A lovely follow-on story in the Tailorstown series

The Godforsaken Daughter

By: Christina McKenna

Rating: 5 of 5

I have read the prior two books in this series, “The Disenchanted Widow” and “The Misremembered Man”. It was delightful to once again touch base with the characters in the Tailorstown series.

The story revolves around two story lines, although woven in are, to others who have read the series, the familiar characters of Jamie McCoone and Paddy and Rose McFadden.

Ruby Clare, at 33, is the oldest of three sisters. The other two are twins May and June who are in their twenties and who treat Ruby poorly. Ruby has been crushed by the recent death of her loving father. Her mother is not so loving, to say the least. Mammy seems to be doing her best to crush Ruby – especially with threats of having her institutionalized, while at the same time, being the loving and nurturing mother to her other two daughters. Ruby has become the stay at home dogsbody daughter who cares for an uncaring and petulant mother. She is at a transitional period in her life and she tries to deal with her overwhelming grief.

The second story is about Henry Shevlin. Henry is a psychiatrist whose wife, Constance, disappeared from their Belfast home about a year before. He has moved from the big city to a small town to get away from his memories.

Dr. Shevlin becomes the therapist to both Ruby and Jaime. Rose McFadden steps back into her role as a match-maker and starts re-arranging others lives to suit what she feels would be best for them. As it turns out, she is generally not wrong. Along the way, Ruby learns a great deal about herself and how to cope with the tragedies in her life. Henry learns what is most important in life.

The story was sad and funny and happy all at the same time. It was an enjoyable read and leaves me hoping for more in this series.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

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