I Couldn't Love You More

by Esther Freud

A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past It’s London, 1960, and Aoife Kelly—once the sparkling object of young men’s affections—runs pubs with her brusque, barking husband, Cash. Their courtship began in wartime London, before they returned to Ireland with their daughters in tow. One of these daughters—fiery, independent-minded Rosaleen—moves back to London, where she meets and begins an affair with the famous sculptor Felix Lehmann, a German-Jewish refugee artist over twice her tender eighteen years. When Rosaleen finds herself pregnant with Felix’s child, she is evicted from her flat, dismissed from her job, and desperate to hide the secret from her family. Where, and to whom, can she turn?Meanwhile, Kate, another generation down, lives in present-day London with her young daughter and husband, an unsuccessful musician and destructive alcoholic. Adopted and floundering to find a sense of herself in the midst of her unhappy marriage, Kate sets out to track down her birth mother, a search that leads her to a Magdalene Laundry in Ireland and the harrowing history that it holds.Stirring and nostalgic at moments, visceral and propulsive at others, I Couldn’t Love You More is a tender, candid portrait of love, sex, motherhood, and the enduring ties of family. It is impossible not to fall under the spell of this tale of mothers and daughters, wives and muses, secrets and outright lies.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Ireland, British Literature, Audiobook, Book Club, Family

368 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2021

About the author

Esther Freud was born in London in 1963. As a young child she travelled through Morocco with her mother and sister, returning to England aged six where she attended a Rudolf Steiner school in Sussex.

In 1979 she moved to London to study Drama, going on to work as an actress, both in theatre and television, and forming her own company with fellow actress/writer Kitty Aldridge - The Norfolk Broads.

Her first novel Hideous Kinky, was published in 1992 and was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. In 1993, after the publication of her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was named by Granta as one of the Best of Young Novelists under 40.

She has since written seven novels, including The Sea House, Love Falls and Lucky Break. She also writes stories, articles and travel pieces for newspapers and magazines, and teaches creative writing, in her own local group and at the Faber Academy.

Her most recent book, Mr Mac and Me, was published in September 2014. She lives in London with her husband, the actor David Morrissey, and their three children.

Reviews

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Couldn't Love You More is a sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past. It’s London, 1960, and Aoife Kelly—once the sparkling object of young men’s affections—runs pubs with her brusque, barking husband, Cash. Their courtship began in wartime London, before they returned to Ireland with their daughters in tow. One of these daughters—fiery, independent-minded Rosaleen—moves back to London, where she meets and begins an affair with the famous sculptor Felix Lehmann, a German-Jewish refugee artist over twice her tender eighteen years. When Rosaleen finds herself pregnant with Felix’s child, she is evicted from her flat, dismissed from her job, and desperate to hide the secret from her family. Where, and to whom, can she turn?

Meanwhile, Kate, another generation down, lives in present-day London with her young daughter and husband, an unsuccessful musician and destructive alcoholic. Adopted and floundering to find a sense of herself in the midst of her unhappy marriage, Kate sets out to track down her birth mother, a search that leads her to a Magdalene Laundry in Ireland and the harrowing history that it holds. Stirring and nostalgic at moments, visceral and propulsive at others, I Couldn’t Love You More is a tender, candid portrait of love, sex, motherhood, and the enduring ties of family. It is impossible not to fall under the spell of this tale of mothers and daughters, wives and muses, secrets and outright lies. Compassionate, moving and utterly captivating to read. Highly recommended.

[Katie B]

DNF

The timing just wasn't right for me when I picked up this book. I wasn't able to get into a good reading groove as the story bounced around too much. I just didn't have the patience so I decided to throw in the towel around the 15% mark. Perhaps some other time I will try again as I know some of my Goodreads and bookstagram friends really enjoyed this one.

