A lovely read that held my interest from the very start. A story that wanted me to keep turning the pages as I was enjoying it so much.

Connie Carter is reeling from the death of her five-year-old daughter, Molly. Her husband, Ed Carter, murdered their daughter, and then himself. Grief stricken, she suffers a break-down and for two years barely gets through the interminable days. Now, she has made a decision to leave her life, and her sister, in the United States and travel to Ireland to take possession of an estate left to her by her late husband.

Warned by the real estate agents that the abandoned “Ludlow Hall” would be too much of a burden, requiring a lot of work, she nonetheless sticks by her decision to live in the house. It had been closed up, with the windows boarded over for four years.

Meanwhile, Eve Brannigan, a seamstress/dressmaker lives in the small village near Ludlow Hall. Four years ago she was the house’s mistress and has fond memories of living there. Due to crippling debt, she and her husband lost the house when the bank foreclosed. Her husband, Arnold, hung himself in the barn. And he was not the only tragic loss in Eve’s life.

Eve Brannigan is a member of the Ludlow Ladies’ Society. A group of women who sew, quilt, talk, and drink tea in equal measure. Since Ludlow Hall has been closed up, they have been looking for premises for their meetings. Somewhere large enough to hold all of their quilting supplies and also a place to work.

Connie Carter, after making the acquaintance of Eve Brannigan, offers up Ludlow Hall to be the premises for the Ludlow Ladies’ Society once again. She does this in the hope that she will be accepted into the village.
The women begin making memory quilts to be put on display for the First Lady, Michele Obama, who is due to visit Ireland.

“The truth is complicated and often uncomfortable”.

As the group of women become enduring friends, they share stories of their loss, their shame, their guilt, and their hopes and fears. Connie and Eve face uncomfortable and downright devastating truths – and wonder if they can get past them to move on…

MY THOUGHTS
This is a story of the strength and resiliency of women. How women can learn to trust, share, and support each other during times that can seem unbearably hard.

The setting of the novel, the Irish manor house, was well depicted. The women, with their strengths and their weakness, were well described.

All in all, this is a story of hope, and of happy endings to those who really deserve them. Perhaps just a little too saccharine for my taste, but a heart-warming read for anyone who enjoys women’s fiction.

3.5 STARS rounded UP for NetGalley

The Ludlow Ladies' Society is a truly beautiful story about love and loss, but above all of compassion, friendship and the strength and resilience of women.

An enjoyable tale about the current owner of Ludlow Hall and her budding friendship with her predecessor. I enjoyed the setting and the author's ear for dialogue. Possibly a few too many dramatic revelations but that is entirely a matter of personal preference.

Ludlow Hall, outside Dublin in the village of Rosdaniel is the centerpoint of this story: inherited from her husband Connie, she’d never heard of the place, nor been to Ireland in her life. Curious and without anything else, Connie heads to the Hall hoping to discover why it was purchased and get answers to questions she never knew needed asking. Told in multiple points of view from four women, each with their own curious ties to the hall, and with the exception of Connie, all members of the Ludlow Ladies Society – a group that gathers in various homes to quilt and chatter. With the arrival of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, the ladies have decided that they will present a quilt that tells the story of their lives in the small town.

I’ll admit, this story started out feeling very disjointed, with multiple POV’s sharing moments and memories, often dancing on the line of self-pity and anger at the changes brought in the years that have passed. With tales from women whose lives were integrally linked to the Hall, and Connie’s struggles to discover just why she’s found herself involved with it – the development of the story is a gradual one. Not a read in one sitting story – their revelations are often heartbreaking, and you can’t help but hope that their lives turned for the better, even as their initial introductions don’t always feel as if that is possible. Slowly as their display quilt is pieced together, each scrap of material adds layers to the story, showing the often unexpected ways in which these lives have intersected or paralleled, bringing them each to this point. Ultimately, this is a story of possibilities redefined and rebuilt with time, friendship and recognition of their similarities, highlighted by their differing approaches and personalities that make their friendships, and the quilt, a testament to their lives and struggles brought together to make a singular object that requires each give and share of themselves.

I’m not quite sure what I was expecting initially from this story, and I’ll admit that my expectations and fascination with each of the characters also tended to change and develop as things progressed, but I did find that my initial struggles with the slow pace as information and clues to each person wasn’t immediately relevant, but the journey was well worth the time. Read over a five-day span (a rarity for me) by the time I was half-through the book, I wanted only to return and discover more.

