A devastatingly sad story about loss, The Island of Longing is a memorable and haunting book. Rosie has returned to her island home at the request of her husband Hugh. Their marriage has become beyond strained since the disappearance of their daughter when she was 17. Seven years on, Hugh has a need to accept she is never coming home, but Rosie refuses to accept this.

Back on the ferry she has skippered since being a teen, she finds some peace and, with a new friendship, a kindred spirit.

The story gives us snippets from the day Saoirse went missing, although this is quite abstract. There is also movement between the present and past as Rosie recounts meeting Hugh and their early years together.

Very beautifully written and whilst it was a difficult story to read, this was purely due to it being so sad. Having said that, there was a sense of hope too that made for a life-affirming conclusion.

This is a haunting and powerful read which I truly enjoyed reading.
It’s beautifully written, detailed and realistic throughout. I really loved the setting in fictional West Cork island. The descriptions are vivid with a sense of community coming through the pages. The story shows warmth, beauty, hope and love. Rosie is a character I will remember for a long time.
Definitely recommend reading this one, but bring tissues.
Thanks to #NetGallery #HodderandStoughton #Sceptre #AnneGriffin for an arc of #TheIslandOfLonging in exchange for an honest review.
Book publishes 4th May 2023.

Beautifully written book, tinged with both melancholy and hope. Rosie's daughter never comes home one day, and despite the passing of time without any clues, she refuses to give up hope. But existing without knowing, hoping, hanging on, takes its toll, and eventually Rosie retreats to the island where she grew up,. There, in a small, tightly knit community, she lives with her grief - but can she ever move on?

I found this fascinating - sympathetic, atmospheric, well imagined and full of emotion.

This is a slow burner and nearly quarter of the way in I was thinking perhaps too slow, but I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. The slow burn is really quite necessary when you consider the subject.

he Island of Longing by Anne Griffin.

On a normal summer day Rosie is gathering laundry from the bedrooms in her home in Dublin, glancing out the window she sees her 17 year old daughter Saoirse cycling up the road. Rosie continues with her task and then realises she didn't hear the door closing. When she steps outside, her daughter's bike lies on the ground and Saoirse is gone.

The Island of Longing opens eight years after Saoirse's disappearance. Rosie is the only person left who believes her daughter might still come home. Exhaustive appeals, intensive investigations and searches turned up no results. Saoirse disappeared in front of her home while Rosie was meters away. In the years that have passed since that day, this family has never recovered. Rosie's son is now an adult, her marriage has imploded as both parents have lost each other amidst their deep grief and Rosie is a shadow of the person she was. When her father phones asking her to return to the island off West Cork she was born and raised to help him out with the ferry he runs for the Summer, Rosie hopes that by going home she might get back to herself while still believing Saoirse is out there and they will find answers.

This is a beautiful and utterly devastating read and undoubtedly Griffin's strongest book to date. The writing is truly spectacular at times and assured, detailed and realistic throughout. The level of care and research the author put into this story is evident throughout. There is nothing gratuitous, Saoirse's story is shared through short sentences scattered throughout the book, this is Rosie's story. I really loved the setting of the fictional West Cork island. I have read many books set on fictional Irish islands in recent years and this was 100% the most realistic, the descriptions are rich and vivid and the sense of community lept from the pages.

The book goes back and forth tracing Rosie's life in the past and her experience returning home, her relationship with her father is particularly well captured as is the pounding grief that fractures her marriage. Despite the harrowing subject matter there is a lot of warmth, beauty, hope and love in this story and Rosie is a character that I will remember for a long time, as I will this book. It is a haunting and quietly powerful read and really wonderfully written. I don't know if I would recommend it fully though, I think it's one you a reader should approach with care because I felt deeply sad when reading this one and deeply sad when I finished it. Devastating and beautiful.

4 stars.

Rosie is struggling to cope. Several years ago her daughter Saoirse came up the drive on her bike but didn’t make it into the house. Rosie is unable to cope with her grief and returns to her home island of Roaring Bay to Captain the boat that belongs to her family in place of her father for the summer whilst he rests due to back problems. Rosie feels closer to her missing daughter and happy for the first time in a long time. Is it time to accept that Saoirse may be dead and will never be coming home?
I enjoyed this book despite it taking me longer to read than normal. I would highly recommend it and plan to read more books from this author. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’m sorry to say I didn’t enjoy this one by Anne Griffin. Unfortunately, it’s not what I expected and I just couldn’t finish it.

Thank you to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for the chance to read and review the book.

