Everything Noelle Harrison has ever written has hit me in the feels…hard. The Island Girls is no exception to that rule. In fact, this story is laden with love and loyalty but also with pain, loss, grief, and guilt. And every single emotion is so easy to related to it’s impossible to read this book without having your heart both broken and restored.

As the blurb describes, The Island Girls tells the parallel stories of two women who, more than a generation apart have their lives turned upside down by the loss of their dearly beloved sister. It’s a story about the things we do for love, the sacrifices we are willing to make for those who are dear to us, and the often high price we have to pay for loving with all our hearts.

There are many parallels between the Susannah and Emer’s story; the depth of the love for their sister being the main similarity, but not the only one. Caring for Susannah is both Emer’s attempt to redeem herself after she’s made what she considers an unforgivable mistake, and a form of refuge. Travelling to Vinalhaven is Emer’s attempt to get away from everything and everybody, including the man she loves, who remind her of how she’s failed Orla, her sister.

Susannah’s continued presence on Vinalhaven is a similar form of self-punishment. Her reasons for staying (as revealed very late in the book, so I won’t mention them) are no longer valid, but she’s sacrificed too much for too long and has given up on any hope of getting back all she lost.

Learning Susannah’s back story is Emer’s opportunity to find her way back to herself, to salvage her life and herself, if she’s willing to see, listen, and learn the lessons. The question whether or not Emer will be able to put herself back together is as tension-filled as the slow but relentless unfolding of Susannah’s history.

As always, Noelle Harrison has created a glorious novel. Her sentences evoke images and emotions. She paints vivid pictures with her words, be it of the landscape the story takes place in or the emotions motivating the characters. It is impossible not to get taken in by Emer and Susannah. Their heartbreak, their loyalty, and even their stubborn refusal to put reality ahead of their feelings, all bleed off the page, into the reader. It left me wanting to slap both women almost as much as I wanted to hug them and tell them ‘it’ wasn’t their fault.

Ultimately this is a story about love, about loyalty, and about learning to live with the fact that sometimes love and loyalty aren’t enough to combat the very real horrors of life. The Island Girls is a heart-breaking yet glorious and ultimately uplifting story that will stay with me for some time to come. This is not the first time I whole-heartedly recommend a story by Noelle Harrison, and I’ve got a feeling it won’t be the last either.

Wow.. I'm not even going to waste your time building up to whether or not this book is worth reading.. it absolutely is. If you like family drama, mystery, or contemporary works with depth of any kind, you should give 'The Island Girls' by Noelle Harrison a read. Today. Seriously, the links are below.

Normally, I'm not typically into childhood centric stories about the bonds of youth. You might assume I have a chilly nature.. and to a degree you might be right. But I also grew up an only child with very few kids in my personal life at all. Mostly, I grew up around adults and a couple of other kids like me.. who were more like smaller, less experienced adults. None of us really knew how to be children.

Reading this book, I feel like that's how it was for Susannah too.. albeit for far more serious reasons.

Taking place on a remote island called Vinalhaven off the coast of Maine, the narrative alternates between a timeline between the mid-50's to mid-60's where a pair of sisters were coming of age and 2011, Susannah still lives, but Kate is now long gone.. and a young Irish palliative care nurse named Emer has arrived to help out through the end stages of her cancer.

Like Susannah and Kate, Emer is one half of a tragically broken pair. Her sister Orla, having died about a month prior also to cancer, has left her feeling guilty for not being with her at the end. So, through this commitment to Susannah, she hopes to make it up to her own sister.

What starts out as a languidly paced tale about the pitfalls of the island mindset they grew up with, turns gradually into a starkly shaded story of dreadful intuitions and trauma.

Their lives, especially once Kate becomes enthralled with a local fisherman, become a bit of a slow rolling storm. Even miles out at sea.. you can tell it's going to be devastating sooner or later.

Interestingly enough, Harrison blind-sided me with an event fairly late into the book, when I'd settled into an easy sense of security.. much like the characters in her story. I had been casually reading from the beginning, as I always do with mysteries, with a pretty decent expectation as to where it was all leading.

Mind you, some of those expectations were correct, but only the least of them and not remotely in the way I originally believed they would be.

