Bøker av Jean Grainger

Dublin 1950Liesl Bannon has never felt like she was truly at home anywhere, not since her mother placed her and her brother Erich on the last Kindertransport out of Berlin in 1939. She'd been so much more fortunate than most Jews, saved from the horrors of the Nazi regime. Being adopted by Elizabeth and Daniel Lieber meant she and Erich spent the war in Northern Ireland, safe and loved, but Liesl always knew something was missing.When an opportunity to return to Berlin to represent her university presents itself, she is so torn. Should she go back to the city that rejected her and her family, would it be too harrowing, or would it feel like home?In Berlin, a chance encounter with an old family friend sparked emotions for Liesl that she'd suppressed since she was a child. She finds herself desperately wanting to go back to those carefree days before Hitler, when life made sense, but why was her family so set against her return? Was it because they were worried about her as they claimed, or was there a darker, more sinister reason?The Hard Way Home is the heart wrenching third book in the best-selling Star and the Shamrock series.

Berlin, 1944Ariella Bannon is being hunted. Someone is determined to betray her as a Jew, but she has survived against incredible odds, and the end is in sight. She will be reunited with her precious children, no matter what it takes.Meanwhile, Liesl and Erich have found a home in Ireland away from the chaos of war-ravaged Europe. As the dark news of what has happened to the Jews filters through, they are torn - love for their mother and their home on one hand, and the profound sense of peace and belonging they have in Ballycreggan on the other. Like all of the other children who escaped Nazi territory on the Kindertransport, they must wait to hear the fate of their loved ones.For their foster parents, Elizabeth and Daniel, their dearest wish, that Ariella would survive the war, is also their deepest fear. Would her return mean the loss of the children they have come to think of as their own?As the Third Reich crumbles under relentless Allied bombs, Ariella is careful, but Berlin is a very dangerous place to be, and somebody knows she survived. Can she take one last enormous risk to be reunited with Liesl and Erich or will her betrayer see her finally captured?The Emerald Horizon is the long awaited sequel to the best-seller, The Star and the Shamrock.

As long as Carmel stays in London, nothing can happen to shatter her perfect life. But something is pulling her home. Should she resist?She has a wonderful marriage, a rewarding career and a great bunch of friends. As far as she's concerned, the sadness of her past can stay back in Ireland, where it belongs.For Carmel, Ireland only means misery, loneliness and fear and she never wants to return. The new, confident and happy version of her only exists on the cosmopolitan streets of Britain's capital. If she ever was forced to return, she fears she would revert to the mousey downtrodden woman she once was.But when her beloved father suggests a family road trip along Ireland's famous Wild Atlantic Way, she hasn't the heart to turn him down. She tells herself that Sharif will be by her side, and that maybe her father is right and Ireland isn't the terrible place she's made it out to be. But trouble is brewing once more for Carmel and everything she struggled to build looks like it is disintegrating.As Carmel returns to the land of her birth, she discovers that she cannot fully embrace her future, until she makes peace with her past, and with her country.A heartwarming story of families, love and loyalty, set against the backdrop of Ireland.What Will Be, is the final book in the Carmel Sheehan Story.

From the streets of wartime Berlin, to the bombed out city of Liverpool, and finally resting in the lush valleys of the Ards Penisula, The Star and the Shamrock from USA Today best-selling author Jean Grainger is a must read WWII saga.

Kilteegan Bridge, Ireland 1963. On the face of it, life is idyllic for Eli and Lena Kogan. Living in their beautiful house in the Irish countryside, their children are growing up happy and safe surrounded by a loving community. So when a letter arrives one day threatening to shatter their peaceful and prosperous world, Lena and Eli have no option but face the dark reality of their situation. How best to do that, is something that drives a wedge between them.As a Jewish child, escaped from Germany in 1939, Eli is all for letting those dark days where they belong, for him, there's no future in the past.But for Lena, it's different. She knows that the only way she can move her family forward in peace is to first go back, and there is only one man who knows the whole truth.From rural Ireland to wartime France, What Divides us, tells a tale of loyalty and love, resentment and revenge, that has far reaching consequences for the Kogan family, the unravelling of which might just destroy their future.