Seventeen year old Saoirse is one of Ireland’s missing. Her disappearance creates a cavern between mum, Rosie, and her husband and son as they grapple to find out what happened to her. Years on, Rosie, still unable to cope, finds comfort in going home to her father and her first love, the family-owned island ferry, which she trained to skipper before she left. By returning to the life she left behind, she tries to heal but cannot forget or give up on the hope of finding her daughter. I find the book quite hard to comment on and I’m left with a feeling of discomfort. On one hand, Rosie’s position is impossible to imagine and is understandable. On the other, the the rawness of her longing, actively prevents her husband and son from truly moving on with their lives when
they also lost a daughter/sister. It is a credit to Anne Griffin that she can portray such a complicated situation with powerfully conflicting emotions but I also found it a challenging read for that same reason.

This authors debut, When All Is Said is one of my favourite books of the last few years, so I always look forward to reading a new book of theirs.

In this story, we meet Rosie 8 years after the disappearance of her 17 year old daughter Saoirse. The years of searching, hoping and never getting an answer either way as to what happened has taken their toll on the entire family, but Rosie especially is at breaking point. So when her father ask her asking for help with the family business, with a bit of persuasion she agrees to take the time to try and allow everyone to heal.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the character of Rosie. As a parent, the thought of your child going missing is one of the worst feelings and some of the vivid scenes portrayed were difficult to read. I appreciated the angle of the story looking more toward the family left behind in these situations instead of focusing on the incident particularly, but the sentences peppered throughout from Saoirse's POV were some of the most intense and upsetting parts as it starts to explain what happened to her.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

There aren't many books that take your breath away but this one did for me. My heart broke for the mother and family who are left in limbo wanting to find out what happened to their precious child. I have never read anything by Anne Griffin before but will definitely do that now.

The Island of longing is Irish author Anne Griffin’s third novel, and is available to buy on the 4th of May.

On a seemingly normal afternoon, Rosie waits for her daughter Saoirse to cycle home, but becomes concerned when she finds her bicycle and no sign of her daughter. Thus begins an extensive investigation into Saoirse’s disappearance and the hell her parents and brother must now live through.

Eight years later and Rosie is the only one clinging to the possibility that her daughter is still alive, much to the detriment of her relationships with the rest of the family.

Under the guise of returning home to help her ageing dad skipper the local ferry, Rosie leaves Dublin and her broken relationships, and heads back to Roaring Bay Island off the coast of West Cork.

Here she finds solace in hard work, and in new friendships, but Saoirse is never far from her mind. When the slim hope appears that she may get her daughter back, Rosie will stop at nothing, and will risk losing everything she has left to see Saoirse again.

I loved this book. Something I think Anne Griffin does really well is writing emotionally complex stories; The Island of Longing is multi-layered and felt incredibly real to me.

Rosie’s grief and despair are all-consuming; her new role as a mother to a missing child felt almost unbearable to witness at times but I’m glad I stayed with her until the end. I really appreciated the balm the island provided her with, as I felt I needed it too, as the reader!

There is a wonderful sense of place and time and the island itself is so well realised; I loved the descriptions of the locals, the pub, and the island library, and how seasonal changes affect the landscape throughout the year.

I wept at the end of this book. I think a sign of a really great read is when you finish it and immediately begin to wonder what happens to the characters next, will they be alright?
While this is a character study in grief, there’s also hope in there so I feel comforted by that; I think Rosie and her crew will be ok ❤️

If you have the headspace for it, I would definitely recommend this one, but bring tissues!

Thank you so much to @hachetteireland & @sceptrebooks for the opportunity to read The Island of Longing.

The island of longing by Anne Griffin

I saw a few rave reviews of this book and was lucky enough to have an ARC on my kindle so I gave it a shot.

Rosie's daughter cycles to town to meet a friend but never returns. Rosie never gives up hope that her daughter will return but needing a break from her life in Dublin, returns to the island she grew up on to be with her family.

The descriptions of ferries reminded me of when my parents lived on a peninsula on the West Coast of Scotland, where the quickest way to get to the central mainland was a ferry. The ferries there and the beautiful scenery were what I was picturing the book's island of Ireland looked (I'm really not a fan of boats but this didn't stop me from being a huge fan of this book).

I've read some emotional books already this year but always managed to keep it together but this one broke me. I really felt Rosie's pain and struggles and I adored her dad. Brilliant characters, amazing writing and a must read book. I stayed up way later than I normally would finishing this because I literally couldn't put it down. I will be reading Anne Griffin's other books very soon.

