Book Description
Darragh was only half listening. His eye was tracking the path he'd taken earlier, scanning the empty inches, seeking out the ribbon twist of river, the lake, the oaks. Seeking out the shape of the place. Like a picture puzzle. That's what he'd said to Carter. What he hadn t said was that it had seemed to him there was a piece of the puzzle missing and he had a strong conviction that he might be just the feller to fit the gap. Two years into Darragh O'Grady's new life as a crop duster in 1930s America, everything is changed when he spots an abandoned farm from the cockpit of his plane. Despite its reportedly tragic history he buys the house and land - and the dark lake at its heart - marries indomitable but damaged Beattie Darling, and sets about making a home. But will the O'Gradys' love for one another prove powerful enough to overcome the hardships of a life punctuated by loss, and can they escape the lake's mysterious legacies?
REVIEWÂ
Review for 'The Luck' by Kathy Biggs
Read and reviewed for Kathy Biggs and Honno publishers.
Publication date 6th October 2022
This is Kathy's debut novel.
I was originally drawn to this book by its intriguing sounding synopsis and title and by the fact the author is quite local to me. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Honno. I have yet to read a book published by Honno that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 58 chapters. The chapters are short in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in the USA 🇺🇸.Â
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Darragh O'Grady, Beattie O'Grady, Olive Mckenzie, Gil Mckenzie, Ruaridh Mckenzie, Rose Kelly and James Kelly. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out on anything.
WOW!!!! What can I say?!?! One thing I have got to say before getting into my review is clear your schedules and grab the tissues as you will need them!!! This has got to be one of the most stunning books I have EVER read ♥ This book is beautifully written with vivid descriptions setting the picture perfectly in the readers mind.
The title, description and cover works perfectly with the storyline. This book is devastatingly heart-breaking and beautiful.
I absolutely love the unique storyline and the fact that it is set over multiple generations of the same family makes you are loving several lives in one book. It tells us the story of the O'Grady, Mckenzie and Kelly families over many years. We start with Darragh discovering some land and turning it into a farm called 'The Luck'. Darragh meets Beattie and get married shortly after. They have one son called Connor who keeps going off and leaving them for years at a time until he doesn't come back at all. During one of his visits he brings his wife Vida and daughters Olive and Rose. During one of his disappearances Vida visits Darragh and Beattie and asks them to look after Olive and Rose until she gets settled. They end up with them until they are adults and are more like mother and father to them than grandparents. We see both Olive and Rose get married and have children themselves, Rose move out to San Francisco and another disappearance among many other events. This book is filled with every emotion you can think of including love, secrets, regrets, jealousy, heartbreak, happiness, tension, worry, shock, suspense, mystery and so, so much more!!! .It is one of the most unforgettable books I have ever read!! Kathy's evocative writing skills sucks the reader straight into the storyline with the characters, hospital and the past coming to life around them. I was absolutely mind blown when I realised this was her debut novel!! I mean WOW!! If this is her first book I just cannot wait to read her future books and if they are a quarter as amazing as this one they are guaranteed to be absolute page turners!!! This is just one of those rare books that words just cannot express how powerful and emotional it is. It will make you cry both tears of happiness and sadness. The multiple narrative brings the story to life along with the descriptions and ensures the reader can see everything that is going on and what the characters are thinking and feeling. When I was reading this book I could feel my heartbeat speeding up as I was getting a dark sense of foreboding the deeper into the book I got and I ended up with tears streaming down my face so make sure you get those tissues ready!! It is one of those books that I just simply could not put down and I walked around everywhere with my kindle and the book. Every chapter ended in a way that I had to know what was going to happen next and then it would move on to the next chapter and do the same so I blew through this in one sitting. Reading this book really does make you feel that you are standing with them and going through their pain, love, joy and suffering. While you are reading this you are going through a journey of love and loss, heartbreak, secrets, love, and regrets and so, so much more. It really is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I was utterly glued to the pages and I could not bring myself to put it down. I was carrying the book around to read it every chance that I got.
