I have very mixed feelings about this book. I know a lot of people have raved about it, so I went in with high expectations. However, upon finishing, I find myself feeling somewhat let down. Make no mistake, it is beautifully written, evocative and hauntingly poetic. The author is masterful at creating moods and describing scenes in ways that give the reader an absolute feeling of “being there.” In that regard, it is a very fine book. However, I found the plot itself to be somewhat lacking. I felt that it just tried to do too much. Moira and the Travellers, Jay’s struggle to find himself, Glen and Claire’s relationship…the explorations of each dovetail from one event, but to me, it felt disjointed. Oddly, I felt each story on its own was interesting, and I would have preferred that more time been given to concentrating on only one or two. That being said, I still highly recommend the book because the writing is exceptional, the story just wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and the author for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

“Little Lovely Things” a debut novel by Maureen Joyce Connolly it is a book that you can’t put down but you do and then you pick it up again because you want to know what happens next. You are drawn in from the first page. This book pulls out every emotion and makes you feel so many emotions. I times I had tears in my eyes; then other times I had a smile on my face. With this mystery and suspenseful novel there are so many twists and turns. This book is so well written and paced just right. The characters are well developed and the vivid descriptions make you feel you are right there living this nightmare. I found this book captivating from the beginning and wasn’t able to turn the pages fast enough. This book sucks you in from the first page, and you have to keep reading until the end. I highly recommend this read. I hope to read more of her books in the future.

Unfortunately, I could not get into the voice of the three main characters and could not progress past the 4th chapter in the book.

Wow! Little Lovely Things is an amazing debut novel by Maureen Joyce Connolly. This book was absolutely heartbreaking, especially reading it as a parent. It was hard to read at times and it wouldn't normally be a topic that I would choose. As upsetting as some of it was, Connolly's story telling was amazingly powerful and I am so glad I stuck with it. Her ability to build such detailed characters allows you to actually take on not only the perspectives of these grieving parents but also the kidnappers.

Amongst this families heart break, you are able to see the struggle of what becomes of a family that is torn apart, persistence and resilience in the face of the unknown and just how much of a difference a stranger's help can make. There is so much emotion in this artfully told story and I look forward to reading much more of Connolly's writing in the future.

Little Lovely Things is an unputdownable debut novel by Maureen Joyce Connolly that will have you sitting at the edge of your seat. The characters come to life through her words and you feel as if you really know them. This gripping tale will grab your heart and emotions as you walk along side this family who is suffering a parent’s worst nightmare. I didn’t want the story to end.

Connolly uses meticulous detail in crafting this emotional novel of child abduction and its aftermath. When a doting mother (who is also nearing the end of her medical school training) suffers the abduction of her two children, she falls into a spiral of guilt, depression, and marital discord. Connelly palpably presents the emotion and sense of disconnectedness a parent must feel in such a situation, while also presenting riveting points of view that allow the reader to see through the eyes of the abductor and the children. Filled with intricately drawn characters and literary surprises, "Little Lovely Things" is a heart-thumping novel from an exciting new author.

"Little Lovely Things"
By Maureen Joyce Connolly
Sourcebooks Landmark
April 2, 2019
10-1492672491
978-1492672494
Suspense
304 pages


A parent's worst nightmare is that their child(ren) are kidnapped. This is what happens to Claire Rawlings. A medical student and mother of two, she is on her way to drop off her daughters, Andrea, age four, and fifteen-month-old Lily at daycare. But along the way, she is plagued with horrible nausea—a side effect from a vaccine she received. As the Chicago city skyline comes into view, Claire knows she won't make it to the girl's center in time. Getting off the highway exit in a bad part of town, she makes to a service station restroom where she is violently ill.

The children are sound asleep in their car seats, and Claire keeps the door open so she can hear if they stir, believing they will be okay. Her sickness passes and she rises from the floor to total darkness. Shivering with fever, she realizes the door is closed and she blacks out from her illness and the blazing July heat. When she recovers, she stumbles outside noticing the car is gone along with her girls.

Meanwhile, Moira Kelly and her boyfriend Eamon O'Neill, members of an Irish Clan known as the Travellers, come to the Shell station looking to clean up. Vagabonds, they are shunned from their clan due to their incestuous relationship and live on the street. Spotting Claire's running vehicle, Moira, who suffered two miscarriages and desperately wants children, decides to steal the car and keep the children.

They head to an abandoned garage where they have been living in an old Buick. She transfers the still sleeping girls to the trunk while Eamon takes Claire's Taurus.

Moira heads to a cabin in northern Illinois scavenging for supplies and awaiting Eamon's arrival. After four days when he does not arrive, Moira is confused and upset. Lily dies from the heat and the closeness of the trunk, so Moira changes Andrea's name to Colleen, calling her Colly for short, informing the child her parents are dead.