Thank you to the author, the publishers and netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The island of longing is out on 4th May.

#scottishreader #irishbookstagram #netgalleyuk

EXCERPT: The last time I saw Saoirse was at 2.20 pm, Thursday, 16 July 2009. I'd seen her from Cullie's bedroom window cycle up the road of our estate. I'd glanced at his alarm clock and chuckled to myself, thinking she'd certainly made sure she was home well in time for her dinner, mac and cheese, her favourite. I hadn't expected her back until much later. I thought nothing further of it and went on gathering up the washing from each of our rooms, fully expecting to see her when I went down the stairs with a full load finally to hand.

ABOUT 'THE ISLAND OF LONGING': One unremarkable afternoon, Rosie watched her daughter Saoirse cycle into town, expecting to hear the slam of the door when she returned a few hours later. But the slam never came.

Eight years on, after an extensive investigation into her disappearance, Rosie is the only person who stubbornly believes that her child might still be alive. When Rosie receives a call from her father, asking her to return home for the summer, she is forced out of her limbo. Life on the island of Roaring Bay revives old rivalries, but it also brings new friendships and unexpected solace.

Yet, when a sudden glimmer of hope appears, Rosie is forced to face an impossible question: is she right to think that Saoirse is still alive? Or will her belief that her daughter will one day return to her come at the cost of everything she has left?

MY THOUGHTS: If you watch your child cycle up the road towards your house, the last thing you would expect is for that child not to walk through the door, to simply disappear. Then not to know what happened . . . that is cruel. I worry if I don't hear from my children every few days. I can't begin to imagine how I would feel, react, if one went missing.

Anne Griffin has written The Island of Longing from the point of view of Rosie, Saoirse's mother. We feel her despair, share her hope, and watch the family slowly come apart under the strain.

In an effort to save herself Rosie returns to Roaring Bay Island, and to help her father who has health issues. While the Island may be her 'happy place' her father has been hiding the reality of his failing business from her.

Will the struggle to save her beloved ferry save or sink Rosie?

The Island of Longing is an incredibly emotional and touching read. Occasionally interspersed in the text are two or three sentences from Saoirse's story. So eventually we know who abducts her and how.

I loved this gentle but passionate and powerful read, which I read in one sitting, and will be seeking out Anne Griffin's previous two books.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#TheIslandofLonging #NetGalley

I: @aneegriffinwriter @hodderstoughton

T: @AnneGriffin_ @HodderBooks

#contemporaryfiction #deathanddying #familydrama #friendship #irishfiction #mystery

THE AUTHOR: Anne Griffin is an Irish novelist.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Sceptre, via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Island of Longing by Anne Griffin for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Full of great characters in a beautiful setting, this is a book to treasure. The story centres on a remote Irish island, its close-knit residents and its ferry, without which people and provisions couldn't easily reach the island. Rosie, a former ferry skipper, returns there for solace and to be with people who understand her. A book that will live with you long after you've finished it, with people you'd want as your friends.

I was engaged with this book from the very beginning, I love a family drama based around a traumatising historical event (is that bad of me?). Well anyway, it obviously appeals to many others (as you can see from other reviews of this novel) and it didn't take me long to finish which also screams "addictive" and "engaging". This was quite a sad story of loss and family and how our paths can take certain turns and love and how it gets through a trauma. It also looks at depression and longing and letting go. Yes indeed, prepare yourself to perhaps have a little (or a big ) cry over the theme of this book and it's ongoing theme of waiting on a dreaded phone call you never wish to receive.

Anne Griffin is best known for her debut novel When All is Said which I really enjoyed so I was delighted to get an ARC of this new one.

The book is told from the perspective Rosie, a middle-aged Irish mammy, 8 years after the disappearance of her 17 year old daughter Saoirse. After years of searching, of not knowing what happened the stress has taken its toll on the whole family. Rosie is adamant that Saoirse is still out there and will come back but her husband Hugh and now grown-up son Cullie believe she is dead and want to let go.

Rosie’s elderly father calls her help run their family business, working as captain on an island ferry Aoibhneas which connects the fictitious island, Roaring Bay in West Cork to the mainland. Rosie is reluctant to go as she wants to be at home for Saoirse's return but her husband convinces her they need time apart and start healing.

It’s through taking over the ferry Aoibhneas and moving back to live on the island where she grew up that Rosie starts to rebuild herself and feels the spirit of Saoirse who also loved the sea and island life.

