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Blog Tour: Here Among Us by Maggie Harryman
Here Among Us
written by Maggie Harryman
published by Straight On True
find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Why did I pick this book: I participated in the blog tour hosted by Sage’s Blog Tours. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)
Did I enjoy this book: I did enjoy this book. It kept me interested and reading until the end. In fact, I was kind of sad to see this book end. I wanted more. Don’t get me wrong, the ending was great and fitting but I wasn’t ready for it to end. I wanted to read more about these characters.
The characters were very well-written. I felt for all of the siblings in some way at one point or another. Osheen, the brother, kept to himself but was always there for his sisters. He did his job and truly loves his father’s pub. Maeve, the oldest sibling, was overbearing and bossy most of the time. But I have to wonder if that isn’t because of what was going on at home. She wants to do what is right…but seems conflicted as to what is right for whom, her family or her husband. Flynn, the baby sister, was the character that I felt the least for and I’m not sure why that is. I loved her in the end and I hope all ends well for her. Maybe that is why I had a hard time accepting the fact that the book was over…I think towards the end, I finally started to connect with Flynn and I wanted more of what happens to her.
One thing that I didn’t quite understand was why Didi wanted to stay and how that just happened. She is 16 years old. She shouldn’t get to dictate to her mother what she does and when she does it. But it didn’t bother me to the extent that it “ruined” the book for me. It was a small, irksome thing that I got over rather quickly. Also, there was only one loose end that tied up rather quickly and neatly but was never explained. I wish that it had been explained or that the reader had been told how the character found out the truth. (I would go into more detail, but that would spoil the book for those who have not read it. When you read it, you will probably figure out the part I’m speaking of.)
Bottom line, you want everything to work out for the O’Shea family. The reader gets to know each of the characters throughout the book and connect with each of them.
Would I recommend it: I would recommend this book. It was a good read.
Will I read it again: I will not.
About the book: When unemployed San Francisco attorney, Flynn O’Shea, and her teenaged daughter, Didi, are summoned to New Jersey for the Thanksgiving holiday by Flynn’s socialite sister, Maeve, she expects a fight.
After all, she has been battling Maeve most of her life. Disagreeing about the extent of their Irish mother’s creeping dementia and the fate of the family’s thriving restaurant business, named for their beloved, long dead father, Paddy, is surely a recipe for a world-class brawl.
What Flynn doesn’t expect is the fragile truce the sisters forge to save O’Shea’s from the clutches of Maeve’s scheming husband, Jeffrey. Flynn and Maeve are reluctantly aided by their forty-four-year-old brother, Osheen, a handsome Peter Pan still cruising the Jersey shore, getting high and dodging responsibility.
And while Didi tries to convince her mother that “everything is as it should be,” just when Flynn is sure she’s gained the upper hand on Jeffrey, her own mother’s shocking confession sends her into a wine-soaked tailspin and forces her to deal once and for all with the ghosts of her past. Devastated, Flynn must choose to save O’Shea’s or risk losing forever all she has left of her father.
In Here Among Us, the O’Sheas find themselves dealing with the very timely issue of Alzheimer’s, a disease that strips the victim’s identity and wreaks havoc on the family left to pick up the pieces. But Flynn, Osheen and Maeve’s troubles began long before their mother started to “slip.” For the O’Sheas, much of their shared angst is rooted in the single most devastating event of their lives—the death of their father when they were young children. The novel explores not only how deep wounds can seem impossible to heal, but how refusing to let go of the stories the O’Sheas desperately cling to about who they are, threatens to hasten their demise.
About the author: Maggie Harryman was born in New Jersey and moved to San Francisco soon after college. She received an MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and spent the ensuing years working as a copywriter in various industries including healthcare, tech and real estate/finance.
Maggie lives in Northern California in the heart of wine country, has two wonderful children in college and an old, faithful dog named, Humphrey.
Here Among Us is her debut novel. She also has two short stories on Amazon: Jesus, Mary and Joseph Michael Duffy Has Arisen and Cleaning Naked.
Find Ms. Harryman here: web, Goodreads
Happy reading wherever you are and whenever you get a free chance!!!
1 Comment
by Anonymous
I would like to have the chance to win and read Maggie’s debut novel.
Maxie ( mac262@me.com )