Review of 'The Girl Across the Sea' by Noelle Harrison
Due out November 10th, 2021 * Publisher: Bookouture
☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️
Wow! Keep a box of tissues close by as The Girl Across The Sea is a heart-wrenching complex story that will move, mesmerise, melt and break you. This tale of sacrifice, difficult circumstances and the need for healing and transformation, starts with one generation but spans across many as secrets and truths spill in a giant wave from the past to the present, touching those tied together by blood and friendship. And like a tsunami, the realisation hits hard that no matter how far away you try to run, you can never truly escape the past. For it will find you or appear when least expected.
This is a dual timeline story. The past thread starts with Ellen, who has fled Ireland and a difficult life to live in freedom in America. On the journey over she meets a man and marries him. Together they build a life and have a daughter. Although Ellen finds a measure of happiness in her new world, a darkness still follows her. And in 1933 when it is time to leave New York and return to her homeland, fear grips her and she cannot go. With a shattered heart she looks one last time upon her little girl and husband fast asleep and then makes her exit, after leaving a special turquoise necklace and a letter behind.
In running away from one deadly secret, Ellen becomes enslaved to another more toxic than the first. The pain of abandoning her daughter burns a mark in her heart she can never forget. But even more than the noose of guilt she feels— is the sting of regret— that she can never return to Ireland due to what she escaped. She must accept this new life in America and forget who she was. And even though things don’t go as planned, her love for her daughter and the special necklace she left become symbols of hope. These offer comfort through the nightmares of the past and sustain her through the violations she encounters on her new course.
The present day thread begins with Mairead in Ireland. While caring for her dying mother, she learns of family secrets. Her mother wants to find her birth mother who abandoned her as a young child. Not an easy task for Mairead as she has limited information but it sends her to America, leaving her own daughter at college, to find her mysterious grandmother. Already grieving over her own family losses, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and healing. But along the way she takes some unexpected turns and meets some unusual, and even sinister, characters. Yet the path leads to surprising revelations, too.
The journeys for both women across the USA and into Canada prove intriguing. The Angel and healing time in the desert, the strangers they would trust and those they should not have. The lament, the brutality, the depth of this story goes on and on. It is a tale that is painful, beautiful and rapturous all at the same time.
Excellent suspense runs like a river through the landscape of this story feeding the plot that blooms with the flowers of sadness and joy. It is deeply complex with many unexpected twists and turns. Not your usual light hearted romantic story. But one of its beauties is in how it addresses the many aspects of the Irish psyche and Ireland’s history—including the fight for freedom. This is shown in many different ways and in a number of the characters. This story contains family secrets so grand and mind bending, that the climax will leave you reeling with many mixed emotions.
Noelle’s writing is very engaging and pulls every emotion imaginable from the reader. You walk in these women’s shoes, feel their pain, mourn their losses. But then you find yourself cheering as they muster new courage and feel relief from fear when an enemy subsides. And you rejoice when the past and present ancestral lines cross over and meet. Then there is the pride and deep devotion, even a connection to the homeland, that is so deep and wide that it travels unlimited miles overseas and reaches a new generation. This is something I can relate to for I have felt the pull in my own DNA— of the call of my own family’s past: for Irish roots know no distance or time. Ancestral memory can be strong as the spirit of place awakens once buried seeds. For as you stand on Irish soil and scan the horizons of your ancestors, up through the turf a sense of connection rises, while shamrocks are bursting forth under a full Irish sun.
There are so many things in this story I love. Many elements I have used in my own writing: the Irish song lists, the books and poems mentioned, the Sleeping Beauty reference, the Haunted Lake, the Irish fairy lore, the enchanting wildflowers such as Forget-Me-Nots and Bluebells. Coming from east coast Canada and an Irish heritage, all these cultural and botanical gems that surrounded my grandfather’s life and his homestead above the sea are so familiar to me. And the setting of Merview House with its sinister past certainly fired my imagination, reminding me of my own grandfather’s amazing stories!
I was very inspired by this moving narrative. Its depth was far greater than I could have imagined. Being my first Noelle Harrison novel, I did not know what to expect. But I am delighted that her powerful story telling ability really captivated me. I have always been drawn to Irish generational stories, so The Girl Across the Sea appealed to that interest and satisfied the hunger. And I was so impressed I purchased two of Noelle’s previous novels immediately!
Many thanks to Noelle for her wonderful descriptions for they transported me back to Ireland—a place I deeply love. Without a doubt, this story will stay with me forever. I highly recommend this brilliant Irish novel that is guaranteed to win your heart as well. 5 Shining Stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review is on Goodreads now and will be posted on Amazon AU when released.