I really enjoyed this book, I really loved Rosie as a character and the wonderful characters in the book and the utter devastation of what they went through. The relationship between Rosie and her dad is so moving and not to speak of the relationship between Rosie and her husband and son, all of them so broken because of what had happened nearly a decade previous.

The book is interspersed with what really happened Saoirse and it's one of the few books that's actually given me a visceral physical reaction of feeling tense and anxious as I was reading it and what happened this beautiful young woman. The idea of your child being missing is probably one of the greatest fears that any parent can imagine. I’m old enough to remember the spate of young women in Ireland who disappeared in the 90s and have never been found. This book was really so respectful to the pain and suffering that families of missing people going through and the lack of answers.

As you can imagine, there are some incredibly difficult scenes that brought me to tears at a number of points. Highly recommend this one and I might go so far as say it’s my favourite of Anne’s books.

Huge thanks to @netgalley and @hachetteireland for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is another sublime read from the Irish writer Anne Griffin after her wonderful debut When All is Said, here she immerses the reader in the heartbreaking and poignant territory of the terror, grief, sorrow, despair and estrangements of a broken Dublin family through the 8 years since the strange disappearance of 17 year old Saoirse Dunne, dropping her cycle after arriving home on a ordinary day, never to be seen again. Mother Rosie refuses to move on from her belief that Saoirse is still alive, constantly and relentlessly pushing the lead detective Inspector Mick Malone, doing all that she can ensure she is not forgotten in the media through the years after the initial intense search by family, friends and community. All this has taken an unbearably heavy toll on her mental and physical health, and strained her relationshipships with architect husband, Hugh, and her 23 year old son, Cullie.

The grief of recently losing her mammy adds to the burden that Rosie faces as she is pushed to return to her childhood island home of Roaring Bay, West Cork, for the summer and skipper the family owned ferry, Aoibhnneas, with her father, Danny Driscoll, needing to recover from back issues. Although initially keeping her distance from the small local community, but feeling closer to Saoirse whilst at sea, she settles down and finds a surprising level of solace, which begins as she recognises another broken spirit in recent newcomer, coffee obsessive, swimmer and reader, Iggy. In a narrative that shifts from past to present, we learn of the details of Rosie's life, her love for Hugh, her relationship with Saoirse since her birth, and the precise nature of the repercussions of her loss and the impact of not knowing what happened through the long 8 difficult years.

A major highlight are Griffin's stellar and distinct characters residing on the island, such as Patsy Regan who can eerily intuit and see what others cannot, the owner of the sometimes open Wagtail pub, Uncle Michael-Fran, the ambitious Liam, his wife Teresa, and the terrific Eilish. This is raw, beautifully written and memorable storytelling that is less concerned with the actual mystery of what happened to Saoirse, and more on the soul destroying human cost on a family and more specifically on a mother, when the worst happens. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC

The Island of Longing by Anne Griffin may break your heart, but it is worth every tear shed along the way. This is a book about a woman, indeed a family suffering an unimaginable loss. Eight years ago Rosie's seventeen year old daughter Saoirse disappeared from outside their home and no trace has been found since despite an extensive police investigation and an ongoing media and social media campaign to find her. Rosie refuses to give up her belief that Saoirse is alive out there somewhere, but this is taking a toll on her family, her marriage and her mental health. Finally she decides to return home to the island off the Cork coast where she grew up and where her father runs the ferry to and from the mainland. Her return sparks memories both bitter and sweet, but the local community is a source of solace and comfort.
Anne Griffin has wonderfully brought life in rural Ireland to life in this book, all of the characters come vividly to life on the page, and it begins to feel like the reader knows them. Nowhere is this more true than for Roisin herself, her despair and heartbreak is almost palpable. I also connected with her husband Hugh who is struggling with his own grief while trying to hold the family together and maybe even move on. This may not be an easy read, but it is certainly a powerful and moving one and one that I will certainly be recommending.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Following Rosie after the death of her mother, as she goes home to her father, even as she is battling her own other losses- this is a beautiful story that highlights the love between a mother and child, the blind hope and denial. Beautifully told.

Another superbly written masterpiece from Anne Griffin.
When Rosie’s daughter, Saoirse goes missing from right outside their home, her family’s life is turned upside down in their efforts to find her and bring her home.
After seven long years, unable to cope with her grief, Rosie heads home to the island where she grew up to Captain the Islands ferry alongside her Father.
This beautiful book is so emotional and heart wrenching. It’s about coming home, finding where you belong and the beautiful but fragile relationship between a family torn apart by grief. I absolutely adored it.