You need to clear your schedules and get the tissues at the ready because you will not be able to put this book down. This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time and although it could be a difficult read at times with emotions running high I would seriously recommend it to anyone and everyone!! This may be the first book I have read by Kathy but I cannot wait to get hold of more books by this extremely talented author. It is one of the most stunning and unforgettable book that I have ever read and one that will stay with me for years if not forever! AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!!
The characters were all very strong and realistic and Kathy's writing ensured they jumped off the pages at me. My heart went out to each of the main protagonists for different reasons during different chapters. I absolutely loved Beattie's absolutely fantastic, strong and attitude filled personality. The fact that she wasn't a typical lady of the time and got stuck into hard work definitely makes her a great role model. She also took on not only her grandchildren but her great grandchildren on too and made an absolutely amazing "mum" to them all. My heart broke for her on so many occasions especially with Connor and as a mum myself this is one of my worst nightmares. She had so much to deal with with the farm and her family but was still there for family and friends alike. She made me laugh and also cry so many times and she was just so realistic and a woman I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her like Pearl and Macy. She is definitely someone you would want on your side and would make a great friend, it's just a shame she isn't in real life. I absolutely loved watching her character develop throughout the book and the relationships change between her and other characters. I thought Darragh was a great man and it broke my heart seeing him towards the end of the book. Darragh and Beattie really did make a perfect couple as well as fantastic parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Darragh is great with his hands and would help out with anyone and anything and did an amazing job with The Luck. You can definitely tell that he missed flying the Annie O'Grady and although heartbreaking I think the ending was planned and in a way perfect. Olive definitely had the biggest personality change I believe and went from an extremely clever girl who could go big places to quite a manipulative and jealous woman. There were times that I did feel sorry for her but then others where I believe she got what she deserved for messing around with things. I thought it was disgraceful how she treated Gil and her son Ruaridh, called McKenzie more throughout the book. However my heart did bleed for her after something happened which nobody deserved but I won't go into any more details as I don't want to spoil it for others. I definitely liked Gil more than Olive and he was such a sweet and hardworking guy, it was so sad to see the way he was being treated at times. Gil made a great Dad and a fantastic husband. I also bonded with Rose more than Olive. They definitely had completely different personalities and Rose was the sweeter of them both. I could not stand her husband Michael Kelly who was full of himself and she deserved so much better than him. Rose took more interest in her so called mother and it was sad that she went with her rather than the woman who acted more like a mum than Vida did. I won't say anymore about the characters as I don't want to go into too much detail at the risk of spoiling it for other readers but Kathy has done an amazing job at bringing each of the characters to life and regardless of whether you love them or hate them they all played their parts perfectly to bring this fantastic story to life. Well done Kathy!!!Â
Congratulations Kathy on an absolutely stunning, unforgettable, heart-breaking beautiful book!!! I am looking forward to reading more of your future books. I would absolutely love to see this book turned into a movie!!! Welcome to my favourite author list and here's to your next success 🥂Â
Overall an absolutely unputdownable, stunning, addictive and compelling devastatingly beautiful heart-breaking MUST READ!!Â
Genres covered in this book include Family Sagas, Mystery, Fantasy, American Literature, Saga Fiction, Family Saga Fiction, Modern Fiction, Women's Contemporary Fiction, Women's Writers & Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romance Sagas, Women's Romance Fiction, Spiritual & Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction, Saga Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Romance Fiction, amongst others.Â
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Jodi Picoult, Nicolas Sparks, you, your friends, your family, your neighbours and absolutely everybody and anybody!!!!! What are you waiting for??? Grab your copy now!!!324 pages.
This book is just £4.74 to purchase on kindle and £8.27 in paperback via Amazon at time of review which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!Â
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook. Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviewsÂ
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Author Bio
Kathy Biggs is originally from Yorkshire, where she trained to be a nurse. She took a summer job in Mid Wales with her husband in 1985 - and never left. They bought a derelict cottage and lived 'off grid' for 14 years. During this time she started a family, trained to be a homeopath and took up Samba drumming. She has lived in her current location for the last 23 years: working and raising her family. She is a keen gardener and leads a local samba band. After being made redundant in 2017 she completed several Creative Writing courses provided by Aberystwyth University and discovered a passion for writing. The Luck is her first novel.
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