From the event forward, my entire perspective changed. It shocked me so much that I re-read the first lines as it happened, three or four times in a row.. just stunned.

After that, I started to make logic leaps that I never would have early on in the book. My imagination even went a bit wild, admittedly.. as some of my leaps I realized quickly made no sense, though I still wondered as to the possibility of them.

Ultimately, I did understand most of what was barreling down upon me as a reader, before it happened.. but not long before and that result was far more satisfying than anything I normally experience with a title like this.

The author does a beautiful job of telling the tale through a series of letters interspersed between standard narratives told by both Susannah and Emer. And the two pairs of sisters lives almost mirror each others in a way, building an amazing foundation for the connection forming between the main characters. She elegantly sprinkles information throughout the book.. connecting more and more dots until you can see the entire painful picture she has painted.

Noelle Harrison is a writer to watch. She brought me to tears and I'm not even mad about it. She earned them. I can't wait to read more of her work.

Emer was devastated by the death of her sister & guilt-ridden that she was not there for her final moments. In an attempt to come to terms with it she leaves her nurses position in a busy hospital to nurse Susannah on Vinalhaven, an island off the Atlantic coast. Susannah has been quite firm with her two nieces that she neither wants nor needs a nurse so things are not easy for Emer. When she finds old letters sewn into a quilt she sees a different side to Susannah.

Told in the present & in the past detailing Susannah's life this was a beautifully evocative story. It captured the atmosphere of the island & the characters were vividly written. I really enjoyed this book. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I really enjoyed this book, it was heartbreaking, but at times charming, heartwarming and is beautifully written.

I have to admit I was more interested in Susannah and Kate’s storyline as this was the sections that came across as more authentic and were beautifully written. I think it was also because Susannah’s story bridges the two timelines and therefore she was the strongest character. I loved her tenacity and loyalty to those around her.

I did enjoy the parallels between the two timelines - two sets of sisters, both suffer a loss of a sister, trying to find themselves and what matters to them in the world.

This is a good read for a period like we are in - it’s transports you to a tiny island in the middle of nowhere and it’s very heartfelt. It definitely a cosy read, even with it darker themes. I would recommend it to people.

The story is set on the island of Vinalhaven. Emer is an Irish nurse who arrives at the island to become the companion and palliative care nurse for Susannah. At first, she finds it difficult to help her, because Susannah insists that she doesn't need any help.

One day, Emer finds out some old letters from Susannah. They were hidden inside the quilt on her bed. She could't resist to read them, and that's how she learns about Susannah's past. As days go by, the two women start growing fond of each other, and they realise they have more in common than they could have imagined.

The story is quite interesting and it keeps you wanting to know more about the life of Susannah and her sister Kate. And I liked the way these little bits of the sisters' lives, especially Susannah's, are presented as letters most of the time. I think it makes it so easy to imagine. It feels like you are there too.

I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so sweet. I felt for the characters in the book as I, too, have lost a sister from cancer at a very young age. I loved how the relationship between Emer and Susannah unfolded and how at the end, the two have found a way to really appreciate each other. I give this book a 3.5 stars, round up to 4 stars as I loved the way the story unfolded, especially with Susannah’s background and incorporating her own personal relationship that she had lost when she was younger. However, I didn’t really enjoy reading the story between Emer & Henry, felt very stalkerish and although it did add another level to the plot, I just felt i wanted to hurry and skip that portion of the story. And- the book states the Henry dated one of the nieces.. how did they not know they were related???

Again, this book was pretty good. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before the publish date.

Emotionally stirring and evocative sums up this beautiful Historical Fiction read by Noelle Harrison.
Sisters; how to live with them, and without them, and the choices we make that can never be undone. Dying too soon and loving while you can features strongly in this emotional story. While many aspects of healthy love is portrayed, there is also domestic abuse and the unhealthy love it Carries.
Although sometimes dark and heavy, this poignant read may be uncomfortable for many readers, cancer and its aftermath features strongly.
3⭐
Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Ms. Noelle Harrison for the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers Copy of "Island Girls". The opinions expressed in this review are mine alone.