I received an ebook copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

This was a bit more miss than hit for me. A tale of love, loss and female friendship encapsulating the highs and lows of close female bonds. Unfirtunately it didn't go deep enough to be a serious read or light enough to be a fun read for me. That said I like to keep abreast of books that fall outside my usual genre preferences. This would make a perfect reading group set and I think of several library customers it woukd be perfect for so I am grateful for the opportunity to check it out.

I've been looking forward to reading this book for a while now. I have to admit that the cover really took my breath away the first moment I saw it and thankfully the blurb also made me interested in reading the book.

Connie Carter has arrived in Ireland from the United States after losing the ones close to her. The only thing she has left is Ludlow Hall, the property her husband bought without her knowledge. Now she tries to find out the truth about why he bought in the first place, without telling her. Also, she needs to find a place to heal her broken heart. Here, in this small town, she finds her place through two older women, Eve and Hetty who introduced her to Ludlow Ladies' Society. Together they share past pains and together they start to heal.

I found this book to be a beautiful book about friendship and courage. These women have all been through much and I enjoyed learning more about them and most of all I loved reading about how through revealing dark secrets and past pains they were able to move forward. All and all a good book to read. I'm looking forward to reading more books by Ann O'Loughlin.

Ann O'Loughlin proves yet again that she is an author of great standing I was captivated from the first page to the very last I was sad to see it end.
Connie, Eve and Hetty are the three main women in this book and they have many secrets and troubles which slowly come to light. But between them they support, comfort and stay strong for each other..I felt that I too, had made new friends..

Ann O'Loughlin has captured my heart with her writing. And I can't wait to read another of her books.

I was so excited to read this book since I'm Australian and thought I would relate well to it. After a promising beginning I felt this book peter out and was going no-where (for me)

A lovely story set in the beautiful Irish countryside. I loved the mystery, intrigue in the story. It is full of secrets, loss, friendship and triumph. A deeply emotional and heartwarming tale portraying the strength of human nature and friendships.

Although I've been aware of Ann O'Loughlin's previous novels and was sure I would like them, somehow I haven't got around to reading any before this, her third novel. And I'm so pleased to say I was right: I loved this book and couldn't put it down.

The storyline revolves around three women and Ludlow Hall. Connie is a New Yorker who has suffered unimaginable loss and has fled to Ireland to live in the run-down Irish mansion her husband had bought without her knowledge. Eve is the former owner of the house who was unceremoniously thrown out due to her husband's debts. Finally, Hetty owns the local B&B and is the widow of Barry, who was very much liked and respected in the local community. The Ludlow Ladies' Society used to meet in Ludlow Hall and is a crafts group made up of lots of local women. They are desperately in need of a new home with lots of space to work on their latest project - memory quilts which they hope will lead to them meeting Michelle Obama as winners of a festival competition.

The first thing to say about this book is that it is a very emotional read. All three of the women have lost their husbands and are coping - or not - in different ways. The three main characters all had suffered loss and so much sorrow. It is hard to imagine how they could come to terms with what had happened in their pasts but their shared stories helped them to bond and support each other. There were many secrets they didn't want to reveal because they were too painful, too humiliating or too private. But by opening up to each other, they begin to heal through the non-judgemental, accepting friendship they offered. The author's beautiful way of writing made feeling all the emotions along with her characters inevitable.

This is also a book about memories, treasuring the happy times and learning to live with unhappy memories. Reading about Eve's button box brought back memories of my Gran's button box which I used to love to play with. I imagine that many people will have similar happy memories. In those buttons were the memories of all the garments they belonged to. In the same way, the fabric used in the memory quilts made by the Ludlow Ladies held memories of people, places and events precious to the individual members and the community. 

Towards the end of the book came revelation upon revelation. Some I had guessed at but others took me by surprise just as much as the characters. Yet nothing seemed out of place or unbelievable. All the parts of the story came together flawlessly to create whole in much the same way as the diverse pieces of fabric came together to make a completed patchwork quilt. The characters seemed very real to me and I shared in their pain, their laughter, their hopes and their healing.