[Lisa Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of family; three generations of women, from WW2 in London, to Ireland in the 60's, to the present day.
Three stories told concurrently; Aoife, Rosaleen and Kate – live in very different times and move in different circles, but they are all irrevocably damaged by a series of events that shape all of their lives.
The hardship of war and the true human cost takes the Kelly family down a path that it will never, truly recover from. A story that spans an ambitious historical and social landscape, encompassing a part of our very recent history, where women were dehumanised and vilified when they found themselves in a situation that was already frightening and utterly life changing. They were cast aside and hidden from ‘decent’ society, treated like dogs in a place that purported to offer sanctuary and by women who were supposed to be of a ‘higher calling’.
A book so full of sadness, you read it and feel its weight, but there are glimmers of joy and they lift you to a place of hope.
Esther Freud’s prose are sparse; you need to have your wits about you, but she is worth the concentration. I felt as if I were in a whirlpool; pulled in a vortex of emotion where every page drew me closer to its centre and closer to the beautifully flawed and damaged women at the core.
This melancholic examination of the relationships between mother and daughter has taken its toll on me; I still feel the heaviness of it, a book well written and a book well received. Thank you. #netgalley #icouldntloveyoumore #bloomsburypublishing

[Martie Nees Record · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Family Saga
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pub. Date: June 25, 2021

Mini-Review

As a book reviewer, I do not usually buy books. I am lucky enough to get them at no cost. But, I accidentally bought this book. I thought I clicked, try a sample, I am glad that I made that mistake because this is a very good story. I was afraid that I bought myself a romance novel, which is a genre I do not care for. Instead, I bought a novel that examines illegitimacy in Ireland in the 1960s. The reader follows the Kelly family from pre–World War II years to more recent times. The story is about mothers, daughters, and secrets, and it tells the narrative of three generations of women, their loves, and their decisions. The novel is narrated by: Rosaleen's mother, Aoife; Rosaleen herself; and Kate, Rosaleen's daughter who was put up for adoption 10 days after she was born. Freud’s gifts for female empathy and fluid storytelling are fully evident in “I Couldn't Love You More.” I will be reading more by this author.

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[Taylor Walworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of I COULDN'T LOVE YOU MORE was interesting, but jarring POV shifts and individual stories that jumped back and forth in time with no clear structure made it a properly difficult read. I'm not sure that it captured, to the fullest extent, the horrors of the Magdalen Laundries and the injustices wrought upon the women who sought shelter there. And frankly, all of the men in this suck, constantly and obviously, to the extent that I found it really difficult to sympathise with the three main women who just allowed themselves to be emotionally shat on at every turn (especially Kate, whose story is set in 1999, when women tolerating that sort of treatment from their husbands was absolutely not historically necessary).

[Jonathan Pool · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing a review of this book I find it its necessary to distinguish the writing style from the content.

The content and subject matter

I can’t imagine there is a reader out there who is not going to respond strongly to the clear injustice meted out to so many vulnerable girls over so many years in Irish convents. This is one such story. Irish convents (predominantly, but not exclusively) have received recent, and necessary, publicity leading to the publication of the McAleese Report in 2013. A formal state apology followed. Even now though, many questions remain about culpability in the Magdalene laundries, and accusations of cover up continue.
I recently read the much acclaimed, and more widely known 2021 novel Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. This is very good, and is one of a number of heartfelt books written on the subject. BBC news reporter (and Russia expert) Martin Sixsmith wrote The Lost Child of Philomena Lee This was filmed and Oscar nominated, generating considerable publicity for a subject . In 2015 he made a BBC television documentary, Ireland's Lost Babies, in which he revisited Philomena's story by travelling to the United States to investigate the Irish Catholic Church’s role in an adoption trade which saw thousands of children taken from their mothers and sent abroad

There have been a number of other writers on the subject (fiction and non-fiction) who have personal connections to the demonstrably abusive regimes run by the convent, and there is so much real life material available (through records and oral history) since the convents taking in pregnant girls were functioning from 1922 (the first convent in Dublin) through to 1996.

In this context I thought that Freud’s imagining of the experiences of her lead female, Rosaleen was very well done.
Freud sets her story at The Sacred Heart convent in Bessborough, Co Cork (opened in 1922); one of the most infamous of the twentieth century laundry/convents.

The Writing Style

There are not a few reviews (in the newspapers and on Goodreads), that point out that the structure of the book is challenging. Freud has thrown three elements into the mix in the structure of the book. It is non-linear; it alternates between three different female points of view (across three generations), and each character takes off in a stream of consciousness, often mid paragraph.
I think this works. A straight account of the subject matter (as above) is useful for the reader to build some background knowledge, but I Couldn’t Love You More is unsettling as it takes the reader to places where so much is hidden and unknown, and it gave me some sense of the lack of information that the leading characters experienced.