Ballycreggan, Northern Ireland, 1955Erich Bannon is happy in the small Irish village he has thought of as home since he arrived as a terrified, traumatised seven year old, one of the last Jewish children to escape Berlin in 1939. Now at twenty-three, it feels like all of his friends are drawn to The Promised Land, and he can understand why, but Israel is not for him.One by one, they leave, and Erich is bereft. He feels lost but a chance encounter with an Irish Catholic girl gives him hope. All he and Róisín want is to be allowed to love each other but the traditions and rules of their backgrounds forbid it. By the time he learns that Róisín wasn't honest with him about her family, and what kind of people they really are, it is too late and he finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a dangerous world from which there seems to be no escape.When Róisín disappears, events take a sinister turn and Erich wonders if their relationship really was all he thought it was.. Reluctant to place his family in danger, he has to solve his problems alone, something he's never had to do before. From rural Ireland, to the glitz of 1950's America, from the orange groves of Israel to the dark streets of post-war Liverpool, The World Starts Anew, is the fourth book in the best-selling Star and the Shamrock series.

Kilteegan Bridge, Ireland 1974 For each member of the O'Sullivan family there are turbulent times ahead. Eli's need to do his best for his patients is a cause for a bitter divide in the community. Emmet seems hell bent on going down a path in life his parents dread but they're unable to stop him. Jack's life and liberty are in grave peril as his secret faces exposure, while Emily's troubles are, it seems only just beginning with the return of someone she would much rather had disappeared forever. And Maria must decide, is blood really thicker than water, and should family always come first, no matter the cost? In More Harm than Good, the Kilteegan Bridge Series continues, as the modernity of the 1970's challenges Irish traditional ways, and generations clash, sometimes with deadly consequences.

My twelve-year-old daughter frequently moans that Ballycarrick is the most boring town in Ireland.Nothing ever happens here.She's right.And as the local police sergeant, this is something I'm delighted about.I've enough to worry about-the polar ice-caps, the evil monster that's shrinking my trousers, not to mention the hot flushes-without having to be like one of those gritty Netflix cops, chasing criminals down alleyways and busting drug deals.So, life is calm and fairly predictable.Until something unthinkable happens in our sleepy backwater.A crime, but not like anything I've ever seen before.It's a complete mystery.And it's up to me to solve it.

New York City, 1922Harp Devereaux is torn. Part of her desperately wants to return to Ireland to finish what she and her family and friends started, and to witness the departure of the British forces from Ireland after eight hundred long years. But the other part finds life in America during the Roaring Twenties too exciting to trade for the sleepy streets of County Cork.She and JohnJoe are united and determined to sample all that life after the Great War has to offer, but life Stateside is not as free and easy as Harp first imagines and soon she finds herself longing for the simplicity of her homeland.She wants to live life on her own terms but life is never simple, on either side of the Atlantic, and there are sinister forces at work, determined to bring them all down.

Kilteegan Bridge, Ireland. 1975Despite the best efforts to the older generation to maintain standards, short skirts, long hair and loud music are all the rage in Kilteegan Bridge. Emmet Kogan has set his sights on an education at the prestigious Stanford University in California, while his cousin Nellie also longs to get away, but for very different reasons. If she's to escape too, it will mean wrapping herself in a web of lies, but it's a price she's willing to pay.Lena and Eli are terrified they will lose their boy to the bright lights of America forever, while Emily and Blackie make a decision to keep a dangerous secret, despite knowing the damage such duplicity can do. On the exciting streets of 1970s San Francisco, two young Irish people have to learn to navigate this new world of wonderful opportunities and dangerous vices, and learn that no matter how open and accepting a society is, there are always rules. Rules that if broken, carry a heavy penalty.

As someone raised in an orphanage, Carmel knows she should be grateful for a roof over her head and a respectable family, but she would love nothing more than to escape Birr, Co Offaly and get away from her husband, the monosyllabic Bill and his horrible sister forever.Life as Mrs Sheehan should be bearable, all she had to do was look after the house and cook Bill's meals. She didn't even need to speak to him, in fact, he preferred that she didn't.But, as her fortieth birthday approaches, Carmel knows the change must be now or never. Her birth mother has offered her a lifeline from beyond the grave in the form of handsome, charming and kind Dr Sharif Khan.He's offering her a new life in London, one he assures her that her birth mother Dolly would want her to take, but the decision must be hers. A life filled with joy, friendship and the legacy of her mother's enduring love for her awaits.But can Carmel do it and scandalise the parish? Can she finally realise her own worth and live her life on her own terms?The Future's Not Ours to See is the next book in the Carmel Sheehan Story.

