The book is a debut novel which is based on true events
I really enjoyed it, and it was interesting to learn about the independence of Ireland
The only negative aspect was the ending, as it was rushed

Wonderful, emotional and compelling story of love on the most difficult of days!
I was instantly taken by this book, the moment I set eyes upon the cover and then read the back blurb I knew that this had my name all over it,
I loved the story, the emotional pull from the start which drags you within its pages, the writing is so beautiful;l and engaging bringing you right into the story besides the characters whom you instantly can invest your time getting to know, their journey tore my heart out there is so much emotion threaded through the story.
I loved every second, every page, the attention to historic detail is wonderful and evocative and I will certainly be reading more from Eimear Lawlor in the future,
A moving and beautiful love story!

This was really, really shallow, which is unfortunate.

The story surrounds a woman named Veronica who moves to Dublin and is immediately ~recruited~ into Sinn Féin, an Irish political party that is seeking independence from English rule. As part of her "work" she is tasked with keeping the attentions of an English soldier and gathering intel. She is categorically terrible at it. Veronica's internal monologue is a lot grander than she actually is on the page, there's almost no development of any character, there are no stakes, and the interesting parts of that part of Irish history are either completely ignored or glossed over.

Really quickly I'm going to talk about the trope of "girl who has sex for the first time, out of wedlock, gets pregnant": I HATE IT. I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT. Please come up with something more interesting for a woman to do than panic about an unplanned pregnancy, we all know it's going to be fine, stop treating pregnancy as a consequence for having sex, stop making pregnancy ~the most significant obstacle~ in the story (in the last 60 pages).

The romance between Harry and Veronica is so undeveloped as to have every detail of it fit into a greeting card. There is no discussion of his lies about knowing who she was.

Veronica is ultimately a boring, shrinking violet of a ~lady spy~ whose importance is over-inflated by every last character in the book.

I received a copy of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

Did Not Finish - the dialogue felt unnatural and the characters were not interesting. I just couldn't get invested in the story.

Dublin’s Girl was a very interesting read. I am fascinated by any and all things relating to Ireland and this book definitely kept me hooked all the way through. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in historical pieces of fiction. Thank you to Aria & Aries and NetGalley for giving me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dublin’s Girl by Eimear Lawlor has Veronica McDermott bored with life on the family farm. She wants to go secretarial school in Dublin and gets her chance in 1917. Veronica boards with her Uncle Tom and Aunt Betty where she soon becomes involved in helping in uncle deliver packages for the Sinn Fein. Veronica does well in her classes and gets a position helping a man involved in the cause for Irish independence. This part-time position leads to one within the Sinn Fein where she types important letters for the leaders. One day Veronica bumps into Major Harry Fairfax with the English army who would like to step out with her. Veronica gets tasked with getting close to Harry and learning army secrets that could help the Irish. Dublin’s Girl is a gently paced story gives us a look at a pivotal time in English/Irish history when the Irish are fighting for independence. They wanted an Irish Free State with their own parliament. It was interesting learning about key time in Ireland’s history. I could tell the author did her research. The romance between Veronica and Harry progressed at a leisurely pace. I could feel the spark of attraction between them, but I wanted the pair to spend more time together so we could see the connection build. I am glad that the author gave us an epilogue. I did find the dialogue a big stilted plus there were extraneous details and repetition of information. I liked the suspense and danger in the story. I also enjoyed seeing Veronica grow up as time passed. Dublin’s Girl is Eimear Lawlor’s debut novel. I am curious to see what this author creates next. Dublin’s Girl is an intriguing historical novel with touch typing, a bothersome brother, a covert container, a sympathetic soldier, and a fierce fight.

I loved the historical aspect of this book and the way the author weaved true events around the relationship between Veronica and Harry. The connection they shared was very touching -- and quite magical. Fate played an integral part in this book, and it worked incredibly well.

Plus, as a bonus, there were some real historical figures in this novel (Michael Collins, for example), and it was a very excellent history lesson about the revolutionary nature of this time period in Ireland and the eventual creation of the Irish Free State.

Some stories are good way to learn about history and being entertained. This is one of those cases.
Well researched, well written, gripping and entertaining.
I learned something new and loved the plot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A powerfully written novel set against the background of the Irish War of Independence, this is a captivating historical tale of forbidden love, courage and resilience from a new author. This is a journey of Veronica during the Irish fighting to get their independence from the United Kingdom. It is a book filled with sacrifice, loyalties set against the background of war and forbidden love. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t let the cover of Dublin’s Girl fool you, this was anything but a simple love story. It was the story of a nation that fought for independence, of a young women who found herself unwittingly involved in the struggle risking her own life for the love of her country.
Lawlor’s Veronica was a naive country girl, thrust onto the streets of Dublin, as she embarked on her secretarial course and a more exciting life. What she and the reader did not expect was just how exciting and indeed dangerous her new life would become. Handpicked by Father O’Flanagan to type for Sinn Fein activist Eamon De Valera she got a whole lot more than she bargained for. It opened up a world of police raids, of soldiers on streets, of subversive manoeuvres by Sinn Fein, and a whole gamut of political rhetoric from both sides.

I found it fascinating, as I didn’t know much of Southern Ireland’s history after the first world war and what was even more remarkable was the brutality from both sides as they each fought for what they thought was their right.

I liked that Lawlor chose to look at the conflict from a woman’s perspective, and the role and impact they had. Who would have thought a typist would play should a pivotal role?

That pivotal role was further expanded when Veronica met Major Harry Fairfax, a chance meeting that put her in further danger, but a danger that she was willing to take as something else began to grow between them. Lawlor explored Veronica’s dilemma as her affections for Harry overtook the danger, as she had to weigh up the consequences of falling in love with the so called enemy. There were illicit meetings in tea shops, in seaside towns, the frowns and looks of disgust from those around them, long separations when you wondered if Harry felt the same or just using her to get to the rebels.

Lawlor skillfully turned the screws, as the clashes between the two sides escalated and Veronica found herself where no woman wished to be. I held my breath as I waited to see what Lawlor would do, if Harry would be the gentleman and hero I so wanted him to be. Now, there is no way I am going to spoil the ending and let on what happened, and you will just have to buy of borrow Dublin’s Girl and find out for yourselves

As an aside please read the story behind the novel, as it was equally fascinating when you discovered that Lawlor’s great aunt was the real typist to Eamon De Valera.

Wow, what a history lesson. I am fascinated by this period of history. This debut novel was so informative and entertaining. Veronica McDermott is living a sheltered life in rural Ireland on her parent’s farm. She has a desire to venture out to see what the world has to offer. She moves to Dublin, lives with her Aunt and Uncle and she attends secretarial school. The trials and tribulations of the war become a reality for her, and the fight for Ireland’s independence from Britain is an eye opener. Veronica is given an assignment that she must gather information on a British soldier named Major Harry Fairfax. She becomes friends with him and as the relationship develops, she is led into unknown territory. So Veronica must make the heart wrenching decision, does she follow her heart or stay true to her family and her country? As the story continues so do her challenges, and she finds herself in an impossible situation. Dublin offers more than she ever bargained for.

I really enjoyed this story. I was intrigued to find that this was based on a true story. This book was very captivating and was definitely an engrossing read. I recommend this engaging read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This novel sucked me in right from the first time I read the synopsis. I love historical fiction and I was drawn to that it was about a piece of history, and a war, that is not written about often. Actually, I do believe this is the first I have found, and for that alone it hold a dear place in my heart.

This is such a beautiful debut novel, from the writing, to the characters, to the details and atmosphere. The beginning was a tad slower, but for me, that was no issue at all. it still engaged me and kept me wanting to ready. Although it was slow, it was still packed with detail that I believe added to the story overall. I also think because it was a fresh take on a piece of history that I was not familiar with I was very interested in learning all that I could.

Veronica is such a force of courage, strength and resilience. I really enjoyed getting to know her through the pages in ways that were not explicitly said. Her development through the storyline felt real and tangible and I felt I was there with her through all the ups and downs that the war brought her way. he was strong and independent, but there was also a love story that played out in the later half that kept you on your toes until the very end.

Overall, this was such a lovely novel from an author I look forward to many more great books from. Historical fictions lovers, this is one you're going to want to read.

I received an advance copy for reviewing purposes, these are my honest opinions.

It took me a little while to get into this, but once it got into the swing of things I was interested to see how things would play out. And overall I enjoyed it.

I haven't vetted all the historical claims, but this lines up well with what I know of this time and place, and it seemed well researched. I felt like I learned quite a bit about life in Dublin at that time. I hadn't previously come across a novel covering these events before, and I enjoyed it. They were definitely interesting times, and I'm sure pretty harrowing to live through. I would definitely read more about it.

I found the heroine's information acquiring/developing relationship with the major an engaging aspect. It seemed like way more time was given to setting up the meetings than what was actually spent during them though. It felt like just a couple lines of dialogue would pass and then they would be parting again. Quite a fair way through the book I wondered if they'd had even a hundred lines shared between them. It would help strengthen the notion that feelings *could* be developing if it was at least *referenced* that they had discussed blah blah blah on their way somewhere, or 'after conversing for what felt like only minutes they realized it was already time to part' or *something*. As it was (at least in this advance copy) it seemed like they only said the words I read, and there weren't all that many really. They both grew on me though despite their complicated circumstances.

There were a lot of supporting characters, but they were developed enough that I could keep them straight, and they added something to the story beyond just being bodies. The surroundings as well were fleshed out so that I could easily picture them.

I could probably round this up to 3.5 stars, because it was different and entertained me, but not quite up to 4. So ultimately 3 stars.

I finally threw in the towel. The premise was promising but the execution was not. Filled with short, stilted sentences and a writing style boarding on juvenile. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

Dublin's Girl features Veronica, a young woman from the rural Irish town of Virginia, who goes to Dublin for her secretarial course and finds herself in the underground world of the Irish freedom fighters in 1917.

This book appeared to be very well-researched and I enjoyed learning about the Irish fight for independence, particularly given my Irish ancestry. I think the history is where this book shines.

It is, however, very clearly written by a debut author. There isn't a great deal of depth to the characters and scenery. I found this lack of detail made it difficult for me to really get deeply invested in the story.

