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Heartstones
Set in an beautiful Irish coastal village, the legacy of a passionate affair is revealed in this stunning debut novel.
Heartstones is a novel about secrets. Set in contemporary Ireland the story is intertwined with one set in 1940’s. In both past and present it seems that everybody has something to hide. When Phoebe's married lover dies in a car accident she dare not openly express her grief for fear of their affair being found out. Heart broken she leaves her life in England to search out the old boathouse bequeathed to her by her Irish grandmother. Enthralled by the stunning scenery of the West Coast of Ireland she soon finds herself swept up by life in the nearby village of Carraigmore. When she discovers a collection of her grandmother’s old diaries hidden beneath the boat house floorboards she becomes immersed in a story of family scandal, repressed sexuality and a passionate affair between her grandmother and a young Irish artist. As Phoebe tries to piece together the truth about her grandmother’s past she begins to realise that the repercussions of what happened all those years before have shaped not only her own life but the lives of those in the small community around her. With many questions unanswered Phoebe sets out to find out more but it seems that no one in Carraigmore is quite telling her the truth.
Heartstones is a novel about secrets. Set in contemporary Ireland the story is intertwined with one set in 1940’s. In both past and present it seems that everybody has something to hide. When Phoebe's married lover dies in a car accident she dare not openly express her grief for fear of their affair being found out. Heart broken she leaves her life in England to search out the old boathouse bequeathed to her by her Irish grandmother. Enthralled by the stunning scenery of the West Coast of Ireland she soon finds herself swept up by life in the nearby village of Carraigmore. When she discovers a collection of her grandmother’s old diaries hidden beneath the boat house floorboards she becomes immersed in a story of family scandal, repressed sexuality and a passionate affair between her grandmother and a young Irish artist. As Phoebe tries to piece together the truth about her grandmother’s past she begins to realise that the repercussions of what happened all those years before have shaped not only her own life but the lives of those in the small community around her. With many questions unanswered Phoebe sets out to find out more but it seems that no one in Carraigmore is quite telling her the truth.
250 pages, ebook
First published March 6, 2014
About the author
Kate Glanville
7 books10 followersKate Glanville was born in West Africa to Irish parents. Kate now lives in the small town of Llandeilo on the edge on The Brecon Beacons National Park with her three children, two cats and two dogs . She graduated with a degree in fashion design at Central St. Martins and worked in the textile industry before becoming a ceramic artist. Kate's tableware designs have been sold in shops and galleries all over the world including Liberty, Conran Shop, Fortnum & Masons and Fired Earth. Among her many customers Kate has produced ceramics for The Prince of Wales, Madonna, Roger Daltry and Robbie Williams. Despite a successful career as a visual artist Kate has been writing stories since the age of eight. A Perfect Home (published in 2012 by Penguin US under the name Kitty Glanville)and Heartstones are her first two novels, both published by Accent Press in the UK and in Germany and Norway. Stargazing was published by Accent in the UK in 2016 and also in Germany. Kate’s fourth novel, The Cherry Tree Summer, was published in May 2021 by Headline and The Peacock House will be published in September 2021.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 27, 2017
I wish you could give a 3.5 star. Why 3.5 and not 4? This is not my favourite genre and although I enjoyed the book, I really did not like the main character.
A lovely romantic picturesque journey in island. A great tale of family lies and confusion . Does one ever really know for sure who their father is for sure? A perfect wet weekend read. I really enjoyed all the characters and there were many. I loved the dead grandmother and her story the very best. The author really brought to life Anna and Michael. Doctor Brennan was very well drawn too. Great story. The Tilley is so fitting.
A lovely romantic picturesque journey in island. A great tale of family lies and confusion . Does one ever really know for sure who their father is for sure? A perfect wet weekend read. I really enjoyed all the characters and there were many. I loved the dead grandmother and her story the very best. The author really brought to life Anna and Michael. Doctor Brennan was very well drawn too. Great story. The Tilley is so fitting.
July 3, 2018
Nice summer read set in Ireland. The usual story line were a girl running away from past finds old journals with a story to tell, while dealing with a love interest herself. Nothing new in this book but still an ok read. 3 stars as I have read this type of book before many times.
July 29, 2014
a great read and interesting characters with a good balance between each period of time.
September 22, 2019
A well thought out story that captured the complexity of life over generations and covered a large distance in geolocation. Eloquent speech and realistic descriptions of the characters' inner worlds.
An enchanting book full of twists and turns, you really need to read till the end to get the full picture.
An enchanting book full of twists and turns, you really need to read till the end to get the full picture.
October 24, 2017
Probably ok for a chick lit lover, but that ius not me. Bit trite and silly but if you like romance and problems besetting relationships that end up happily ever after it's perfect for you. Just not for me.
March 4, 2018
It was a good and nice read: interesting characters and settings and intermixed relationships between the characters. For me it is only for one read, don’t think that I’m going to reread it. But it worth reading if you want something romantic and light.
September 10, 2021
3,5 🌟
Eine nette Geschichte, die leider für mich einige Längen hatte, aber trotzdem sehr schön. Ein flüssiger Schreibstil und eine tolle Protagonistin. Die Geschichte ist wirklich interessant hätte aber kürzer erzählt werden können.
Eine nette Geschichte, die leider für mich einige Längen hatte, aber trotzdem sehr schön. Ein flüssiger Schreibstil und eine tolle Protagonistin. Die Geschichte ist wirklich interessant hätte aber kürzer erzählt werden können.
September 16, 2020
Average chick-lit - story is very common, I feel like I read this many times before.
I did buy this book for its cover so yeah...you get what you pay for I guess.
I did buy this book for its cover so yeah...you get what you pay for I guess.
January 28, 2016
Family secrets galore...
Heartstones tells the story of Phoebe Brennan who is mourning the death of the man she loves. Always flighty and the family misfit, events lead Phoebe to flee her hometown and seek refuge in the tiny Irish village where she spent summers visiting her grandma as a child.
In the tiny village of Carraigmore, Phoebe soon learns that there's no keeping secrets. Everybody knows everybody and everybody's business! The story develops as Phoebe settles into village life and whilst doing so, stumbles upon her grandmother's diaries. Caught up in learning about her grandmother's past, Phoebe starts to forget the pain she left behind and starts to discover who she is.
I enjoyed how the story moved back and forth between Phoebe's current life and the diary entries of her grandmother and felt this was done well enough to make me want to keep reading. The story developed well and, whilst a little predictable in parts, it was an enjoyable read.
For me though, the story tried to be a little bit too clever with the family connections at the end. I momentarily got a little confused as to who was what to who and I don't think it was really necessary or added to the story which was already rounding off quite nicely.
One thing I was slightly disappointed in was the number of punctuation and spelling mistakes. I work as a technical author/editor and errors like this jump off the page at me so I found these mistakes a little annoying. (This may be hypocritical of me as I'm sure my writing probably has a few mistakes but hey, that's probably why I'm not a published writer!)
Overall, not quite a 5 star book for me but an enjoyable little read all the same.
Heartstones tells the story of Phoebe Brennan who is mourning the death of the man she loves. Always flighty and the family misfit, events lead Phoebe to flee her hometown and seek refuge in the tiny Irish village where she spent summers visiting her grandma as a child.
In the tiny village of Carraigmore, Phoebe soon learns that there's no keeping secrets. Everybody knows everybody and everybody's business! The story develops as Phoebe settles into village life and whilst doing so, stumbles upon her grandmother's diaries. Caught up in learning about her grandmother's past, Phoebe starts to forget the pain she left behind and starts to discover who she is.
I enjoyed how the story moved back and forth between Phoebe's current life and the diary entries of her grandmother and felt this was done well enough to make me want to keep reading. The story developed well and, whilst a little predictable in parts, it was an enjoyable read.
For me though, the story tried to be a little bit too clever with the family connections at the end. I momentarily got a little confused as to who was what to who and I don't think it was really necessary or added to the story which was already rounding off quite nicely.
One thing I was slightly disappointed in was the number of punctuation and spelling mistakes. I work as a technical author/editor and errors like this jump off the page at me so I found these mistakes a little annoying. (This may be hypocritical of me as I'm sure my writing probably has a few mistakes but hey, that's probably why I'm not a published writer!)
Overall, not quite a 5 star book for me but an enjoyable little read all the same.
October 30, 2014
If I could I'd give this 3.5 stars because I really enjoyed reading it and the writing is better than similar fiction, but the total tying up of the ends spoilt it for me. It was so neatly packaged up that it became plain silly. The parallels between the people in the past and the present was over done too - even going so far as to describe the fuller figure and less so of Anna and Della, Phoebe and her sister. I'd rather not have had the epilogue as it was obvious once the paintings had been found that the castle would be saved. I can't see that an older sister who has always been bossy, critical and overbearing would be your ideal neighbour above either. Up to the last chapter and the epilogue 'A year later' this was a great read.
It amused me that in fact Phoebe married her Uncle - by marriage- and yet this wasn't alluded to, I can't be the only one who realised this though can I?!
I'm wondering about the change of name for the author's other book A Perfect Home as the cover says Kate, but the advert for it at the end of the Kindle book copyright details states it is by Kitty.
It amused me that in fact Phoebe married her Uncle - by marriage- and yet this wasn't alluded to, I can't be the only one who realised this though can I?!
I'm wondering about the change of name for the author's other book A Perfect Home as the cover says Kate, but the advert for it at the end of the Kindle book copyright details states it is by Kitty.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2016
This is a beautifully told story of new beginnings and old secrets. Phoebe's grieving for her secret lover - nobody knows they were an item, so she needs to get away from it all and seeks shelter in a small village in West Ireland.
Keeping secrets there is possible apparently - as she stumbles on one via a diary she finds - but difficult, as she soon gets involved in the village life.
An unlikely romance might be on the card, while Phoebe tries to uncover what happened in 1948.
If you ever lived in a small village or in Ireland you will appreciate the scene setting by Kate, the characters and the wit. This is a very engaging and compelling read, long enough to allow character development and depth to the cast, while fast enough to keep you turning the pages to find out what has happened.
This is an inner journey of recovery and a coming of age tale, full of love for life and all kinds of people. A wonderful read.
Keeping secrets there is possible apparently - as she stumbles on one via a diary she finds - but difficult, as she soon gets involved in the village life.
An unlikely romance might be on the card, while Phoebe tries to uncover what happened in 1948.
If you ever lived in a small village or in Ireland you will appreciate the scene setting by Kate, the characters and the wit. This is a very engaging and compelling read, long enough to allow character development and depth to the cast, while fast enough to keep you turning the pages to find out what has happened.
This is an inner journey of recovery and a coming of age tale, full of love for life and all kinds of people. A wonderful read.
December 6, 2014
Although this book wouldn't win any awards for originality it was a well written chick lit story that I really enjoyed. Extremely good for late night reading to get over the stress of the day! Typical story,girl running away from heartbreak to Ireland, meets damaged man and falls in love, over comes all the baggage. What was the intriguing bit was the other thread of the story, when she finds her dead grandmothers diaries and there lies the mystery of a past life that once discovered will change all that she knew about her background. Great character development that also gave the book humour and in some cases had me laughing out loud. A good book for curling up with on a winters day.
April 16, 2015
Published:24/04/2014
Author: Kate Glanville
Recommended for: fans of chick lit
Edition: Kindle
I found this on the Kindle Store for free and so I thought that I would give it a go. A really great read! I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very well written by Kate Glanville. It is a brilliant blend of mystery and past meeting present. The characters were very interesting in the story. It was very easy to follow the book. It was a tiny little bit predictable...but it is a great read for fans of 'chick-lit'
Author: Kate Glanville
Recommended for: fans of chick lit
Edition: Kindle
I found this on the Kindle Store for free and so I thought that I would give it a go. A really great read! I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very well written by Kate Glanville. It is a brilliant blend of mystery and past meeting present. The characters were very interesting in the story. It was very easy to follow the book. It was a tiny little bit predictable...but it is a great read for fans of 'chick-lit'
July 10, 2016
I just wanted to give phoebe a big hug and tell her everything would be alright at the beginning of the book. Experiencing such heartbreak and having no one to confide in, not even the person closest to her, there’s no wonder she wanted to make a fresh start!
I loved the way the author drip fed me the story of Anna and Michael, and kept me intrigued as to how events would develop.
The characters were so loveable and the storyline flowed nicely. I certainly got the type of ending I was hoping for!
I loved the way the author drip fed me the story of Anna and Michael, and kept me intrigued as to how events would develop.
The characters were so loveable and the storyline flowed nicely. I certainly got the type of ending I was hoping for!
February 24, 2015
A wonderful book set in Ireland. About a woman who is heart broken & how she learns about her heritage. Along the way she makes new friends & falls in love with them & their town. A great page turner & a must read for anyone who enjoys chick lit.
July 9, 2014
Loved this book, immediately wanted to go & live in Ireland just through the wonderful description. Easy read that I couldn't put down
September 14, 2014
Lovely story with twists and turn all leading to a happy ending.
July 12, 2015
Lovely holiday read... Wonderfully written and now I have to get to Ireland!! ;-)
August 26, 2015
I enjoyed this story. Liked the characters and was an easy, nice read.
June 1, 2017
Dull. I didn't bond with the characters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews