A really enjoyable book by the author of The Belladonna Maze. Set across two timelines, New York in the 1920s and modern day Ireland, it follows the story of two women - Annie who dreams of travelling across the ocean to America and Emer who has returned to Ireland for a summer holiday after living in LA for over a decade.. At times, I found myself wanting to get through the chapters about Emer quicker so that I could get back to reading about Annie - her perspective of life as a 'Bridget' in New York during the Jazz Age was fascinating and I was so rooting for her throughout the book. Emer's story felt a little more predictable and her character didn't develop in the same way or intrigue me as much but Sinead Crowley skilfully brought the stories of both women together as the book progressed. A great read overall, though Annie's story was the real highlight for me.

I enjoyed this book by Sinead Crowley, a dual timeline novel set in early 1900s New York and in present day Ireland.
Annie dreams of travelling the world but she has lingering doubts after living through her mother's traumatic illness. She has a huge loyalty to her family and friends but finally decides to go to New York to make a new life for herself. The descriptions of Annie's life as a new Irish immigrant are excellent and at times one could really feel the heat of the crowded dance room or the feeling of suffering under an icy glare from a housekeeper.

Emer's storyline develops as she finds herself back in Ireland, having emigrated to California years earlier. The pandemic has taken its toll on her mental and physical well being so she comes home to find out who she really is. The possibility of romance blossoms for them both but barriers stand in the way of each of their potential relationships

Overall this was an enjoyable read with some unpredictable twists. I felt some of the secondary characters - May, Elena and the American relative could have been more well rounded but didn't really detract from the storyline. 4/5
Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Maid on Fifth Avenue, is told in dual timeline and is the story of an Irish dreamer - Annie who dreams of traveling the world.

The story is bittersweet for our heroine Annie , it is a layered story with it's characters who pull you in for a cosy, emotional storytelling time throughout.

I did very much enjoy this. I think I expected too much as I loved The Belladonna Maze and that is hard to live up to but this is still a really good read. I loved the two timeframes and I think the characters in Annie's world were wonderfully well done. I enjoyed Meg in particular. Elena, I felt, never really got a chance to be a rounded character, which was a pity because it was hard to understand the depth of the attraction and the effect on Annie's life when we barely saw them interact and most of those interactions were soured by Elena. The story in the later years was definitely intriguing and .gathered pace as it approached the end; Emer herself was a great character and I enjoyed the meetings with Siobhan and the developing relationship with Rob. The settings were probably the strongest part of the book. very vivid and real. I look forward to the next book by this author!

Gosh this was an amazing book. I didn’t immediately warm to Emer’s character but was utterly gripped by Annie and her yearning to explore the world, it blows my mind to think of how brave she was to leave all she knew for her new life in New York. I loved reading about her and Elena, even the challenges they faced. Her devotion and loyalty to her best friend was genuinely incredible. The story worked well flitting between eras and I grew to like Emer and was pleased that she settled into life back “home”- the twist in the tale with his mum I absolutely didn’t see coming, but I won’t ruin it! Really enjoyed the story and was sad to have finished it too quickly.

I’m not a huge historical fiction fan, but I know many readers are and I’m on the hunt to always find a good one to add to our collection. A Maid On FifthbAvenud looked very interesting and intriguing. It was filled with a juicy plot, great characters, and I love both the past/present storylines. I look forward to sharing my full review and thoughts upon completion.