I do think that it's worth a read, especially if you're looking for a historical fiction book about the fight for Irish independence since those are harder to find than WWII.

A powerfully written debut novel set against the turbulent background of the Irish War of Independence, Eimear Lawlor’s Dublin’s Girl is an atmospheric and captivating historical tale of forbidden love, courage and resilience from an exceptional new voice.

Stuck on an isolated farm in the back of beyond, Veronica McDermott yearns for excitement and adventure – two things that are sadly missing from her life. Veronica is tired of the same old routine and of having nothing to look forward to other than back-breaking labour and peeling potatoes. Veronica plans to follow a different path from her parents who are shackled to the farm and have nothing more to fulfill them other than hard graft and constant toil, so she is thrilled when they allow her go to Dublin to stay with her aunt and uncle to attend secretarial college. It looks like all of Veronica’s plans for an independent future are coming to fruition, but little does she realise that in the big city she needs to be very careful what she wishes for and that the golden opportunity she is going to be offered is going to lead her down a dark and dangerous path where she stands to lose everything she holds dear to her heart…

Recruited by Fr Michael O’Flanagan to type for Eamon de Valera, Veronica is tasked with gathering information for Sinn Fein and in order to do this she must first gain the trust of handsome British soldier, Major Harry Fairfax. With the stakes having never been higher, Veronica knows that she mustn’t put a single foot wrong because one mistake is all that it will take for her cover to be blown and her mission to be jeopardised. Veronica was determined not to do anything that could compromise her assignment, but she hadn’t counted on finding herself attracted to Harry. As her feelings for the British soldier intensify, Veronica finds herself caught between loyalty to her country and the man who has come to mean the world to her.

Which side will Veronica choose? Will she follow her head or will she end up giving everything up for love?

Dublin’s Girl is a superbly written debut novel brimming with atmosphere, tension, emotion and vivid period detail that will sweep readers back to the early years of the twentieth century. Eimear Lawlor writes brilliantly about impossible sacrifices, illicit desire and the price one pays for love leaving readers completely captivated by this deftly crafted page-turner.

A haunting and lyrical debut novel, historical fiction fans will not want to miss Eimear Lawlor’s Dublin’s Girl.

Dublin's Girl is a very interesting story. I am of Irish decent and found this to be full of history and great insight as to the lives of Ireland's people during the early 1900's and their fight for independence from England. I recommend this book. Thank you for providing me with a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and. ... Publishing for an eArc of Dublin Girl by Eimear Lawlor in exchange for an honest review.

Veronica McDermott grows up on a prosperous farm in Co Cavan with her parents and twin brother Eddie. On the cusp of the War of Independence she moves to Dublin to stay with her Aunt and Uncle in the tenements and to do a secretarial course which she has dreamed of. Through the secretarial course she gets a job in the Sinn Fein offices at Harcourt Street where Michael Collins himself has an office and she becomes a spy for Michael by encouring a friendship with a British officer. It is a well known historical fact that many of Collin's most faithful spies were women

I loved the premise of this story. The author writes beautifully and portrays Dublin during this time perfectly, the tenements, the growing civil unrest and the War of Independence.

I did feel however that the plot was a little monotonous at times and I would have liked for Veronica to have been more involved in some important events during that time instead of paging over them constantly as non events. It would have heightened the tension in the storyline and in reality it was such a chaotic time there was plenty to choose from.

The relationship with Harry was difficult to believe as they only meet for a couple of minutes at a time and I felt could have been expanded on .

The main story ends abruptly during the War of Indepenence on 1920 with noention of important events to come Civil War or the killing of Michael Collins, which I thought she might refer to when looking back since she worked and spied for the man.
Overall I did find it an easy read it was an excellent idea for a book based on the author's aunts experiences but could have been much better.

Dublin's Girl by Eimear Lawlor totally had Downton Abbey-meets-Peaky Blinders vibes which I'm totally here for. (Tom Branson will forever have my heart.) I loved Eimear's exploration of the English/Irish relationship, especially revealed in the relationship between Harry and Veronica, two characters from two very different walks of life. I found the timing and development of their relationship got a little lost in the overall pacing of the novel, but this might just be a stylistic difference between the books I like to read and the books Eimear likes to write. It was really special to learn that the character of Veronica was based in part on the author's aunt; I found this to be a touching tribute and added dedication to family legacy. I appreciated Lawlor's attention to historical detail and her simplistic explanation of everyday life for characters like Harry and Veronica who exemplify real people who lived, dreamed, loved and died.
I found the ending a bit rushed, and as I said, some of the pacing was peculiar, particularly in Harry and Veronica's relationship. Nevertheless this was a fine read and I'm thankful to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

The historical component of this book was portrayed in very simple terms which was good for someone unfamiliar with Irish history and the follow up to the Easter Risings of 1916. However the story of Veronica , although started our quite interesting became repetitive at times with the soggy porridge , the typing and the quick encounters with the British soldier. The ending was so quick . Where It took most of the book to detail two years of Veronica ‘s life and took five pages to explain the twenty years following . This was disappointing .