The nuns in the story are the foremost villains. “Sisterhood” is understood today as a term of mutual support between women; but not so in this context in which love for fellow females is in short supply, to be replaced by condemnation, and where misfortune is described as wickedness.
In the outer world, the men depicted in Freud’s novel are found wanting. They are short on empathy; they don’t know the meaning of forgiveness, they are morally and sexually promiscuous without any regard for the women and girls they chase and grope. Matt and Felix are contemptible, Cashel is cold hearted.

One small non-consequential detail intrigued me (not central to the story whatsoever) when Freud made a point of something that I assumed was in no need of explanation.
Cash (Aoife’s husband) is described by Freud as he was getting dressed
He “slid a shirt from its hanger and buttoned it methodically, starting as he always did, at the top” (256)

Don’t you always button a shirt from the top downwards? To my surprise there is a gender divide here. The women I have checked with tell me that many buttoned shirts need to start from the bottom up (double linings; dual buttons…). I have yet to speak to a man who has ever buttoned a shirt from the bottom upwards!!

Esther Freud and Claire Keegan’s novels will stay with me. I plan to read The Country Girls (1960) by Edna O’Brien, a novel about the love lives of two young women, banned by the Irish censor, publicly burned and dismissed as “filth”. This book is referred to by Aoife when she tidies Rosaleen’s bedroom.

I heard Esther Freud speak at The Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells on 18.05.2022

• (initially hidden) significance of book title (double entendre)
• Kate the hardest character to write. Only when adopted the mindset of being an orphan. Just thinking it. Don’t have to put it in.
• Book about generational contrasts (Kate Atkinson Life after life the inspiration).
• June Goulding book. 1930’s Cork midwife.
• Birth scenes at convent were written at the British Library
• Old days. Man for life, children come and go. Today, Now reversed
• Hypocrisy of nuns. Wicked girls…. Bring us more; for the business, for release fee, to sell the babies.

[Robert Blumenthal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it hard to get into this book, but once I did, I absolutely ate it up. At first, I had a bit of trouble knowing where or when I was. It concerns a family that live in both London and Cork, Ireland at different times in their lives. I was a bit confused at times at first, but the author firmly plants the reader into the goings on and tells a wonderful, emotionally rich tale.

It concerns the Kelly family, Aoefe and Cash as the parents of Rosaleen, and Rosaleen as the mother of Kate. The story is mostly concerning Rosaleen, who becomes the lover of an older sculptor and becomes impregnated by him at the age of 18. She finds herself alone in carrying this baby, and ends up at an institution run by Catholic Nuns where she is forced to give up the baby soon after birth.

Kate is a young woman married to an alcoholic musician who has a young daughter herself. She knows that she had been adopted and is on a quest to find her birth mother. It seems pretty apparent early on that her mother is Rosaleen. A final thread that is much more briefly dealt with is Aoefe searching for Rosaleen, who has broken off all ties to her family when she becomes illegitimately pregnant and cannot face her parents.

The overall theme in this novel is the search for missing loved ones--Kate trying to find Rosalleen, her birth mother, and Aoefe trying to find Rosaleen, her daughter who abandoned her family. And another main issue dealt with is the cruel system that was established for "wayward" girls where they were ill-treated and then forced to abandon their children. The author holds nothing back in exposing this inhumane situation that was established in Ireland.

The novel is extremely well-written and very compelling. It essentially becomes a page turner as the reader is wondering how things will turn out and will everyone be reunited. And the ending is as subtle and emotionally fulfilling as can be.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the three-generational story of three women: Aoife who's married to a controlling man named Cashel, their daughter Rosaleen who has an affair with Felix, a man twice her age, and Kate who is married to an alcoholic, Matt. Set in both London and Ireland from WWII to our present day gave it an interesting look at how life changes. For example, I don't remember the last time I heard anyone use the expression "illegitimate baby" and I certainly hope and pray that Catholic convents are not how it and the nuns were portrayed in the book.

