Kathleen MacMahon

The Long, Hot Summer by Kathleen MacMahon is one of the loveliest books I've read this year.

Family drama, generations of Irish men & ladies, comedy, tragedy and character growth. What more could a girl ask for in novel? Not much else!!

I was truly surprised by how amazing this book was, considering it has so few reviews. It's by far one of my favourite reads and it will sit high atop my shelves. Kathleen MacMahon has a beautiful sense of writing style and her prose is just magnificent. I can't get enough of this book and I want more by her.

This story follows the MacEntees - an Irish family with four generations of men and women trying to deal with a long, hot summer. Deidre and Manus were once married, but Manus is now with his male lover and at Deidre is grasping with the fact that she is now "old" and in her 80s. Alma, Acushla and MacDara are their children and they all have to grasp with their own choices too. Alma and Acushla married twin brothers, and somehow their lives are echoing each other. The girls' children, Constance and Nora, are also dealing with their own lives choices. The entire book follows these characters one by one and lets us into a world of family drama, insanity and growth.

I would have loved to read a book like this in high school, when you have the opportunity to pick apart lines and themes within the story. I loved seeing how each character interacted and how life didn't end up the way they quite expected it. Lots of humors is thrown in with the tragedy, family drama is addressed in a very real way, and this book shows just how tough life can be (yet also how fruitful and silly we can make it). In summary, it's all about perspective.

Kathleen does a great job showing the differences between the generations and how they interact with one another. The conflict felt so real and the book felt like it could have been a non-fiction retelling (but it's not!). I really want to read more by Kathleen because she has a real knack for story telling. I was so attached to these characters and I was furious that this book had to end (and in the way that it did! I cried! I never cry at books!).

I HIGHLY recommend this book if you love fictional dramas, stories set in Ireland, and books about being a family.

Five out of five stars! I would give it more if I could.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.… (lisätietoja)

Volevo leggere un libro che fosse dolce, romantico e raccontasse una bella storia d’amore fuori dai consueti schemi e dalla sinossi così poteva sembrare.
Mi sono imbattuta “anche” in una storia d’amore ma tutto quello che c’è prima, intorno, durante e dopo è solo una serie quasi infinita di sciagure e drammi.
Questo genere di storie mi indispone perché sembra che tutto quanto di più negativo possa accadere, invariabilmente accada ai malcapitati protagonisti, e gli attimi di felicità che riescono a vivere sono solo brevi intervalli nella tragicità dell’esistenza.
Niente da dire su chi voglia scrivere e leggere di tutti questi drammi, quello che non mi sta bene è che dalla sinossi di tutte queste tragedie non si trovi altro che una minima traccia, peraltro del tutto fuorviante.
… (lisätietoja)

Otoño de 2008, en la costa de Dublín. Bruno, un estadounidense que acaba de perder su empleo en Lehman Brothers, llega a Irlanda en busca de sus raíces. Addie, una arquitecta sin trabajo, se está recuperando de un desengaño amoroso mientras cuida de su padre convaleciente. Cuando sus mundos se encuentran, Addie y Bruno sienten una conexión como jamás habían sentido antes, aunque pronto su amor reciente se verá puesto a prueba de manera inexorable. Una historia que nos lleva más allá del «felices para siempre» allí donde comienza y termina el verdadero amor.… (lisätietoja)