Carmel, a 40-year-old Irish woman, is living a life that's fine, not exciting or awful, just fine. She has a house, a husband, it's all okay. She never had kids, but that's just life, right? She knows she should be grateful. She's better off than a lot of people.Then one day, out of the blue, she gets a Facebook message from a total stranger with information that could transform her life, for better or for much worse. It could be a scam. It could be malicious. It could be a crazy person.But what if what they say is true?Her finger hovers over the screen. Delete or reply?In this gripping story, Carmel begins a journey of discovery that takes her back to a time long before she was born when love and loyalty, betrayals and secrets decided her fate. The reality of her true story is both shocking and heartwarming, and Carmel learns that in order to go forward, she must first make peace with her past.

For eighteen year old Lena O'Sullivan, life is predictable and dull. A future of hard work, marriage to a local boy, and a family of her own one day is all she has to look forward to. People from her background know not to expect too much, but Lena yearns for something different.Malachy Berger was different, for him, the world is at his feet. An only child of a wealthy, if peculiar father, a large inheritance, a beautiful house and a fine education are his due.Nobody is in favour of Lena and Malachy's friendship, but why not? What harm are they doing? Why is everyone so dead set against it?Then fate takes a hand, and Lena realises that secrets and lies have bound her and Malachy in an impossible situation. And their future seems determined by events that happened long before they were born.From rural Ireland to post-war Cardiff, Lena and Malachy's story winds its way back to wartime Germany and occupied France in a web of deceit that threatens to destroy them both.

'What you get with a Jean Grainger book is warm, authentic writing that welcomes you into the heart of Ireland' Kate Kerrigan, New York Times bestselling author of the Ellis Island trilogy. A tranquil Irish vacation, music, scenery, food... but someone on this tour has a secret he's desperate to keep concealed. Sequel to the #1 Bestseller, The Tour. When a shadowy couple turn up on Conor O'Shea's grand tour of Ireland, the tranquility of Ireland's landscape acts as a shelter against the stormy reality of the life they left behind.On the run from a notorious mob boss, this mysterious couple flees the U.S. in search of sanctuary on the shores of the Emerald Isle, hoping to blend in with the tourists. In their wake lies a mafia family's secrets and a scarred priest torn between his duty to the cloth and to the truth.Intriguing and uniquely consuming, Father Declan Sullivan's tale of destiny and duty lies at the feet of those he has betrayed. Can distance and deliverance save the innocent in their desperate pursuit for peace, or will evil catch up to them all? In Safe at the Edge of the World, author Jean Grainger captures the soothing beauty of Ireland in the lives of those fleeing a criminal bent on revenge.

Queenstown, Co Cork. Ireland. 1916Sixteen-year-old Harp Devereaux is growing up in a country in turmoil. Her mother Rose is struggling to navigate single parenthood, run the Cliff House, and stay out of the way of the authorities. Harp's uncle, Ralph Devereaux, has only one thing on his mind. The port of Queenstown bustles with activity as people traverse the Atlantic either in search of new lives on foreign shores or returning to old familiar ones in Ireland. The Cliff House is fast gaining a reputation as a wonderful place to stay, and the business is going from strength to strength. Rose and Harp have turned their fortunes around and for the first time they are prosperous and independent. But all is not well. Civil and military unrest across the country in the wake of the Easter Rising is threatening to bubble over, and everyone is on edge. The British soldiers are making their presence felt in unpleasant ways, and the return of Ralph Devereaux to what he sees as his ancestral home is poses a serious threat.Just as they are managing the situation, a series of unforeseen events places both Harp and her mother in grave peril. Ralph suddenly holds all the power and is not afraid to wield it. They desperately need help, and there's only one place they can go to get it.From a tense Queenstown to the vibrant Irish community in Boston, from wartime Liverpool, to the streets of Dublin seething with revolution, The West's Awake continues the spellbinding Queenstown Story.

A broken woman, New York, 2016.A fearless rebel, Dublin 1916.And a gripping story that spans a century.During a time of great upheaval and unrest in Ireland, as men and women run to take up arms against the tyranny and occupation of the British Empire, the lives of three women are forever altered, and thereby inextricably linked over the span of a century.Mary Doyle arrives in Dublin in 1913, doomed she fears, to a life of domestic service. Instead, however, she finds herself deeply affected by the social and political turmoil of a fledgling nation struggling for independence. Suddenly, all that was once inevitable is no longer a certainty as she is embroiled in the very heart of the Easter Rising.Scarlett O'Hara has had many hurdles to cross in her life, not least her name. A successful political correspondent, she finds herself at a crossroads when one error of judgement jeopardises everything she has worked so hard to overcome and achieve. In the process of rebuilding her life, Scarlett faces the difficult and ultimate choice of starting all over again.At ninety-three years old, Eileen Chiarello thought her time for adventure and wonder was over, before a chance meeting with Scarlett draws her back to Ireland, the land her parents fought for and loved so passionately. Now, at the end of her life, Eileen has the opportunity to fulfil a promise she never thought she could.Historically sweeping and beautifully written, Shadow of a Century draws a circle around the Irish Rebellion and carefully traces the magnitude of its significance against the backdrop of three women's lives across history.Described by reviewers as 'so much more than an Irish love story, ' and another said 'Jean Grainger's story telling is so enthralling I gave up sleep.'Is there ever a sacrifice that is too great, when the stakes are so high?