The first 1/3 - 1/2 of the book was very difficult for me to get into, in part because I didn't know the connections of the three different POV's. For that reason I was dragging a little. I actually was confused during much of the first third or so.

Motherhood is at its core and integral to the story's plot. I wasn't very interested in Aoife's story but I was really curious about Katy and secondarily about Rosaleen's POV. Being a mother of five, certain aspects of the book really resonated with me; however, there were other parts of the women's stories that I couldn't connect with at all.

Overall I thought it was definitely worth reading and would encourage others who might pick it up to read and think it's confusing or too slow or whatever to hang in there because the second half of the book gets really interesting.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Ecco for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my opinion. #ICouldntLoveYouMore #NetGalley

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of 3 generations of women whose lives were changed by the strictures of the Catholic Church in Ireland and the effects of an unplanned, untenable pregnancy. We heard about the incredible abuse of the nuns in the book, PHILOMENA.

This book uses the same institution as its center. The reader follows Aiofe, Rosaleen and Kate as they struggle to understand what happened inside those walls. Told from the different vantage points, we follow their stories. At times, I did find some of the narratives confusing.

This is a great novel for women’s groups. There are many issues to discuss.

Thank you Netgalley for this interesting read.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the opening lines I knew this would be a treasure! Beautifully written, it’s the story of an unmarried Irish girl, Rosaleen, who becomes pregnant in the 60’s. In Catholic Ireland this was a terrifying problem, and basically her only option was a home for unwed mothers run by nuns. She goes to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, where daily existence is grueling. The plot unfolds as two other generations of women whose problems, secrets and regrets are interwoven, resulting in a heartrending saga. The author’s writing style reminded me of Maggie O’Farrell, in the way there are abrupt shifts from an existing plot line or time period, leaving the reader to pay attention and be alert for the emerging connection. Five stars. 12/12/2021

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a deeply sad but wonderful story. It's about being a mother and the lengths you go to both find yourself in the midst of being a mom and lose yourself.

It's a story of three women, and at first their three stories are a bit jarring. You can't tell how they all fit although they book even tells you. I think Kate's story of 'now' was the easiest to read. Her struggles and juggles as a mother and wife while also working as a teaching and practicing artist are easy to understand and identify with. Rosaleen is an easy second to understand as you learn of her affair with an older man and her easy, simple life. It's Aoife's story that a struggled through more and found it more of a distraction than an addition to the story.

These three women are at very different stages of their life and it all revolves around their love of their child but also their journey to discover themselves (and be surprised by what they are capable of) and to understand what they want from life. It was mesmerizing and hard to stop reading once you started. As I was completely swept away with the story, it was easy to love this one.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

[Ravina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a heartbreaking novel that takes place across the span of three generations of Kelly women - Aoife, Rosaleen, and Kate - and explores institutions known as ‘mother and baby homes’. It is clear that Esther Freud undertook extensive and complete research on the subject as the story is very well fleshed out; she discusses the strictures of Catholicism and the condemnation of unwed mothers through the three different women at three different times. There is a strong theme of loneliness interwoven with the unconditional and undying love of a mother, alongside a briefer discussion of the restraints that the men in these women’s lives placed upon them. It is an incredibly painful and bittersweet story, and introduced me to something that I wasn’t previously aware of and was devastated to discover did, in fact, exist. My only issue was that I found it a bit difficult to follow at the beginning and that there were a couple of things that felt randomly placed, lacking an introduction into the story, an ending, or an explanation.

(3.5)

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a new story... generations of women ,moulded by the catholic church and its attitude to marriage and illegitimate babies.
For me,this was definitely one of the better told stories.
I kept telling myself one more page,as I got so invested in the three womens lives.
It was only my kindle dying that had me stop,and by that point it was way past bedtime. Hours past.
Three women also defined by the men they become involved with,each of them restricting in their own way.
I felt genuine sadness at some of the plot lines,not just in the wider scope,but the impact it had individually.

A really really good read.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tender and heartbreaking book - adore esther freud go back and reread her books and buy them as gifts for my bookish friends. So easy to relate to falling in love with someone so wrong and unavailable and drawn into the bohemian artworld . what beautiful writing i really hate dto come to the end of this book

[Abby Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vivid and poignant, it brings to life the story of so many women in Ireland. Desperately moving.