A multi-generational story about the bonds of sisterhood and the lengths people will go to protect family, this book had me in tears by the end. Susannah was a fascinating character, and seeing the world through her eyes was educational. In the flashback chapters to the 50s and 60s, she was idealistic and ready to experience new things. She reminded me of Baby from “Dirty Dancing.” I also liked how Emer and Susannah ultimately saw aspects of each other that they could relate to despite their rocky start. Highly recommended. For more thoughts, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC of this book.

I love discovering new authors and particularly those authors, who are new to me and who write historical fiction. I read the synopsis for 'The Island Girls' and it certainly looked like the kind of read I would enjoy. I must be psychic because that's exactly what happened- I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Island Girls' but more about that in a bit.
I must be honest and say that it took me a little while to get into this book, which has more to do with the fact that I was tired when I started to read and cannot be taken as a criticism of the author. However, once I got into the story itself, that was it I was away and I found it extremely difficult to put the book to one side for any length of time. I became intrigued by the story of Emer and Susannah and I had to keep reading to find out just what the truth actually was. This wasn't a book that I could read in one burst but it was a book that I was able to binge read over the space of a few days. Once I started to read that I was it, I completely immersed myself into the story and I found myself going through all kinds of different and contrasting emotions. On occasion, I found that I was getting myself upset, getting myself angry and occasionally feeling very frustrated with the actions of particular characters.
In my opinion, 'The Island Girls' is well written. This may be the first of Noelle's books that I have had the pleasure of reading but it certainly won't be the last. I love the way in which she crafted a beautiful and emotional story, which brought two women together who wouldn't normally have met otherwise. Both women have had their problems over the years but have displayed great grit and determination. Noelle uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I got a real sense of life on the island and I got a real feel for the characters. I did feel as though I was part of the story myself and that's down to Noelle's great storytelling.
In short, I enjoyed 'The Island Girls' and I would recommend it to other readers. It is certainly an emotional and interesting read. I will be reading more of Noelle's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

EXCERPT: The Vinalhaven ferry wove between the brightly coloured lobster pot buoys bobbing up and down among the fishermen's boats. How Orla would have loved the pretty little harbour of this Maine Island with its wooden houses all different colours and the wharf sitting high atop wooden stilts. Sunlight was dancing on the dappled water, the scent of the sea everywhere, its salty tang on Emer's lips. How many times had her sister declared her dream of island life? Well here Emer was, living her sister's dream, running away from her own nightmare.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: When young nurse Emer loses her beloved sister, she is haunted by grief and desperate to escape her memories. Taking a job in Vinalhaven, a rocky outpost in the wild Atlantic, feels like the refuge she so badly needs.

Her patient, Susannah, has lived in isolation for many years, since the tragic death of her sister Kate caused her to withdraw from island life. However, when Emer discovers a bundle of letters in a rainbow quilt in her bedroom and shares the story of her own loss, Susannah opens up. She begins to tell the story of Kate’s brutal and secret past, and her marriage to a man with a heart as cold as the ocean.

But when Emer starts asking locals about Kate, the island air sizzles with hostility. There are people who would rather that Susannah kept quiet, who have no qualms about threatening Emer. But despite the warnings to stay away, Emer is determined to find out what really happened the night Kate died – and the final secret that is keeping Susannah a prisoner to the past.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: The first thing I would like to say about The Island Girls is that the publicity blurb isn't at all true to the story. Yes, this is about two sets of sisters whose lives are separated by almost sixty years.

1950s: Susannah and Kate are natives of the small island off the coast of Maine. Susannah hates island life and dreams of going to college. Kate thinks of nothing but marrying an island boy and raising her children in her old home.

2011: Emer has lost her sister Orla to cancer, and feeling guilty for having abandoned her sister in her final hours, she runs from her job and her lover to be the palliative carer of an old woman, also dying of cancer, on a remote Maine island.

I had high hopes of this novel for the first two thirds. There was the implied promise of mystery and deeply buried family secrets. An old lady on her death bed, a secret cache of letters, family estrangements - all the ingredients were there. But a story that should have been intriguing was, instead, lackluster and predictable. I lost interest to the point where I put it down for twenty four hours and just walked away from it.