If you haven't read anything by Ann O'Loughlin before - and even if you have - I really recommend you get yourself a copy of The Ludlow Ladies' Society. I will definitely be making time to read the author's previous novels and will be looking out for any future books.

Connie Carter is the new owner of Ludlow Hall, she travels from America after a tragedy and major loss. Ludlow has been empty and is in need of love, life and care. Eve is the former owner of Ludlow Hall who has also known great tragedy and loss. She has begun her life again as the local seamstress. She is a member of the Ludlow Ladies Society, along with her friend Hetty who also has her own secrets. The Society are busy working on a major project that they will enter in a competition. The Society open their arms to Connie and encourage her to become a member of their community.

I would highly recommend this book, I loved it. Connie and Eve are lovely characters who bond because of their past losses and tragedies. Their friendship becomes very important to both of them, and it is very compassionate. Hetty is a great character, she has her own secrets but persists in bringing everyone together with humour and good will. There are moments in the book that could make you quite weepy but there are also laugh aloud moments. I especially enjoyed the emails from the chairperson of the Society to all the ladies, the needling of Jack Davoren the chairman of the Town Committee is very funny.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Ann O'Loughlin and Black & White Publishing for my copy of this book. My review is my own honest and unbiased personal opinion.

Coukd not put the book down a page turner the story of loss and new friendships being built snother best selker in the making highly recommended.
A sequel to the book would be a hugh sucess .

Connie Carter has left a life in America to live in the Irish countryside residence of Ludlow Hall. She has lost everything and has to start agin and try to make sense of what her life is. Ludlow has been stood empty and is need of love, life and care. Local residents are at first, apprehensive of what this stranger from across the pond will do to their beloved Ludlow. Connie herself is apprehensive of not fitting in and being a stranger in this close-knit community, as she begins to get acquainted with the area she finds a couple of local ladies willing to help. Eve, used to live at the hall and is a member of The Ludlow Ladies' Society along with her good friend Hetty. The Society has a project to make memory quilts for an upcoming festival. During the making of these quilts, secrets, memories, heartbreak as well as good memories and stories will rise and make themselves known. The three women all have previous histories that still haunt them, and it is while the quilts are being made, they will be able to deal with the past and move forward. In doing this they form a strong bond and a friendship, they will need this support more than they know.

You will want to read this book in a day. Once you start it, you will not want to put it down until the very last page has been read and absorbed. It is a beautifully written, heartwarming story of friendship. There are secrets in the lives of the women that are hard to read, it is not a soft story to read. Ann has shown how cruel, vindictive and nasty people can be, but balanced it beautifully, showing the caring and compassionate nature of people. As you read through the story, you will see how tragedy can be almost too much to bear, it is something that should not be dealt with alone. Also how to move on towards the future, you need to deal with the past and completely leave it behind.

I would highly recommend this book to readers of General and Women's Fiction. It is a book that will creep its way into your heart as you read it. A wonderfully written and beautiful story that had me in tears in several places, and shocked in others. I also think this would make a great choice for Book Reading Groups, as there many things for group discussion contained within this story.

The Ludlow Ladies' Society is a truly beautiful story about love and loss, but above all of compassion, friendship and the strength and resilience of women.

Connie moves into Ludlow Hall after leaving behind devastating events in America. Her late husband had spent all their money on the house without her knowing about it and now she wants to find out why.

Eve is the former owner of Ludlow Hall. She was forced to leave her home when the bank foreclosed on it. And then there's Hetty, also a widow, who still hides a secret about her husband.

The Ludlow Ladies' Society, of which Eve and Hetty are members, comes together to create memory quilts for an exhibition that will be attended by Michelle Obama. Soon secrets are shared and mysteries will be solved but more importantly, friendships are formed that will change these women's lives. I loved getting to know each and every one of these characters.

I found this novel to be absolutely heartwarming and sometimes I felt it was so incredibly heartbreaking that I actually reached for a tissue. (Totally blame the hormones!) But there are also a few chuckles. These ladies will worm their way into your heart and they made me proud to be a woman. I envied this warm circle of friends and wished I could be a part of it. Each in their own way is an inspiration, putting their own grief aside to care and show compassion for someone else. 

Many thanks to Black & White Publishing for my advanced copy, which I received through Netgalley and chose to review honestly.