[Jessica McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely, though largely melancholic, historical novel about the bonds formed and broken between mothers and daughters. It follows three generations of women, their penchant for falling in love with deeply flawed men, and the pain that brings to their lives.

The story is set in London and Ireland beginning around WWII, and the author does an excellent of job of framing the time and place with elegant description. She delves deep into the minds of her characters, which stirred in me a wide range of emotions – from heartache and compassion, to disappointment and frustration. Aside from a couple of secondary characters, all the men in the story were narcissistic cads: charming, handsome, self-absorbed, liars. And it was the women in their lives – wives, lovers, daughters -- who paid a hefty price for their behavior.

While story is rife with heartbreaking moments (and times I wanted to grab hold of the characters and shake some sense into them), it is also filled with beauty and ultimately ends with a sense of brightness and redemption. I marked many sentences and passages that were powerful, evocative and beautifully constructed. This is a book I will study to raise the bar for my own writing. (4.5 stars, rounded up)

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of three women, Aoife Kelly who is married to the unlikeable Cashel, her daughter Rosaleen who becomes pregnant by a married man and Kate who is unhappily married to Matt with a young daughter, Freya. Set in Ireland and London from WW2 to the present day, it is quite a sad and haunting book. Aoife has lost touch with her daughter Rosaleen and the family are forbidden to speak about her as they feel she brought shame on the family by becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Rosaleen thought she would be helped by the nuns at the Convent in Ireland but nothing could have been further from the truth. Kate is adopted and keen to trace her birth mother and sometimes even thinks she has seen her in various places. This is a complex story and quite confusing to start with but I am so glad that I persevered with it as once I got the time lines straight in my mind I really enjoyed it.

[Aoife Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

Published last year and out in paperback this Thursday 26 May 2022, I Couldn’t Love You More is the poignant tale of three generations of women, Aoife, Rosaleen and Kate, and the lifelong consequences for them when Rosaleen becomes pregnant outside of marriage.

Rosaleen is a teenager in London when she meets artist and Jewish refugee Felix Lichtman. He is elusive, charismatic and a talented sculptor twice her age, and she can’t help but fall for him.

Rosaleen keeps Felix a secret from her Irish Catholic family but when she finds herself alone and pregnant, she turns to the church for help and is sent across the Irish Sea to Bessborough in Cork.

In prose that is sparse in places, and a narrative that jumps in time and person (first person/third person alternating even within chapters), Freud captures the devastating effects of secrets on families, and the cruelty with which women were treated for the sin of being pregnant outside of marriage. The book is beautifully written, and very moving and affecting.

The story is inspired by the author’s own family history. Freud’s mother grew up in an Irish Catholic family and became pregnant herself as a teenager, going on to have two children with the late artist Lucian Freud. The book is a what-if – what if her mother had turned to the church for help to deal with her pregnancy?

Partly set in Bessborough Mother and Baby Home, this book would make a great companion read with Bessborough by Deirdre Finnerty, published last month (some of the same detail crops up in both – a testament to Freud’s research for this book) or the novella Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. I listened to a sample of the audiobook on Audible and it is wonderfully narrated by actor Niamh Cusack. The ebook is on Borrowbox but not the audiobook unfortunately.

If I had one quibble, I would have liked if Aoife and Kate’s names were switched. Perhaps I’m wrong but I don’t think there were too many Aoifes born in the 1920s! Cashel Kelly was also a rather twee, unlikely name for the time. Leaving that aside, an excellent read. 4-4.5/5