In October, Jay White, an American Indian, recently released from jail, leaves his North Dakota roots looking for a new start. His El Camino breaks down and he finds himself in the middle of the forest. He spots a flash of orange and a chill washes over him.

He picks up a toy carrot and thinks:

"Something wrong. Eyes keened, he walked away from his car, ignoring his numbing ears and feet. Searching the edge of the road, he kicked clumps of dirt and small pebbles into the depression that ran where the shoulder should be. Within moments, the heel of his boot caught a soft spot and the edge of the road cratered beneath his weight.

"Shit!"

"He slid into a small pool filled with cold water, immediately soaking both his feet. Flailing for a handhold, he smacked a clump of cattails, a plant he knew well from his childhood. . .

". . . Beyond the bowed stalks an unnatural shape materialized in the moonlight.

"Exposed, almost luminescent in the ghostly moonlight, were the first finger and thumb of a small hand."

Trying to decide what to do, Jay remembers his mother saying, "There are no coincidences, Jay"—followed by his grandmother's—"Each person, each event, is a thread. . . An interwoven spoke in the wheel of life." Deep down he believes he was meant to find this child, so he calls the police to report his finding.

Ten days after Lily's body is recovered and the funeral set, Jay is interviewed in depth and found not guilty of her death. Claire insists on meeting him at a diner in Chicago, where he informs her of his belief that Andrea is still alive. He states he had been training to be a shaman and shares information he normally wouldn't. She offers him pictures of the girls, hoping he can uncover something from their images. Feeling a connection with him, she drives him to the trailer park where he lives.

Years pass with Claire's life in chaos and still and she is hopeful her oldest daughter can be found. Moira moves around, obtaining work wherever she can, and Colly, AKA Andrea grows up to be wild, fearing nothing, spending time in the woods. Whether luck or predestination, Jay settles in an area where Colly and Moira are now residing in a broken-down trailer.

A tale of heartbreak and loss, Claire suffers what no mother should, yet she has picked up the pieces, become a dedicated doctor and gotten on with her life despite her horrendous losses. A story of strength and perseverance even through the most unspeakable situations, this chilling read ends somewhat abruptly. Will there be a sequel?

Such an emotional read. When the unthinkable happens and Claire's girl's are kidnapped. You feel all the things as Glen and Claire go through this horrible ordeal their life is forever changed. After meeting Jay and befriending him after a tragedy can they find the strength to move on?

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Heartbreaking novel about the loss of a child. The book is well-written, but the senseless death was hard to handle.

* 4.5 STARS*

“But nothing makes a room feel emptier than wanting someone in it.”
― Calla Quinn, All the Time

If ever a book was meant to touch the very depths of your soul, then this is it right here!

Claire Rawlings is taken ill whilst driving - so ill, that she fears she’ll pass out, and has no choice but to pull into the nearest gas station. Her daughters, 15 month old Lily, and 4 year old Andrea are asleep in the back of the car, but Claire has to leave them where they are, such is her desperation to reach the bathroom. Medical resident Claire is unaware that she’s picked up a really nasty bug, and, (just as she feared) she passes out. When she comes to, the car has gone and her children too!

Eventually a Native American drifter by the name of Jay White provides the police with some crucial evidence - this is a man gifted with extra sensory perception, but I won’t give anything away other than that. To disclose more of the plot would be a great disservice to the taut storyline.

Needless to say, this places an impossible strain on Claire’s marriage to Glen. Claire knows he must blame her for leaving their daughters in the car, he doesn’t come right out and say it - but it’s there all the same, festering away.

This may be Maureen Connelly’s debut novel, but it slots her nicely into the psychological thriller must reads. Like a seamstress she weaves a picture of an ordinary family stressing over the mundane things that affect families the world over, until in one heart stopping moment, that family becomes just 2 broken people - and the sparse clarity of it, just breaks your heart. It’s a gripping read, which I could have probably finished sooner, however, pause was needed to draw breath and process the sudden reveals, some of which hit like a sledgehammer.

I thought the inclusion of Jay’s Native American folklore, added interest and mystery and took it to another level. I believe many established authors would have been proud to have written this one!

This debut novel by Maureen Connolly will keep you on the edge of your seat as you keep turning pages fast to find out how the story ends. It's every parent's worst nightmare about the abduction of their children and the way a family shatters after such a terrible event.

Claire and her husband have two little girls - 4 year old Andrea and 15 month old Lily. Claire was in medical school with the end in sight where the family would have enough money and time to be able to enjoy their lives together. As Claire takes her children to day care, she gets violently ill. She stops at a gas station and leaves the car running because the girls are asleep but when she goes into the ladies room, she passes out. When she stumbles outside, her car with her daughters in it is gone. The police have no leads and Claire feels guilty and blames herself. As hours and then days pass with no sign of the girls and no witnesses, all she has to hold onto is her strained marriage and her belief that her daughter are alive somewhere out there.

