Ellen Murphy spent her childhood in an idyllic house by the sea. A house surrounded by flower filled gardens and a white picket fence. A house she fled at eighteen. A house full of secrets.
When Ellen’s mother Rose, an ex-nun, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ellen reluctantly returns home to care for her and uncovers a clue to the one secret that has haunted Ellen all her life: the identity of her father. But that is just one of the many secrets hidden behind the beautiful facade of the house on Prospect Road . Ellen discovers the high price both her mother and her Irish grandmother paid for the house on Prospect and she realizes that her meek mother is more of stranger to her than her absent father.
Women's Fiction
Title: The House on Prospect
Author: Bernadette Walsh
Publisher: Echelon Press
Date Published: January 11, 2012
Synopsis:
Ellen Murphy spent her childhood in an idyllic house by the sea. A house surrounded by flower filled gardens and a white picket fence. A house she fled at eighteen. A house full of secrets.
When Ellen’s mother Rose, an ex-nun, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ellen reluctantly returns home to care for her and uncovers a clue to the one secret that has haunted Ellen all her life: the identity of her father. But that is just one of the many secrets hidden behind the beautiful facade of the house on Prospect Road. Ellen discovers the high price both her mother and her Irish grandmother paid for the house on Prospect and she realizes that her meek mother is more of stranger to her than her absent father.
Follow the entire blog tour here.When Ellen’s mother Rose, an ex-nun, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ellen reluctantly returns home to care for her and uncovers a clue to the one secret that has haunted Ellen all her life: the identity of her father. But that is just one of the many secrets hidden behind the beautiful facade of the house on Prospect Road. Ellen discovers the high price both her mother and her Irish grandmother paid for the house on Prospect and she realizes that her meek mother is more of stranger to her than her absent father.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to admit that as I read through the first part of this book, I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into. The book was hard to follow. I struggled to keep the characters straight. The perspective kept switching between Rose and Ellen, and most of the time, I couldn't remember who was the mother and who was the daughter. About a third of the way into the book, I finally got all the characters figured out so that was no longer a problem. And I settled in to enjoy a very different kind of story.
The entire premise behind the book is truly intriguing. A mother, Rose, is dying of brain cancer, and she has a very strained relationship with her only daughter, not to mention many of the other members of her family. Her Catholic faith is very important to her, so getting things right with her daughter and God are paramount before she can be released to die. She has to keep fighting until all is as settled as it can be. Then and only then can she die in peace.
Her only daughter, Ellen, begins to uncover a secret past she never knew about her mother. And it is upsetting, to say the least. What she believed she always knew about her mother is not true. And her other family members just tell her to not bring up any of these unsettling topics as her mother lays dying. But somehow, Ellen just cannot do that. She has to get some answers to try to figure out who in the world she is. Even if it means experiencing pain like she has never known before.
The characters in the book come across as genuine characters with all sorts of baggage and issues. But it is evident that Rose and Ellen have big hearts. They are willing to give up everything to take care of their families. And both do give up a lot. I would venture to say Rose resents it, and the epilogue certainly makes me feel better about Ellen and her choices!
While this book is written in a very easy-to-read style, I cannot get away from a couple of issues that bother me. I do not like the profanity that comes out as rather inopportune times, but that is not to be avoided in this day and age. Thankfully it is not as bad as some books I have read. I also cannot agree with the sexual morals in the book, but I also understand that sometimes things happen in that area. I am glad that there are no vivid sexual scenes.
One of my favorite parts of the book is the popular style in which it is written. It seems that the style of vogue is to use flashbacks to fill in missing details. While one detail in Rose's life is never filled in (but I think the reader has enough information to guess what happened), I find this style quite fascinating. It made the first part of the book hard to follow (as I already alluded to), but I can certainly commend the writer for doing and expert job at writing this style. It is not easy, but she certainly seems to know what she is doing. I also enjoyed the emphasis on the Catholic faith in spite of everything. It is nice to see people at least believing in God and caring what He think especially in a secular book such as this.
I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated in any way, and all opinions are mine.
The entire premise behind the book is truly intriguing. A mother, Rose, is dying of brain cancer, and she has a very strained relationship with her only daughter, not to mention many of the other members of her family. Her Catholic faith is very important to her, so getting things right with her daughter and God are paramount before she can be released to die. She has to keep fighting until all is as settled as it can be. Then and only then can she die in peace.
Her only daughter, Ellen, begins to uncover a secret past she never knew about her mother. And it is upsetting, to say the least. What she believed she always knew about her mother is not true. And her other family members just tell her to not bring up any of these unsettling topics as her mother lays dying. But somehow, Ellen just cannot do that. She has to get some answers to try to figure out who in the world she is. Even if it means experiencing pain like she has never known before.
The characters in the book come across as genuine characters with all sorts of baggage and issues. But it is evident that Rose and Ellen have big hearts. They are willing to give up everything to take care of their families. And both do give up a lot. I would venture to say Rose resents it, and the epilogue certainly makes me feel better about Ellen and her choices!
While this book is written in a very easy-to-read style, I cannot get away from a couple of issues that bother me. I do not like the profanity that comes out as rather inopportune times, but that is not to be avoided in this day and age. Thankfully it is not as bad as some books I have read. I also cannot agree with the sexual morals in the book, but I also understand that sometimes things happen in that area. I am glad that there are no vivid sexual scenes.
One of my favorite parts of the book is the popular style in which it is written. It seems that the style of vogue is to use flashbacks to fill in missing details. While one detail in Rose's life is never filled in (but I think the reader has enough information to guess what happened), I find this style quite fascinating. It made the first part of the book hard to follow (as I already alluded to), but I can certainly commend the writer for doing and expert job at writing this style. It is not easy, but she certainly seems to know what she is doing. I also enjoyed the emphasis on the Catholic faith in spite of everything. It is nice to see people at least believing in God and caring what He think especially in a secular book such as this.
I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated in any way, and all opinions are mine.
Bernadette Walsh
Author Bio
I have always been a bookworm and had always meant to write a novel “someday.” You know, when I won the lottery and could live in beach house and look out onto the water and feel inspired. Four years ago I decided to stop waiting for my winning lottery ticket and sat down and started writing in between work and family obligations. I piled the words on top of each other until they formed sentences, paragraphs, chapters and eventually a book. The House on Prospect is my second novel. My first, a contemporary romance, Gold Coast Wives, was published in November 2011. The first book of my paranormal trilogy, Devil’s Mountain -- Book One of the Devlin Legacy, is due to be published in June 2012. While I’ve hopped around genres, all of my books to date have a common theme: strong women handling what life throws at them the best way they can.
She was also gracious enough to give us a guest post.
Starting Out as a Writer
By Bernadette Walsh
Five years ago I turned 40. After I drowned my sorrows with champagne and chocolate, I made a list of all the things I wanted to do before I die. Morbid, I know, but number one on that list was write a novel. I said to myself, yeah, I’ve really got to do that.
Two years went by. Then one afternoon, I came up with a name: Kate Ryan. Before I knew it Kate had a husband, family, friends and one big problem -- she and her husband had lost their high powered jobs and their savings. Her husband loses his mind and high tails it to Australia. Kate loses her mind and joins the cast of a local cable channel’s reality TV show.
I had a blast writing Gold Coast Wives. I wrote what I wanted how I wanted. Then reality sank in. I joined a local writing group, figured out that I made about 100 basic writing mistakes, rewrote it, rewrote it again, entered it into various RWA chapter contests, wrote it again and after two years submitted it to some publishers. In December 2010 I got the best Christmas present ever when Lyrical Press offered me a contract! Since that fateful Christmas, I have completed four other novels, including The House on Prospect.
Before I started to write I read several “how to write a novel” books and did a lot of surfing. For my first book, I followed a modified form of the “snowflake” method and wrote short bios for all of my characters. I made an outline. However, since then I’ve become more of a pantser.
I usually spend a month or two just thinking about my book. I try to enter the head of my main character. I do a lot of my thinking during my daily commute on the LIRR. Once I have a feel for my characters, I put pen to paper, or rather fingers to the keyboard. During the work week I have at most twenty minutes to write at night. Before I sit down, I always have a very specific goal for the scene I am about to write (i.e. at the end of this scene Character X has to accomplish Y). I sneak an hour here and there for writing, and as a result need to be very disciplined and get the most out of my writing time. I don’t have the luxury of writing just to see where things go. My writing tends to be very concise. I am not sure whether that is because of my legal background or my limited available writing time.
One of my friends recently said to me that all this writing stuff just seems like a lot of work. And as you all know, she is right. It is more work, but it has also added a richness into my life. As a corporate lawyer I had never really thought of myself as a creative type. I was more navy blue suits and pearls. But now, at the ripe old age of 45, I have discovered my inner artist and that is a gift for which I will always be grateful.
And there will be an international giveaway. One of my readers will receive an e-book of The House on Prospect. All you will need to do is fill out the rafflecopter form below before 9:00 P.M. May 4.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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