[Laura Doe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very confusing book. Timelines all over the place and changing between there different characters meant that I spent most of the first half of the book confused about what was happening and how old certain characters were at that point in the story.
The story follows three women Aoife, Rosaleen and Kate, who are three generations of the same family. Throughout the book Aoife is wondering where her daughter has gone as she seems to have vanished without a trace after coming home one Christmas and then never to be heard from again. Rosaleen has her own secret, that she is pregnant with a married man’s baby and finds herself going to a convent to have her baby, and this book sheds some light on the horrors that unmarried mothers had to suffer before and after giving birth and having their babies taken from them. Kate was adopted and is trying to find out information about her birth mother whilst also trying to cope with her husband who spends most of his time “with the band” and coming back drunk most nights.
The story was an interesting look at how the Catholic Church dealt with expectant mothers who weren’t married, and although you’d think going to a convent for help they would be well looked after, it didn’t work out that way at all. But I did find that it was unnecessarily confusing and jumped around with the timelines quite a lot.
I found myself not wanting to sit down and carry on with the book, but I did persevere with it because I wanted to know how it turned out. The writing was beautiful and some of the descriptions really did make you feel like you were there. The ending seemed quite rushed and after 95% of the book being emotional and there not seeming like there would be a happy ending, the last few pages of the book seemed to solve everything quickly. It would have been nice to have a few more pages around that and questions answered around whether Aoife ever found out what happened to her daughter.
Thank you to Esther and Pigeonhole for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

[Natalie Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story begins in 1960 where independent, fiery Rosaleen begins an affair with a famous sculptor twice her age. She finds herself pregnant, evicted from her flat, dismissed from her job, and desperate to hide her pregnancy from her family. In dire need of help, Rosaleen turns to the sisters of Sacred Hearts for shelter and safety. What Rosaleen doesn’t know is the safety of the sisters comes with a price, is it worth it?

Flash forward to present-day London, Kate lives with her daughter and husband, she sees her biological mother in every woman she meets. She struggles to find herself in the midst of an unhappy relationship. She’s lost and sets out to track down her birth mother.

This book was hard to get into, it flashes from past to present so quickly it gives you whiplash. Oftentimes I found I didn’t know what time period I was reading about. The characters got confusing, many of them not developing at all. After reading the first few chapters I almost put down the book, but I abhor DNFing a book! I kept pushing and started to grow to love Kate. Kate is strong because she has to be, for her daughter, all the while internally struggling to find herself.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a slow-burn mystery unfolding. I suggest if you do pick this one up, be patient, this book gets very interesting towards the end and you will find yourself turning the pages to see how the main characters' lives unfold and connect.

[Susan Lewallen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of 3 generations of Irish women starting around WWII to current times. It includes a lot of horrors of the Catholic Church’s attitudes and behaviors toward sex in general This story includes three Irish women from three generations, beginning around WWII and progressing up to the present. The harmful attitudes and behaviors of the Catholic Church in Ireland toward sex in general and the criminal injustices done to unmarried mothers in particular are at the heart of the story. There are three points of view used in alternating chapters. The events are not rolled out chronologically and I had to pull myself out of the story several times to puzzle out where we were. There are also scenes of dreams or inner musings, which some may find attractive or poetic, but didn’t move me greatly. The writing is fine and I’m sure this book will be well liked by many, but for some reason it just didn’t resonate with me.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about three generations of women based very loosely on her generation, her mother, and her grandmother. The book is about the different ways that love can grow between the ages and how love is created and influenced by the kind of love received. We hear from all three women: Rosaleen, Kate, and Aoife. But at the heart of the story is a big lie, a silence, and an evasion. This book

The book makes you think about how the various relationships are so different over the three generations. The dedication and loyalty in our own generation are more dedicated to a connection with children with less attention put in the male-female relationship. This book takes us through how these relationships impact the other. I love how the author wrote in a slightly freer style. The author seems to play with the narrative by using different techniques: one point of view in the first person and present tense while one is kind of a retelling, going backward through life. This was a beautiful, thought-provoking novel, and I loved how the author wove the different relationships together.

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/est...

[Flora Thwaites · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Gina Schwartz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A difficult and painful read.

This novel tells the story of three generations of women who are all searching to find something that is lost to them.

Aoife has lost her daughter and is effectively silenced every time she mentions her name. It is only at her husband’s funeral that she can grieve properly. Rosaleen has lost the love that she though was hers has been tricked into giving up her baby and been told of her father’s part in it. Kate knows that something is missing and is searching for her birth mother and for answers that will give her some closure.

The novel is painful. Each of the women is deceived by someone sho they should be able to trust and the results are devastating.

I found the novel difficult to read primarily due to it being so depressing but I must commend the author’s skill. The characters are well developed and beautiful. Rosaleen and Kate are like our girlfriends and Aoife’s despair is painful and palpable to the reader.

