Finding Alison

Alison feels like she has been frozen in time in the small Irish fishing village where she lives with her daughter. It’s been three years since her husband Sean put out to sea in a fierce storm, never to be seen again. Alison presumes her husband must have drowned, but without proof, it’s hard for her to move on and she has become estranged with her neighbors, her mother-in-law and her own daughter. When a traveling artist arrives in town, Alison wonders if she might dare risk her heart again, but the budding relationship reveals the secrets that have been buried in the little village, threatening to destroy Alison. This is a beautifully written story with a forbidding, sometimes threatening backdrop about secrets, both small and large

Deirdre Eustace's novel Finding Alison is a simply wonderful book which I loved. I was drawn to the eye-catching front cover as, living by the sea myself, I do love stories with a coastal setting. The book starts off in dramatic style with Alison being awoken in the night by the local priest who tells her that her husband Sean is missing at sea, after taking out his fishing boat on a stormy night. The story then moves forward three years where we find Alison still struggling to come to terms with her loss and having a turbulent relationship with her teenage daughter Hannah. Drifter and artist William comes to the small fishing village of Carniskey and the two strike up a friendship.

I don't think that I have ever made so many notes about the beautiful writing in a book. As you will see from the striking front cover, the sea has a prominent role in this book. It is an ever-present character and Deirdre Eustace has employed some vivid and stunning imagery to describe it. "The sea cha-cha'd in to meet her, its petticoat held high. Alison noticed the ocean's dark-brown underdress: how its rippled its grey surface, refusing the sun." Alison has a love-hate relationship with the sea. For all its wild beauty it has taken so much from her. She hates it since it took her husband and yet she cannot leave it as she feels tied to where they lived and loved. There was another beautiful section of prose where Alison describes the sea as the ultimate mistress "I've witnessed her gentle seductions, her flirting and teasing. That hypnotic allure... With her gentle comforts, her whispers of adventure, freedom and danger". I must also mention Alison's poetry, which of course is really the author's poetry, in particular the wonderfully atmospheric To The Sea. I'm not a huge poetry fan but I thought it was a very touching, beautifully crafted piece of writing.

The title of the novel hints at one of the main themes, which is Alison beginning to find herself again, after the grief and loss of the three years since Sean went missing. Over the course of the book, she finds the space to begin to be herself again, to rediscover her own self-worth and begin to redevelop her self-confidence. Alison has so much to cope with and I was rather taken aback at some very unexpected turns in the story. She proves herself to be a strong woman, coping with some difficult and demanding situations.

Another contender for my books-of-the-year list, Finding Alison is a book to savour as you take time to enjoy the elegant, descriptive prose. There is a strong sense of place with the sea and watery imagery used to such great effect throughout the novel. It is incredibly moving and uplifting, particularly in the final chapters. Even when I had finished the book, I was still playing over some of the scenes in my mind and found it difficult to move onto my next read. (I believe this is known as a 'book hangover'!) Finding Alison is a powerful, memorable story and one which I highly recommend.

Losing Alison is a wonderful, poignant and emotional story about a woman who has lost her way of life after the death her husband. It took Alison three sorrowful years to want to fight for her dreams and for her child Hannah. After losing her husband to the sea, she loses her will to live and spends those years alternating between anger and sorrow, leaving Hannah to meander through her teenage life rebelling. in the meantime, her mother-in-law gets wounded in a burglary gone bad and has to be placed in a home.
It takes a wonderful stranger to bring her back to life, of wanting to live her dreams and being a good mother to her daughter.
Alison's best friend, Kathleen, also has a secret which i guessed as the story moves on, which brings about the twist.
Alison has a great connection to the sea which rages on, on certain days while on others, it remains calm, just like the shades of life.
Losing Alison is a great book of strength and hope, where the spirit of a woman burns bright, bringing light to even the darkest shadows.
I would love to read more books Dierdre Eustace as she writes well. Her description of the moods of the sea is one of my favourite parts in this book, made me want to live right on the sea side..
Thank you for writing such a book...

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to my friends. At its core, it is really about letting go of the things and events that keep us prisoner in our lives. Events beyond our control that emotionally scar us and hold us back from being happy and living life. Haunted by ghosts and old feelings and how we drag them along every day.

The main character is Alison, I really liked her and felt very connected to her from the start. She’s terribly flawed as a result of the past. Battling not only with her inner demons but with an emotionally damaged teenager, we go on a journey of love, loss and clarity. I took a lot from this book. It makes you reflect on what you carry from the past that you need to let go. I enjoyed Deirdre’s carefully constructed sentences and her true to life characters. People you could relate to and connect.

In a way, the book was a wake-up call for me. It taught me to live in the now, this very moment. To stop worrying about the what ifs and the future. What’s important is the now. Also, it reminded me with a gentle nudge to make sure the people closest to me knew how much I love them.

This book is perfect for any time of year be it a sunny beach day or at home by the fire with a hot cuppa and a sneaky biscuit on a nippy day.

Deirdre Eustace has written a wonderful piece of fiction in the style of Jodi Piccoult. Piccoult fans will be engrossed in Finding Alison and want to read until they have reached the last page! Spellbinding! Riveting!