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barefoot_james's review against another edition
3.0
Second book in the Tailorstown series. It is readable as a stand-alone book.
This book is about a widow and her ten year old son who must flee Belfast because her late husband had double-crossed an IRA enforcer. The story unfolds slowly but with a lot of humor. There were more coincidences in the story than I like and it was mainly the humor that kept me reading.
This book is about a widow and her ten year old son who must flee Belfast because her late husband had double-crossed an IRA enforcer. The story unfolds slowly but with a lot of humor. There were more coincidences in the story than I like and it was mainly the humor that kept me reading.
judyrigby's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
melc's review against another edition
3.0
There were parts of this book that I liked - the characters were quirky, interesting and vivid. The backdrop of the historical context of the IRA and the hunger strikes were written about poignantly without a soap box or sentimentality. But the story was not compelling and I did not warm to the protagonists. This book did not grab my heart.
aliecarter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ava_catherine's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed in this book because I love McKenna's previous book [b:The Misremembered Man|2658724|The Misremembered Man|Christina McKenna|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347689224s/2658724.jpg|2683946], and I expected a similar reading experience with this book. However, I am not ready to give up on this author because her pervious book proves that she is an excellent writer, and she does know how to connect with the reader, writing a book of substance. This plot is too predictable and trite, and the characters are too flat and even silly. If you are looking for an easy read for the beach, this might be a good book because it is a fluffy, feel good book.
booksuperpower's review against another edition
4.0
The Disenchanted Widow by Christina McKenna is a 2014 publication.
This is a book I picked up from the Kindle Lending Library. I had no idea what to expect when I started the book, but even so, I couldn't have guessed this story would play out quite like it did.
When Bessie's husband dies suddenly, she is free to go her own way, but she also needs to get moving. It would seem her husband's involvement with certain people has her in a little bit of danger. With her son in tow she heads out for a surprise visit to her sister's, but car trouble has her stranded in the small community of Tailorstown.
Logan, an artist, is back in Tailorstown to help his mother and keep them out of debt. This means associating himself with the IRA who is paying him to forge paintings.
We know that in some way or other Bessie and Logan's path are going cross, but how their lives intersect is an pretty interesting story.
Tailorstown is just a dot on a map, but the community is, shall we say... a little odd. But, Bessie feels this might be the perfect place to lay low for awhile. She takes a job working for the local priest, never realizing how close her nemesis was or what lay beneath the slow moving and working class village.
Bessie's son Herkie, is a funny nine year old who sees and absorbs more than people realize. His character is funny, but sincere, and he ends up stealing the show.
While this is a work of fiction, the author based portions of the story of true events , which was quite interesting since I didn't see that disclaimer until the end of the book.
The story is a slower mover in the beginning and the style of writing, which uses a lot of dialect slowed me down in the beginning, but don't be fooled by the pace. It is a suspenseful story with unexpected events and plot twist. I enjoyed the quirky town folk and the understated, rather wry humor peppered throughout. I was afraid things were not going to turn out so well, for Bessie and Herkie, it turned out much better than I could have hoped for. This one is a little different. Perhaps being a little more refreshed about Ireland's history in the early eighties would have helped a bit, but overall I thought the story interesting and definitely different from my usual reading choices. 3.5 rounded to 4.
This is a book I picked up from the Kindle Lending Library. I had no idea what to expect when I started the book, but even so, I couldn't have guessed this story would play out quite like it did.
When Bessie's husband dies suddenly, she is free to go her own way, but she also needs to get moving. It would seem her husband's involvement with certain people has her in a little bit of danger. With her son in tow she heads out for a surprise visit to her sister's, but car trouble has her stranded in the small community of Tailorstown.
Logan, an artist, is back in Tailorstown to help his mother and keep them out of debt. This means associating himself with the IRA who is paying him to forge paintings.
We know that in some way or other Bessie and Logan's path are going cross, but how their lives intersect is an pretty interesting story.
Tailorstown is just a dot on a map, but the community is, shall we say... a little odd. But, Bessie feels this might be the perfect place to lay low for awhile. She takes a job working for the local priest, never realizing how close her nemesis was or what lay beneath the slow moving and working class village.
Bessie's son Herkie, is a funny nine year old who sees and absorbs more than people realize. His character is funny, but sincere, and he ends up stealing the show.
While this is a work of fiction, the author based portions of the story of true events , which was quite interesting since I didn't see that disclaimer until the end of the book.
The story is a slower mover in the beginning and the style of writing, which uses a lot of dialect slowed me down in the beginning, but don't be fooled by the pace. It is a suspenseful story with unexpected events and plot twist. I enjoyed the quirky town folk and the understated, rather wry humor peppered throughout. I was afraid things were not going to turn out so well, for Bessie and Herkie, it turned out much better than I could have hoped for. This one is a little different. Perhaps being a little more refreshed about Ireland's history in the early eighties would have helped a bit, but overall I thought the story interesting and definitely different from my usual reading choices. 3.5 rounded to 4.
prof_g's review against another edition
Good book. Delightfully simple, but super fun to read. The dialect was a little trippy at times, but the story was just a lot of fun to read. I loved Herkie. That kid got into everything. Plot was neat and focused, though I wasn't sure what to do about the priest. it would have been a lot more interesting if I understood better what was happening in Ireland at that time, but I didn't find that to be a real distraction to the novel.
brownearthgirl's review against another edition
Good book. Delightfully simple, but super fun to read. The dialect was a little trippy at times, but the story was just a lot of fun to read. I loved Herkie. That kid got into everything. Plot was neat and focused, though I wasn't sure what to do about the priest. it would have been a lot more interesting if I understood better what was happening in Ireland at that time, but I didn't find that to be a real distraction to the novel.
finallywakingup's review
2.0
This was a predictable story and halfway through I just started skimming to see if I had figured it out right. There was also a really dull sub-plot that didn't relate to anything else and felt very unnecessary to the book. The characters were interesting so it was a bit annoying that more wasn't made out of them.
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