The Carmel Sheehan Story: Three Book Collection Kindle Edition

I could not put this trilogy down! I'd read the novella, Letters of Freedom, a few months ago, loved it, and jumped at the chance to download the 3 book box set. If you like Catherine Cookson or Nicholas Sparks novels, you should read Jean Grainger's books. They are always tender, often funny, and thoroughly engaging. The characters are well drawn, storylines are often inspired by real life events, dialog is realistic, but be careful, or you might become addicted like I am! Thanks, Jean! Another 5 star effort from a 5 star author!

Perhaps because this was a series of 3 books, the same story line was repeated again and again which was tiresome. The main characters were insecure due to events in their lives and their insecurities resurfaced and were rehashed to the point of being boring. I think a lively story could of been told in a single book.

The story line was interesting, but the writing style seemed awfully pedestrian -- the author used gushing adjectives such as fabulous or wonderful so many times, without providing any descriptive detail to enable the reader to form a mental picture of what makes the thing so fabulous or wonderful. Characters delivered paragraph-long monologues lecturing each other on Oprah-like topics, but the content lacked the depth of exploration it received on Oprah when these topics were new to the culture. There were no well-crafted dialogue exchanges between characters that had any authentic conversational rhythm -- all the characters speak in the same style, like a written paragraph from a run-of-the-mill self-help book. The characters were one-dimensional like cardboard cut-outs, without individual personality or depth. Either a character would be painted as narrow-minded and bad, or as totally accepting of everything, and therefore good. The themes were obvious, simplistic and heavy-handed, like a medieval morality play, except the morality being pushed consisted of trendy, modern multicultural social issues. There were some thoughtful and interesting insights the main character had about her own psychology and personal growth, which caused me to keep reading to the end, to see how her heart-breaking start in life turned out. But I kept wishing that the author could have had the skills to build those insights into a well-written novel.

The Carmel series was one of those stories that makes you feel like a part of the story. The characters are so real. You become emotionally involved with their day to day struggles and joys. I’m definitely going to Ireland next spring and it’s due to Jean Grainger’s books. The Tour series was my first series and I’m looking forward to reading all her books.

Jean Grainger’s writing style is so friendly and engaging to both heart and mind. She weaves so much wisdom and speaks, through each character, a treasure trove of compassion and understanding of cultural, ethnic and human connections. My roots are Irish and I have visited Ireland, from the US, many times. The story of the wash house children breaks my heart and this trilogy brought a wee bit of closure to my own bruised heritage; my own Irish grandmother was orphaned, raised by nuns and never adopted, although here in America. Bravo for offering this insiders view of discovery and the healing stories of choice for living in the now, and blending of lives in love, forgiveness, tolerance and peace.

I loved this book. Jean Grainger’s characters are so real and full of life I feel like I know them. As Carmel Sheehan!s life unfolds we learn about her past her present and hope for her future. Her growth from the submissive little girl that she thinks no one wanted, through the miserable marriage that she thought would finally give her a family to a beautiful love story I felt every emotion she shared from start to finish. Even though her life had started in the “care” of the state she never gave up on wanting more.After a loveless and miserable marriage to an older farmer, who just wanted a mother for his twin girls, she finally breaks free. Not only did she suffer the humiliation of not being a “real” wife, her husband and his miserable sister made her life a living nightmare. Finding the strength to leave she embarks on a life she could hardly dream of. A handsome stranger who has been looking for her connects her to a past she never knew. She discovers a Mother who never stopped looking for her, a wonderful man Khalid, and his loving mother who was her mother’s best friend and a promise they made to never stop looking for her.The adventure Carmel goes on after meeting Khalid is one of hope, love and maybe finally the answers she so desperately needs.This book may be my favorite of Jean Grainger’s so far. Her descriptions of Ireland and it people are incredibly real. For a short time I’m in Ireland and England and these characters are like friend. In truth I wish the story went on and on.

This series of books started out well with a unique storyline, but it soon turned into a soap opera. The insecure characters inner thoughts became the gist of the story, and these thoughts were repeated continuously over the course of the three books to the point where I just skipped these parts to get to something new. The plotline was predictable to the point of absurdity. I really enjoy books about England and Ireland, but this one was simply not well written. There were also many typos in the Kindle edition. If you're looking for a great series of historical books with an Irish backdrop, I highly recommend The Gracelin O'Malley Trilogy by Ann Moore.

I have been feeling a bit low lately then came across these three books in my Kindle library, they had been there for months, I always enjoy Jean Grainger's books so decided to take 24 hrs off from my life and get reading, I am so glad that I did, I felt immersed in uncertainties, sadness changing to positive thoughts and then happiness, I felt a part of this family and couldn't wait to see what would be happening next, I was not disappointed at all, there was so much to take in and I felt I knew these people and loved them, I had an idea of what I wanted to happen and thankfully Ms Grainger was thinking along the same lines, gradually as more characters were introduced my mood changed and I felt part of this family and their story, Dare I ask for there to be a 4th book in the series, I am sure there would be enough to keep us interested, I for one would certainly like to read more about these characters and their stories.

Let me come clean. I am an avid reader of the Jean Granger books.Jean takes time to set the scene in the first book of the three book series. This is entirely necessary but if this had been the first book of hers that I read I may have stopped there. If this is the case for you; don't.The three books offer a roller coaster ride that made me look forward to my next reading period. You will get insight into human relations, Irish history from the Irish perspective, views on current affairs, and some very emotional scenes. You will certainly experience emotional ups and downs handled by the author with great skill.I read the books on Kindle and kept checking how long I had got until conclusion. Very satisfying to know when I saw there was still much reading time ahead!Thank you Jean Granger.

I enjoyed these books but wondered why they were separate books especially as the first one was so short. They could have been one book in three parts but as they were all together it didn't matter. It was a touching story, sad in parts but uplifting at times too. I am wondering if there could be a fourth as there is still a bit to be settled. Will look out for more by this author.

Really enjoyed this collection of books, beautifully written, interweaving different lifestyles and cultures together. The importance of family love and loving one another in general. Good storylines. Only one grumble, in the last book there was too much going over old ground from books 1&2, but otherwise a great read.

I couldn’t put the books down. It was the first time I had read any books by Jean Grainger and I loved these three. As the story unfolded it was a beautiful love story and you also get to know several family members both current and previously unknown to Carmel. Three great books linking the characters