.

Bernard who is the local florist and scared that someone is out to get him and his live in lover are a couple who are dealing with someone who is focused on hurting them because they are gay.

Paddy who is in love with May though he's never formally met her.

Paul who is ready to throw away his life due to a fling.

Carmel who is obsessed with Paul.

Marjorie who doesn't know how to talk to her daughter anymore.

There are some other characters that we get to see in this one, but I don't want to spoil too much. I really did enjoy everyone (even the characters who were doing terrible things).

The writing was really good and I got a kick out of following these characters for a full week. I loved the ins and outs of everyone and how everything ends up being connected in the end around a single event.

The flow actually is good in this one even though we go back and forth between characters. Meaney does a good job with everyone's voices so no character sounds exactly like the other one. She also helpfully makes sure she calls out who is "speaking" when the passage switches between people. I didn't find that necessary though to include due to how different everyone sounds.

The setting of Kilpatrick felt small at times, but I think it was supposed to due to us following about 10 characters (here and there) throughout the book.

I loved how the ending we get leaves things up in the air, but we can guess what happens next. I would love to read about this group in a sequel someday.… (más)

So I didn't realize this was a sequel to an earlier book. I was able to follow along quite easily though since there are callbacks to book #1 throughout this book. I wish that I had liked it more, but it just was way too long and dragged in a lot of parts.

"After the Wedding" is told in the third person and we get to follow several characters who live in or are someone related to inhabitants of the island of Roone.

Nell is preparing to finally marry James (they were in book #1). Nell initially dated James's brother Tim, but now the two of them are together. And Tim ended up marrying Nell's long time pen pal (this whole book is so incestuous).

Nell's mother has been gone about two years and she is still missing her every day and devastated that she is gone. Nell and James are happy though until James's brother Tim comes back to Roone seemingly hell bent on ruining things for the two of them.

We also follow Laura who has turned Walter's home into a B&B. Living with her partner Gavin, her two twin sons, and expecting another set, Laura is content with how things are with Gavin. She doesn't want to marry again since she feels like she already married the love of her life who died and she doesn't feel that way about Gavin.

Nell's father is realizing that though he walked away from his marriage, his affair with the other woman is not all it's cracked up to be.

Imelda and Hugh are now going to be foster parents. They get a teen girl called Eve who does her best to keep them at arm's length for pretty good reasons.

We also have a plot that kind of ties things together with a young girl who goes missing. It turns the island upside down with many people scared that something dark and ugly could happen there.

I found myself most interested in Eve's story. No spoilers, but it was heartbreaking.

I didn't find myself engaged at all with Laura. I actually found her offputting with how she kept thinking and talking about Gavin. I wouldn't have blamed him for running off.

I honestly felt baffled about why Nell didn't tell James's she was uncomfortable about his brother being around.

The writing was okay. I am used to Meaney's writing at this point. I have read three other of her books. I just thought honestly that going from character to character hurt this book. Since this book is set up to be a sequel of the first book and is supposedly about Jame's brother not wanting to let go of Nell, that whole story-line barely figures in the first half of the book. When it comes up, it is dealt with in a few chapters and not very well I have to say.

The ending left things up in the air for many of the characters which is why I got book #3 in this series.… (más)