Rosie Mackenzie
Reviewed by Helen
What a debut story this one was for me, I could hardly put it down, there is a little intrigue that called to me and the strong characters, and the harshness that can be life on the land whether it be Ireland or Australia, yes it is a long story but one that called to me, one that I loved.
Kathleen grows up in India and times are hard during World War 2, there is heartbreaking loss of lives and then a new future in Ireland at the beautiful Rathgarven in County Kerry with her husband James O’Sullivan and their four children Ronan, Lillie, Marcus and Freddie, but betrayal and life in Ireland at the time push the family to make a move across the world to Eureka Station Australia, a horse stud in New South Wales, owned by close friend Finn Maloney, but when they get there more heartbreak awaits them. It is now the 1960’s and life throws a lot more at them as this family moves on with life.
Ronan and Lillie the eldest two children and they struggle with life at first but soon settle in to their new schools and discovering life in Australia, it is not long before a family friend comes to stay and love starts to grow, but this brings out more lies and hurt for the family, and the intrigue continues, the Vietnam War brings more hurt and heartbreak to this family and they had a lot to contend with and they showed their strength over and over.
This was a very moving story for me, I really fell for all of the O’Sullivan family and what they went through, they were strong no matter what came at them, the betrayal and lies and loss bought heartache to them all, but in the end things work out and life moved on. This is a story that I highly recommend, yes it is a long one, but I loved the settings and the journey that this family has and there were some beautiful HEA’s.
5 stars
Published
February 1st 2019
by HarperCollins