This was a difficult book to read because any book about children is difficult but it is definitely worth reading. The characters are so well written that the reader feels Claire's pain and guilt along with her. How will she learn to live her life again and cope with the differences in the way that she and her husband are grieving without feeling anger towards him?

This is a family drama definitely worth reading. It's a debut novel for this author and I am looking forward to her future books.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Wow. This story of mothers guilt over stopping at a gas station as she feels she can no longer contain her nausea to then pass out in the restroom and awake to find her two girls who were in her car gone. There is almost no leads, one unreliable witness and no real way to even begin finding the girls. The guilt Claire feels is breaking her world apart as her marriage is straining. She has a determination to find her girls. Thrilling and edge of your seat.

I love this author's style of writing. It made the book so enjoyable to read. This is the kind of book I love, the kind of book that you can't put down and yet I kept stopping because I didn't want to see what I thought was going to happen next, but picking it back up to see what would happen next! There is a sense of anticipation throughout the whole book! Every mother's nightmare, a family tragedy, but while I read, I cheered for this mother. I hoped for her, I cried for her, and felt her every emotion! Such a great read! I would love to see a sequel, there is so much more to be written about Claire and Glen.

Little Lovely Things is the story of every parents worst fear come to life. Claire Rawlings had a hectic schedule balancing medical school and life with her husband Glen, and two young daughters Lily and Andrea until one fateful day both girls are kidnapped altering all of their lives forever. This unforgettable story is told not only through words but symbols, memories, instincts, traditions, unlikely friendships and faith. The characters will stay etched in your memory long after you've read this tragic but beautiful story that highlights the strength of the human spirit and the bonds that cannot be broken.

Amazingly written book I loved the characters and story line it kept you enthralled until the very end!

Racing to get to work, with her two young daughters in the backseat, Claire finds herself sick and in need of a rest stop. With her daughters sound asleep, and Claire desperate to seek relief for her upset stomach, she races into the restroom for a quick second.

When she returns to her car, all she finds is an empty space. Her car is gone. With her two daughters inside.

Will Claire be able to survive the real life nightmare of losing her children? Will her daughters be returned to her? Will her marriage withstand the heartache of a tragedy?

I could not put this book down. I have always loved a good, suspenseful read, but then couple that with the fact that losing your children is every parent's worse nightmare- this novel had my head reeling and my hand turning the pages at lightning speed. The intensity and vulnerability of motherhood is portrayed in such an emotional way, that I felt as if Claire's children and tragedy were my own.

As Claire and her husband Glen attempt to move forward after the loss of their children, Connolly portions in perspective from the kidnapper, a child, and an outsider. This leads the reader down a road of twists and turns. Though there were plenty of points I found myself shedding actual tears, I also continued to have an underlying feeling of hope.

This well-crafted novel is chalked full of emotion and I cannot wait to read more by this author.

Holy emotional wringer. Connolly is an incredible writer. Dr. Claire Rawlings has an allergic reaction to shot she received at work and pulls into a gas station. While she's in the bathroom being sick, and momentarily loses consciousness, a man and woman take advantage of the still running vehicle and take off with her two children still in tow. The police have very little leads, other than an unusual connection with a Lakota Sioux who makes a tragic discovery and stays in Claire's life through the search.

I loved every bit of this book. Connolly creates raw emotional connections with her characters and I raced through the paragraphs, desperate to discover what happened to the little girls, what impact this is going to have on Claire's marriage and without spoiling any of the fantastic-ness that is this novel, how the events shaped the outcome of the different lives of these true to life people. This is a true page turner of a book. The only complaint I have is that it ended so abruptly. I can't explain how, because it would spoil the book, but I was left wanting SO much more, which is just a hallmark of a great book. I could endlessly read about these characters and be happy.

What happens if you are a parent and your child is lost? Glen and Claire lose their children one day and unsurprisingly it takes a toll on them. Their optimistic hopes keep getting shattered and their relationship finds a hard time too. Will they ever find their children, will their meddles settle, will there be a happy end?

The book is very well written and covers every parent's nightmare in the best way possible.

This book is a parent's worst nightmare come true. Claire is driving to work when she feels very sick. Leaving her daughters in the car, she stops at a restroom. She blacks out and when she comes to, her children are gone. Claire and her husband Glenn have to learn to live their lives with the new normal. Their children are missing and the guilt that overwhelms them. This book tugs at your heartstrings and makes you feel everything Claire and Glenn are feeling. I highly recommend this book especially if you need a good cry!!! I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark. All opinions are my own.

This is a wonderful book. The mystery was very intriguing. I didn't want to stop reading it because I wanted to know what would happen next.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.