The Flowers of Ballygrace is set in the 1950’s Ireland that Geraldine O’Neill has visited in several of her previous novels, and her new, compelling characters have echoes for both the young and the young-at-heart.

Raven-haired Kate Flowers lives on the banks of the canal in Ballygrace, looking after widowed mother, Mary, and undependable brother, Brendan, who works on the barges. Life starts to change when Kate meets handsome boatman, Michael O’Brien, and she casts aside her dreams of nursing, for the conventional path of marriage and motherhood. But trouble looms when Mary visits sister, Rose, in Stockport and re-discovers her forgotten youth and finds a new interest in men.
When the canal barges are threatened, Brendan is torn between emigration and his secret love for the daughter of a volatile neighbour. Then suddenly, the family’s life is shattered when a tragedy occurs, leaving all three in circumstances they could never have imagined.

The Flowers family are forced to rebuild their lives in new surroundings that will test them, and give them the courage to bloom once again. Read More...

(This is the paperback edition of The Flowers of Ballygrace published in Ireland under a different title)

In 1950s Scotland, life is changing for the Grace girls.

Heather and Kirsty Grace are sisters growing up in Rowanhill Village, near Glasgow, surrounded by a big Irish family and a host of friends and neighbours. Older sister Heather seems to have everything – a steady job, good friends and a boyfriend eager to marry her. Why then does she long to escape small town life and find love and excitement among the bright city lights?

Kirsty, two years younger, also yearns for more out of life. Although she works in a local chemist, at nights she sings with a band in church halls and clubs. When a charismatic Irishman, Larry Delaney, spots her singing one evening and soon becomes her manager, Heather suspects Larry has his sights set on more than just Kirsty’s singing talents. Young cousin Lily brings laughter and life into the Grace family, but when fate singles her out, she is forced to find a strength and determination beyond her years.

Although the Grace girls have a warm, caring family around them, 1956 brings a dark winter of fear and suspicion to all women in the Glasgow Area. Just as Heather and Kirsty begin to enjoy the wider world outside Rowanhill, they suddenly find their wings are in danger of being clipped. Read More...

Meanwhile, her friend, Biddy Harte, a kindhearted orphan fostered by the uncaring Lizzy Lawless, has fallen into another trap.

Soon heartbreaking events force the girls to leave their native Ballygrace and flee to England, and Tara's hopes of romance with Gabriel are dashed.

The girls' new life in Stockport, near Manchester, brings romance for Biddy in the shape of burly wrestler Fred Roberts. But can she rely on his love when shameful secrets loom from the past to confront her?

And can Tara still hope to climb the ladder of success in her new career as an estate agent? Or is prosperous, handsome businessman Frank Kennedy the answer to both ambition and loneliness? Read More...

Tara Flynn has come along way since she was a little girl growing up in the village of Ballygrace. Now mistress of Ballygrace House, the beautiful mansion overlooking the Tullamore countryside, Tara has everything she's always wanted - security, a beautiful home, and the love of a good man. But the Irish have an expression - 'the two days', meaning good and bad fortune. Tara may have everything she's ever dreamed of, but can she hold on to it?

In Stockport, Tara's dear friend Biddy has problems of her own. She too has escaped a troubled past and built a new life. But when her husband is seriously injured, Biddie must once again begin taking care of herself. As Tara's half-sister arrives at her boarding-house, Biddie realises she'll need eyes in the back of her head if she's to keep both Angela and herself out of trouble.

Set in the Ireland and England of the early 1960s, Tara's Fortune is the story of two women making their way in the world; a touching, heart-warming tale of friendship and ambition, with the irresistible warmth that hallmarks Geraldine O'Neill's writing. Read More...

Aisling Gayle is one of life's pleasers. A young country schoolteacher in 60s Ireland, she spends her life pleasing philandering, Jack-the-lad husband Oliver and pious mother Maggie. She also worries about her sister Pauline, home from England with an illegitimate child, and her brother Charles who sees life differently to most other people. Aisling's wedding anniversary reveals Oliver's latest infidelity and she decides to escape for the summer accompanying her parents to beautiful Lake Savannah in Upstate New York.

There she meets Thomas Carroll a slow but amiable teenager and a frightening encounter introduces her to his father, reclusive artist Jameson Carroll. Soon Aisling finds herself in a once-in-a-lifetime passionate affair. As return to Ireland, and Oliver looms can her passion overcome the obstacles awaiting her? Can Aisling Gayle find the courage at long last, to please herself? Read More...

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