A luxury stay in an Irish castle, a handsome, experienced tour guide, and a secret that has never been revealed.Life as manager of the magnificent resort of Castle Dysert on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast is never dull, and Conor O'Shea's life to date has taught him to be prepared for the unexpected.Even he however, is not ready for the gang from Bubbles O'Leary's bar in New York. A motley crew, from spinster sisters of a certain age, to exhausted social workers, they are all in Ireland for one reason.The fact that this bunch of unusual people arrive during Ireland's biggest matchmaking festival just adds to the intrigue. But is everyone who they say they are? Are all their motives pure?Conor is ready to do his best to show the visitors his beloved Ireland, but his personal life takes a devastating turn and he finds himself torn, unsure how to proceed. Is the past best left there, or is there redemption to be found in opening old wounds?

Three Irish boys. Three very different backgrounds. A bond that will be tested beyond all reason. USA Today Bestselling Author Jean Grainger is taking you to Ireland... For Liam, Patrick, and Hugo, life in 1960's Ireland proves to be both idyllic and flawed. Leading vastly different lives, an unexpected friendship blooms between the teenagers when they all attend a private boarding school. Hugo is an heir to a large fortune, while Liam and Patrick are from much more modest backgrounds, both attending the prestigious St Bart's College on scholarships, For the boys, and life is both simple and complicated, as they navigate a world in a constant state of flux. Rock and roll, girls and the lure of the dance hall vie with their studies for their attention, until a series of seemingly unconnected events throws them and their families into chaos. Can their friendship survive as they navigate love and loyalty, secrets and lies? Are they close enough to weather the gale, or will their separate struggles tear them apart? In Under Heaven's Shining Stars, author Jean Grainger is reminiscent of the late Maeve Binchy as she brings to life the struggles and simplicity that often go hand-in-hand with growing up. Experience it all with Liam, Patrick, and Hugo as they face the beauty, turmoil, and endless possibilities of life under the turbulent Irish sky.

Queenstown, County Cork. 1920For twenty-year-old Harp Devereaux, life should be idyllic. At university, she feels for the first time in her life that she belongs, her mother Rose is running the Cliff House as a successful business, and her childhood sweetheart JohnJoe is by her side, but the storm clouds of war grow ever darker.For eight hundred years Ireland has made numerous bids for her freedom but now, at last, liberation from British rule is tantalisingly close, if the men and women of the revolution can just hold on.Harp, her family, and her friends find themselves in the thick of the fight, but the Crown Forces are not the only enemy. A sinister force from the past is lurking and will stop at nothing to exact his revenge.

'What you get with a Jean Grainger book is warm, authentic writing that welcomes you into the heart of Ireland' Kate Kerrigan, New York Times bestselling author of the Ellis Island trilogy. Handsome, charming Conor O'Shea has had enough of driving and guiding tours of Ireland.So when an opportunity to renovate and run the magnificent but rundown Castle Dysert as a five-star resort presents itself, he grabs it with both hands.But problems arise almost immediately when his business partner appears to have more on her agenda than just business.To add to that, his darling wife seems discontented as a stay at home mom, and his in-laws have moved in.With his family's future now entangled in a stunningly beautiful old castle on the coast of Clare, Conor undertakes a mammoth project, and in so doing, he uncovers the troubled past of this ancient stronghold. The mystery of the family who lived, loved, and lost their lives within the walls of the castle are reflected in his own family as they too struggle to let go of the past.Like in every small Irish village, gossip abounds. But do the ghosts of regret still haunt these ancient hallways? It is now left to Conor to explore the truth and uncover a heartbreaking lesson on the power of memory and the long threads that bind us together. In The Story of Grenville King, Jean Grainger takes you once again to the real heart of Ireland.What reviewers are saying: 'Move over Maeve Binchy, Jean Grainger's novels are a fresh new voice in Irish literature, but with all of Maeve's warmth and emotional intelligence.''Grenville King is the third book in the Conor series. I loved them all but this is my favourite.''A sexy Irishman, a haunted castle and a plot that twists and turns unexpectedly. What's not to love?'

