Review by Vlinstry -- House of Eire by June Gillam

[Vlinstry]

[Following is a volunteer review of "House of Eire" by June Gillam.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

“House of Eire” by June Gillam follows Hillary Broome and her family as they go to Ireland on vacation. She and her husband, Ed, are treating the trip like a second honeymoon at the same time Hillary is trying to find out more about her family history. Their daughter, Claire, and elderly friend, Sarah, are coming too. Hillary plans to meet up with her friend, Bridget, who is currently trying to get a theme park developer from California to add a memorial to Irish suffering into the park. He is not happy about it and has his lawyer, Seamus, trying to get Bridget to drop her plight. Seamus, however, is torn as he is romantically involved with Bridget. What follows is a holiday from a nightmare and a mystery that links all the way back to Irish suffering and ghosts.

This was a very good book that kept me gripped and interested right to the end. I liked the characters and the settings were described so well I could picture them in my head while reading. The thing I liked most about this book was the way the book seamlessly integrated history of the famine and Irish struggles with ghost stories and the main story itself. They were made part of the story in such a way that they seemed to belong there with everything else that was going on.

There wasn't much I didn't like about the book. The repeated mention of Hillary's mother was necessary a lot of the time to give insight into Hillary's mindset and it fit most of the time. I feel, however, that sometimes it was used too much and it seemed like it didn't really fit with the story all the time. Almost as though the author is setting things up for a different story but at the expense of the one being told.

I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. The book has a very good storyline with well thought out characters. The main character is very relatable in that she isn't perfect but she's trying her best. She is confident in most of her life but still has insecurities in her ability as a mother. She has flaws, and knows it, but they don't define who she is. The rest of the characters have as much depth as Hillary and the story is very interesting and intriguing. I also particularly liked the history and ghost stories mixed in. I was able to learn something at the same time I was having a great journey with the characters.

Overall I loved this book. I would definitely recommend it to my friends and family to read. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery with some history and ghost stories mixed in will enjoy this book. I can't wait to read more books in the same series.

******
House of Eire
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon