A Different Kind of Dream

by Geraldine O'Neill

Kate Flowers has spent all her young life by the banks of the Grand Canal in Ballygrace. Her dreams of becoming a nurse and leaving the quiet countryside of her home have been put aside to concentrate instead on looking after Mary, her widowed mother, as well as keeping an eye on her volatile brother, Brendan, who works on the barges.

Genres: Ireland

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up on page 64 - the way certain characters are referred to by their full names - heroine Kate's mother is "Mary Flowers" every single time she's mentioned - was doing my head in. I've read a few by this author before, and they've been OK but all basically the same - sexism, hypocrisy and one-upmanship amongst poor Irish people in the 50s, with a beautiful and feisty but put-upon heroine who will always do the right thing...
I'm sure if you like gentle Maeve Binchy type stories where the obnoxious get their comeuppance in the end then this would be fine, but it isn't my sort of book, I have a whole pile from my book club of fiction that doesn't really inspire me that one friend in particular brings, and because I read more than the others I end up taking them to give them a go, then feeling pressure to read things I'm not interested in, so while it goes against the grain, I skipped to the last two chapters and can pass it on to someone who will like it.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice story about a little piece of life in 1950s Ireland. I really should have loved this, but I found it more dull than anything else. Not bad, just humdrum. It must be in the delivery because I usually enjoy the minutiae of everyday lives. This may be a similar setting, but it's not a patch on Binchy for page-turning storytelling.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom gave me this book and practically forced me to read it, since she had read it herself and really enjoyed it. We don’t always have the same taste in books, but I decided to give this a shot and it turned out great!

A really lovely story set in Ireland 1958. I liked the fact that you get to see the story from different characters point of veiw. I would say feelgood with a bit of sad parts too but a book that leaves you happy in the end. :)

[Victoria Lassander-Sandin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Läste den på svenska. En helt trevlig bok att ta sig an så där när man behöver något lättläst. En bok i min smak, där sorg och glädje samsas men där glädjen till slut ändå segrar. Dock blev slutet lite öppet och jag hade önskat ett bättre avslut på hela historien.

[Laurie Fagen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely Irish story

Lovely slice of life stories about young women and their families in the midlands of Ireland. Easy pacing, good characterizations with vivid descriptions of the surrounding area plus Dublin and parts of England.

[Armelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s 1958, and a small family in rural Ireland- a widowed mother and her 2 young adult children- are facing big changes.

[Carmel Gentle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always love books set in Ireland and this one didn’t disappoint

[Kylie Duthie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly nice Maeve Binchy-ish type story. Quite predictable, but I cared about the characters and wanted to just keep reading it to see how things turned out.

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book when browsing for something to read at the Library, I really enjoyed it, very easy to read and follow, I couldn't put it down it was a quick read and I would recommend.

[Anne Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.