Love, real love, is faithful. Real love never disappoints. What disappoints are our wrong choices, and we can’t blame love for those. We must not become bitter or disillusioned. We must stay open, we must give love every opportunity to find us – and when it does we must embrace it, and hold tightly to it.
Dear readers, we must trust in love, and we must be kind wherever possible, to ourselves and to others. That is my advice to you this week, and my advice to me. If Gran were here, I think she would say the same.
Your friend,
Claire xx
She reads it over, deleting a word here, adding another there. She imagines them reading it, the people who open the paper each week and turn to her page, the people whose letters find their way to her, either by courier each Friday from her uncle in Dublin in a large padded envelope, or into the specially created email address that only she can access.
It terrified her in the beginning, all that hope. Who was she to advise anyone, she who had made such a wrong choice in her own life, she who lived without romantic love, who told herself each day that she didn’t need it? But she had Gran, and Gran helped her. Even when the problems seemed insurmountable, Gran gave her the words and helped her to arrange them on the page, and slowly she grew in confidence, and she began to look forward to the letters and emails.
She tries to help them all, friends and strangers alike. Reading their words, putting herself in their shoes, imagining the best strategies for the best outcomes. And now, finally, she is about to put her own advice to the test. She is about to place her trust in new love, which feels very much like it might be real love, and the right choice at last.
She is about to choose Bill, who is also John. She wonders how it took her so long to realise that they were one and the same person, to fit the clues together and match them up. She’ll have to tell him, sometime into the future, that she and Claire are the same person too. She’ll figure out the best way to do it, when the time comes.
She closes her computer. She goes off to begin her day.
Acknowlegements
To all at Hachette Books Ireland: Ciara D, Joanna, Ruth, Siobhan, Elaine, Breda, Bernard, Jim and Ciara C. Thank you for your excellent attention any time I come looking for it and for your occasional lovely surprises. After fifteen books together, I think we can safely say we’re an item.
To my enthusiastic and invaluable agent Sallyanne Sweeney, I’m so glad we got together! Thank you for all you do.
To Geraldine Exton and Philip Gleeson, always so generous with your time and expertise. Thanks a million.
To Mam, Dad, Treas, Tomas, Colm, Ciaran and Aonghus, thank you for the ongoing support and encouragement.
To my many great pals whom I won’t name in case I leave anyone out – you know who you are. Thank you, I salute and love you.
To book bloggers who play such a vital role in writers’ lives, a big thank you for your support, it’s much appreciated.
To readers who pick up this book wherever – bookshop, charity shop, library, pal’s house, holiday accommodation – and decide to take a chance on it, thank you. You have my deep gratitude.
Thank you all. xx
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR
Publishing October 2020 –
a feel-good festive tale from the Number 1 bestselling author
It’s the weekend before Christmas. Julia, Eddie and Steph – strangers to each other – are making separate journeys to Ireland to attend the wedding of Annie, the woman who fostered each of them in their childhoods, and to spend the weekend in the house that gave them refuge when they needed it. All three are now successful in their lives, but they still carry secrets and, as the wedding celebrations get underway, plans go awry and truths come to light.
When Annie finally says ‘I do’, Julia, Eddie and Steph make some discoveries about themselves – but will the guests of the wedding party get their happy-ever-after in time for Christmas day?
Also available as an ebook
Roisin Meaney
ONE SUMMER
Nell Mulcahy grew up on the island of Roone – playing in the shallows and fishing with her father in his old red boat in the harbour. So when the stone cottage by the edge of the sea comes up for sale, the decision to move back from Dublin is easy. And where better to hold her upcoming wedding to Tim than on the island, surrounded by family and friends?
But when Nell decides to rent out her cottage for the summer to help finance the wedding, she sets in motion an unexpected series of events.
As deeply buried feelings rise to the surface, Nell’s carefully laid plans for her wedding start to go awry and she is forced to make some tough decisions.
One thing’s for sure, it’s a summer on the island that nobody will ever forget.
Also available as an ebook and audiobook
Revisit the island of Roone in After the Wedding,
I’ll Be Home for Christmas and The Birthday Party
Roisin Meaney
THE REUNION
It’s their twenty-year school reunion but the Plunkett sisters
have their own reasons for not wanting to attend …
Caroline, now a successful knitwear designer, spends her time flying between her business in England and her lover in Italy. As far as she’s concerned, her school days, and what happened to her the year she left, should stay in the past.
Eleanor, meanwhile, is unrecognisable from the fun-loving girl she was in school. With a son who is barely speaking to her, and a husband keeping a secret from her, revisiting the past is the last thing on her mind.
But when an unexpected letter arrives for Caroline in the weeks before the reunion, memories are stirred.
Will the sisters find the courage to return to the town where they grew up and face what they’ve been running from all these years?
The Reunion is a moving story about secrets, sisters and finding a way to open your heart.
Also available as an ebook and audiobook
Roisin Meaney
THE ANNIVERSARY
It’s the Bank Holiday weekend and the Cunningham family are escaping to their holiday home by the sea, as they’ve done every summer for many years.
Except that now, parents Lily and Charlie are waiting for their divorce papers to come through – and have their new partners in tow.
Their daughter Poll is there with her boyfriend and is determined to make known her feelings for Chloë, her father’s new love. While her brother Thomas also has feelings for Chloë – of a very different nature …
And amid all the drama, everyone has forgotten that this weekend also happens to be Lily and Charlie’s wedding anniversary.
Will any of the couples survive the weekend intact?
Also available as an ebook and audiobook
The Restaurant Page 32