Thank you to “The Pigeonhole” for giving me the opportunity to read this novel.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Couldn't Love You More
By Esther Freud

This is a multi-generational story set in England and Ireland about the effect of an out-of-wedlock birth and how it blights the family in many ways. There have been several books – and even movies – in the past several years concerning homes run by catholic nuns and the cruelties inflicted on both the unwed mothers and their babies.

This book is indeed another retelling of this sad situation. Unfortunately, the story jumps back and forth and all over the place in such a way that I found it hard to follow. It took until almost the end to figure out who was who and what time frame we were in. So much so, that in losing the thread of the narrative, I found myself not able to build any strong sympathy for any of the women involved. I also was put off by the men they were involved with – none were very honorable and some were downright abusive.

This is not a book I would recommend for readers wanting a clear picture of the horrific goings on in what was purported to be homes run by good religious, but were in fact baby mills.

[Pheadra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this through my online book club and several readers gave up on it early on. Understandable as the manner of storytelling was confusing.   I'm glad I stuck with it though, because the second half was better than the beginning. It is the story of three generations of women. Firstly, Aoife Kelly and her highly unlikable husband Cashel. Secondly, one of their daughters Rosaleen who has an affair with sculptor — Felix Lehmann. She falls pregnant by him and is left to fend for herself. She turns to the sisters at a convent more akin to a house of horrors. The 3rd generation representative is Kate, living  in present-day London with a daughter and alcoholic husband. Adopted, Kate is determined to find her birth mother.

For the most part this story was upsetting and disturbing and held true to the notion that history repeats itself and we pay for the sins of our fathers. 3 and a half stars 

[Robert Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this after having enjoyed ‘Mr Mac and me’ by the same author. I DNF’ed after 100 or so pages, frustrated by the rapid fire changes from one story to another. Each instalment was too short for my liking and I found I couldn’t settle into each story satisfactorily.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three generations of Irishwomen, from the dawn of WWII to the 1990s, moving back and forth between Ireland and London. Events turn around women’s lives—their marriages, their children—and the pain or happiness their choices bring. Aiofe marries Englishman Cashel (who insists on calling her Eva), running a pub in London until they can fulfill their dream of returning to Ireland to take over her parents’ farm. Rosaleen, their eldest girl, flees back to London at her earliest opportunity, where, at the tender age of 18, she falls in love with a sculptor twice her age. When she finds herself pregnant and alone (husbandless in the 60s), she loses her job and her flat and has nowhere to turn. A priest steers her to a convent in Ireland, where, with no idea what she’s committed herself to, finds herself within the brutal confines of a Magdalen laundry. The next generation on is Kate, married to a mean and feckless drunk. She knows she’s adopted, but her adoptive especially mother can’t or won’t talk about it. Kate starts to piece together tiny bits of information, enough to go on a quest to track down her birth mother, running up against secretive and obstructive Roman Catholic institutions. Secrets and lies, lies and secrets. Will Kate succeed in finding her mother?

[Bookoholiccafe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Couldn't Love You More by @estherfreud_ is A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past
Set in London and Ireland, the story stretches from WWII to present day. Aoife, Rosaleen (Aoife’s daughter), and Kate are our narrators, three completely different women sharing their story and their journey to self-discovery.
This was a tender story portraying motherhood, love, and family ties. I found the story extremely sad but there are sparkles of joy that encourage desire and hope. the beginning of the book was a slow burn and took me sometimes to get into, but I grew fond of Kate’s strong character as got into more chapter.
A touching and beautifully written story, with a perfectly chosen cast of characters. I really liked this book.

Many Thanks to @harperperennial for this gifted copy.

[Featherbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Couldn't Love You Moretells of three generations of women, their daughters, and their disappointing men. Alternating between characters and time periods, sometimes frustrating the reader when suspense builds (once or twice I skipped ahead), the middle woman is forced to go to the Catholic home for unwed mothers i.e. like the Irish Magdalen Laundries and gives up her baby for adoption. Once this child grows up, she seeks out the secret story of her mother and tries to find her. The writing is skilled and the story moves along at a good pace. Highly recommended.