A review by sarahcoller
The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor
4.0
I really enjoyed this first novel by Hazel Gaynor. Having read The Cottingley Secret earlier this month (her fifth novel), I was a little more generous than I'd normally be with the cliched, too-good-to-be-true conversations, happenings, and randomly serendipitous Ireland trip at the end, knowing that this promising author's storytelling vastly improved in such a short time. The sinking scene was not at all believable but I couldn't have written it well myself. There were a few draggy parts and I did find it weird that introductions to the travelers were made almost half way into the book, slowing it down for awhile.
Lest you get too bad an impression of the story, I was pulled in right away. It's a beautiful story---and who can resist a well-researched Titanic story? It was difficult reading about the goodbyes as grown children left parents to set sail. I'd just bought my 17 year old son's plane ticket to send him out to Oregon after graduation---it's gonna be so hard!
I really loved how this story gave us a look into the life of the third class passengers. Usually people want to hear about the rich and famous names on board but I loved reading about third class in a positive light.
On a fun side note, my husband took me to the Titanic museum in Branson, Missouri a couple weeks ago where visitors are presented with a character card upon entering and are encouraged to go "find themselves" on the tour. I got Catherine Murphy, a young girl from Ireland. Her sister was Margaret, or Maggie, Murphy. Same name as the main character of the story! Catherine survived. My husband, who got the name of a Catholic priest, did not.
Lest you get too bad an impression of the story, I was pulled in right away. It's a beautiful story---and who can resist a well-researched Titanic story? It was difficult reading about the goodbyes as grown children left parents to set sail. I'd just bought my 17 year old son's plane ticket to send him out to Oregon after graduation---it's gonna be so hard!
I really loved how this story gave us a look into the life of the third class passengers. Usually people want to hear about the rich and famous names on board but I loved reading about third class in a positive light.
On a fun side note, my husband took me to the Titanic museum in Branson, Missouri a couple weeks ago where visitors are presented with a character card upon entering and are encouraged to go "find themselves" on the tour. I got Catherine Murphy, a young girl from Ireland. Her sister was Margaret, or Maggie, Murphy. Same name as the main character of the story! Catherine survived. My husband, who got the name of a Catholic priest, did not.