The characters were flat. They never reached out to draw me into the story, which is told by both Susannah and Emer. Susannah narrates her childhood with Kate, and her time at Harvard with her lover, Ava. This is interspersed with Emer's story of caring for Susannah, of adapting to life on the island, and of battling her own guilt and grief. We also get to read some of the letters from Kate to Susannah, which are of little value.

I was disappointed. I expected more. I didn't get it.

😔😕.5

#TheIslandGirls #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: pseudonym: Evie Blake

Born in London, I moved to Ireland in 1991, shortly afterwards setting up the theatre company Aurora. I have written four stage plays, Northern Landscapes, Black Virgin, Runaway Wife and The Good Sister, and one short film, Blue Void. I have also written extensively on visual art in Ireland, contributing to various journals and artists’ catalogues over the years.

I currently live in Bergen in Norway. In September 2012 Beatrice was published by Juritzen Forlag in Norwegian. My books have also been translated and published in Italy, Germany, Holland, and Hungary.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Island Girls by Noelle Harrison for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

I loved this story. I was totally caught up in it from the start. This was a very emotional read. I was close to tears on several occasions. Lives ended too soon and people suffered as a result. Dying, love and loss and domestic violence are all written about with feeling and empathy. This is a memorable read and I would recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

The Island Girls by Noëlle Harrison

Three sets of sisters who all experience tragedy have their lives overlap and sometimes mirror one another in this poignant story of love and loss.

Emer is still dealing with the loss of her beloved sister to cancer when she heads to a small island to do end of life care for Susannah. The two women have a rocky start but become closer with time and as they share what came before they met the two learn of sisters and lovers lost as well as perhaps finding a bit of comfort along the way. The story is told by flipping between the past and present and aa s a result the story unfolds slowly but drew me in and kept me reading till the very end.

What I liked:
* Emer: a good woman, sister and nurse – she has lost her way due to grief and a need to self flagellate but does eventually come around
* Susannah: a woman before her time who escaped her island only to once again return and then never leave again
* Katie: Emer’s sister was one who got lost in love and battered in the process
* Orla: Emer’s sister who died too young
* Rebecca & Lynsey: Katie’s children who are very close to their aunt Emer...and yet distant from her, too.
* Lars: a good man that stuck by Emer in spite of her pushing him away
* The way the book made me see the characters, feel with them and care about the outcome of their lives.
* The island – beautiful but not necessarily a healthy place for sometime
* That at least one couple seems to manage a HEA

What I did not like:
* Being reminded how horrible cancer is and how it respects no man or woman
* The loss of life to cancer and other ways
* The burden Susannah carried for so many years
* Being reminded that those being abused can still love their abuser and not leave

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

Oh my goodness, how I loved this book!

This is the story of Emer and Susannah. Emer is a young Irish nurse who has very recently lost her sister and, desperate to try to move away from her memories, takes a job looking after elderly Susannah on the island of Vinalhaven, an island in the Atlantic off the coast of Maine. Susannah also lost a sister in tragic circumstances years before and despite having graduated from Harvard, came home to the island and has stayed there ever since. Through Susannah's story in the past and her sister Kate's letters which Emer finds hidden in a quilt, we come to find out just what led to that decision all those years ago.

I loved the characters of both Emer and Susannah and the way that Noelle Harrison depicted their relationships with their sisters. She shows that the bonds between both sets of sisters were strong and yet also conveys that at times there were strains. I don't want to give anything away of course so will just say that both Emer and Susannah experienced some incredibly difficult situations and had what must have been impossible decisions to make. I have to admit a sneaking preference for Susannah's story, particularly in the 1950s when she was at Harvard. As the author has said, the women at Harvard at the time were rather like islands themselves, surrounded by a sea of men. I particularly enjoyed the way that Susannah's relationship was depicted sensitively and so movingly.

The setting of the island was perfectly described too and was a wonderful backdrop to the story. As with many stories set on islands, although it is clearly a beautiful place, there is a sense of claustrophobia and being trapped, particularly for Susannah.

The Island Girls is a gorgeous, beautifully written, compelling story of love, loss and hope. I was completely absorbed in the stories of Emer and Susannah and their sisters when reading and somewhat bereft to leave them behind. This is a story which really touched me and I will remember the characters for a long time. If I tell you that I have added it to my Top Reads list for 2020, you will know how much I loved it. Please buy it, you won't be disappointed!