Queenstown, County Cork, IrelandApril 1912 Twelve-year-old Harp Delaney is an unusual child, quiet and intelligent far beyond her years. She would rather spend her days in the library of the grand Georgian house that she sees as her home than playing on the streets with other children. Her mother, Rose, is the reserved and ladylike housekeeper at the Cliff House. The local women envy her grace and poise while the men admire her beauty. She behaves not as a servant should, but as someone who belongs at the ancestral home of eccentric loner Henry Devereaux. Nobody ever visits the Cliff House, but Harp, Rose and Henry have a happy life together, each accepting the idiosyncrasies of the others. The day Titanic sails from Queenstown, taking with it the hopes and dreams of so many, Harp's life too is devastated. The small port town is shaken to its foundations at the loss of the unsinkable ship, but the revelation of a long-held secret means that Harp and Rose have a much more pressing issue to solve, one that could destroy them if they cannot find a solution. Unexpectedly, fate takes a hand, and mother and daughter find themselves thrown a lifeline, one that inextricably links them to the stories of men, women and children for whom Queenstown was the last-ever sight of Ireland as they sailed away to new lands and new lives. Last Port of Call is the first book in The Queenstown Series.

'In the great tradition of Irish storytelling, taking her place beside Maeve Binchy and Frank McCourt, Jean Grainger's books will sweep you away to Ireland.'Every week, Conor O'Shea collects a new group of American visitors from Shannon Airport, from where they embark on a high end tour of the Real Ireland.But this particular tour, with its cast of unintentionally hilarious characters, presents even seasoned tour guide Conor with situations that test even his vast experience.Among this eclectic group are Corlene, a gold digging multiple divorcee on the prowl; Patrick, a love starved Boston cop; Dylan, a goth uilleann piper; Dorothy a poisonous college professor who wouldn't spend Christmas and Elliot, a wall street shark who finally shows his true colours.Then there's Ellen, back on Irish soil for the first time in eighty years, to discover a truth no-one could ever have guessed at, least of all herself.And that's just a few of the colourful cast. The locals they meet on their journey, West Brits, passionate musicians, Ukrainian waitresses and Garda high flyers all help to make this a tour no-one will ever forget. And of course, there's Conor O'Shea in the thick of it all, solving problems and mending hearts, but what about his own?The Tour is the first in the series.

USA Today bestselling author wants to take you to Ireland for a story that will leave you wanting more long after you turn the last page...Twenty-five year old Billie Romano is struggling. She is grieving the death of her beloved dad and nothing in her life is going right. Her mother has remarried with indecent haste, so when her grandfather presents everyone in the family with a DNA testing kit for fun, Billie couldn't be less interested in playing happy families.The test results are shocking, and Billie finds herself caught in a turmoil of emotions as she is faced with a reality she could never have imagined.Her journey of discovery takes her to Ireland, and to the stunningly beautiful Castle Dysert on the Wild Atlantic Coast, when Conor O'Shea once more steps into the role of fixer of problems and soother of troubled souls. Can Billie make a whole new start or are some cans of worms best left closed?

When Conor's dream for Castle Dysert is facing ruin by circumstances outside his control he refuses to be beaten. Surely there must be a way to save everything they've worked so hard for? Then, as all hope seems lost, a solution in the form of a reality TV show called 'Grandma says we're Irish' presents itself. In the final book in the Tour series, Conor finds himself stuck in the middle of something that even he can't manage.

If you want to disappear, start again, make a new life, a small Irish village is probably not the wisest place to go, since anonymity is not something we do well here. The arrival of someone new is always a cause for twitching curtains and whispered conversations. But here, like everywhere, people have their secrets, and as the local sergeant I'm expected to have my eyes peeled for anything unusual. And I do.Usually.Until I don't, and the consequences are potentially fatal.

"My 12 year old daughter frequently moans that BallyCarrick is the most boring town in Ireland. Nothing ever happens here. She's right. And as the local police sergeant, this is something I'm delighted about. I've enough to worry about--the polar ice-caps, the evil monster that's shrinking my trousers, not to mention the hot flushes--without having to be like one of those gritty Netflix cops, chasing criminals down alleyways and busting drug deals. So, life is calm and fairly predictable. Until something unthinkable happens in our sleepy backwater. A crime, but not like anything I've ever seen before. It's a complete mystery. And it's up to me to solve it."--Page [4] of cover.