An interesting location for this historical dual timeline novel and one that is skilfully evoked. When Emer's and Susanna's lives intertwine, we are led through Emer's discovery of some letters secretly sewn into a quilt into a discovery that will shock.
I enjoyed both stories but there were times when I felt the narrative losing pace a little. It soon picked up, however, and then I was gripped once again.
This story gives the readers an insight into island life over a period of decades and the close-knit community that inhabits it. It also explores many themes that are important today, the rights of women, marriage, sexuality, and does it in a sensitive manner.
This is a book with a difference and as such the characters and location will stay with you.

So much love for this book!! I adored the story of Emer and the prickly Susannah, as they both face up to extremely difficult pasts and find ways of moving forward.

Emer is on a boat and running away. Grieving for her sister Orla, she wants to right some wrongs and needs to do that away from memories of the past. So she gets a job nursing the terminally ill Susannah, a stubborn old woman who is convinced she doesn't need any help and resents the intrusion of this new person in her life. Emer has time to explore the local surroundings with her nursing duties, and makes an impression on some of the locals immediately.

And then we have the story of Susannah, and we look back on her childhood in the 1950's as she grows up with her sister Kate, who is the apple of her mothers eye. Whatever Susannah does is never good enough, and when she wants to take a different path that what her mother, and society, expects then she's even more of a black sheep of the family. It was so fascinating to see Susannah and her struggles to live her own life. Imagine being discouraged from wanting to better yourself and be more than just a housewife and mother!

The more time Susannah and Emer spend together then the more the similarities about their pasts and their relationships with their sisters are explored and I loved the different storylines as they both played out. The stories take quite a dark twist at times and I enjoyed the suspense and drama that added to the mix!

It's a story about the bond between sisters, about grief, about regret, not following the path others plan for you and I highly recommend it!

Emer and Susannah both bear a heavy burden of guilt over the deaths of their sisters. This is primarily Susannah's story- moving between the 1960s and the present. She's dying of cancer and Emer has come to the island where she lives to serve as her nurse. Emer is mourning her sister Orla but Susannah's situation is so much worse. She knew there was a problem with Kate's husband. Now, all these years later, secrets are divulged because Emer found their letters and she's asking questions. There aren't many surprises here but the story is well told and the characters good. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

'She’d been steadily drifting further and further away from her life before. She would never get it back. She knew that. But maybe her destination was a place where she could forget, and be forgotten? This was all she wanted right now.’

The Island Girls by Noelle Harrison will be published with Bookouture April 23rd. It is described as ‘an unputdownable and unforgettable story of impossible choices and two sisters who would do anything for one another.‘

Emer is a young Irish woman living and working as a nurse in Massachusetts General Hospital. A personal upheaval, a shattering tragedy changes everything for Emer and her life shifts in a very unexpected manner. When Emer loses her beloved sister to cancer, Emer is rattled with guilt and is unable to cope with her life, her relationships and her reality as she knows it. She makes a spontaneous decision to leave her job, her life in Massachusetts, to take up a new position somewhere far away from the familiar, from the memories. Her new role will be as a live-in carer providing palliative assistance to an elderly lady, Susannah Olsen, who is living an isolated and solitary existence on the island of Vinalhaven off the mid-Maine coast.

Emer arrives on the island unprepared for what lies ahead. As she steps off the ferry she is taken aback by the silence, the immediate sense of anonymity she experiences.

‘As she walked off the boat, it hit Emer how quiet the island was. All she could hear were the gulls crying, and the water lapping against all the fishermen’s boats…..she hadn’t considered how isolated this island really was. As she walked down Main Street, it felt as if she were walking back in time.’

It is very clear from the initial meeting that Susannah Olsen does not appreciate having a stranger imposed on her. Susannah has lived on her own for quite some time and having a carer is not on her agenda. Emer was hired by Susannah’s niece but, without Susannah’s support, it is clear from the get-go that Emer has her work cut out for her.

Susannah and Emer both carry their own personal baggage, their own grief that causes each a great pain. As the days pass, Emer begins to unravel snippets of Susannah’s past. She too has kept her reasons for being there to herself, but her own shell begins to crack just a little, as her relationship with Susannah thaws.

Something is not right on the island. The locals are secretive about incidents long hidden in the annals of time. As Emer picks up on bits and pieces, we get to hear about Susannah’s life and the events that lead to her lonely existence among a community that carries much hostility toward her. Susannah had a sister, Kate, who died a tragic death and Emer soon realises that she has a lot more in common with Susannah than she thought. They share a grief, a longing for life to have been different. Emer has time to change her ways but for Susannah, the past is a lot more challenging to reconcile.

‘I guess our life on the island was one which never fit you right. I like to imagine you some days when I look out the window across the harbour, all those miles of sea and land between us. But, sister, we are always connected.‘

Emer and Susannah’s stories are intertwined throughout the novel taking the reader back in time with some fascinating insights into a very different world. Noelle Harrison sensitively handles themes of grief, betrayal, abuse, guilt and loneliness. It is an emotive story, one that, at times, will anger, sadden and bring joy to the reader. I particularly enjoyed reading about Susannah’s story. Her life and the decisions she made were so compelling and interesting, her pain and heartache so very evident off the pages.

The Island Girls is a story about women and their struggle for independence, about their determination and strength to survive in a world that is not always as they were expecting or hoping for. It is also a story of sisters as it explores that very unique and special bond that exists in this most fragile of relationships.

The Island Girls is an engaging, well-paced tale, an enjoyable read.

“These women were islands in a sea of male voices. They inspire me in all that I write as does the wild and lush autumnal landscape of Maine with it’s glorious foliage, piles of pumpkins and deep blue ocean”
– Noelle Harrison

This story is set in dual timelines between two sets of sisters. One of the story lines follows Emer and her sister Orla who has passed away from cancer recently. After Orla’s passing, Emer decides to take a job working as a home health nurse for a woman named Susannah who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The second story line follows sisters Susannah and Kate. Kate and Susannah could not be more different. Susannah takes her schooling seriously and is admitted into Harvard for University. Kate ends up marrying a local boy whom she falls in love with and has 2 daughters. Due to a tragic turn of events Susannah must return home to care for Kate’s daughters.

This story drew me in right away and I found myself unable to put it down. I found Susannah’s story to be quite interesting and tragic in so many ways. I also enjoyed how Emer and Susannah were able to find solace in one another during Emer’s stay.

All in all, I thought this to be a pretty decent read. 3.5/5 stars

Big thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book!

The Island Girls is the story of two sets of sisters, both dealing with the pain of losing a sibling. Susannah and Kate are native Maine girls, born on the remote island of Vinylhaven, and Emer and Orla are Irish sisters, both of whom moved to America. After Orla’s death, Emer leaves Boston to take a job as Susanna’s nurse on Vinylhaven, after Susanna decides not to pursue treatment for her own cancer diagnosis. As Susanna and Emer become closer, Emer learns the details of Susanna’s life and the mystery surrounding Kate’s death.

Noelle Harrison does an amazing job of bringing the reader to the island of Vinylhaven. As a native Mainer myself, I found the details of her writing of not only the landscape, but the private nature of Maine islanders to be believable and accurate. The Island Girls and the story of the sisters themselves is an enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone interested in novels involving family dynamics, particularly about the bonds between sisters.

Thanks to Noelle Harrison, Bookouture, and Netgalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Absolutely loved this. Emer has arrived on the island of Vinalhaven to look after ailing elderly Susannah who has pancreatic cancer. Coping admirably with a difficult old lady who insists she doesn't need anyone, she is quickly pulled into Susannah's past through the discovery of letters tucked into the quilt on her bed.
Both Emer and Susannah have secret pasts. Emer has left the Boston hospital where she nursed abandoning her doctor lover Lars. They were together on the night Emer's sister Orla died and she has never forgiven herself for not being there for her. In letting her sister down she feels she does not deserve any happiness with Lars. Susannah too has lived with guilt over the murder of her younger sister Kate at the hands of a brutal husband; something which totally changed the direction of her life and a promising career in teaching.
Written from both women's aspects and moving between present day and the 1950s/60s not only does it solve a mystery, it also details Susannah's life as a Harvard student at a time of huge social change in America. Highly recommended.