Cecilia Ahem has long been a favourite author of mine. It took me a couple of goes to get into this book as on first read, it seemed really different from her usual offering. However, once I set aside some time to persevere, I got the hang of the story and was hooked. I have to say that I changed my mind as to who I should believe a number of times. It took some following as there were so many lies and mistruths told by all the characters. An unusual premise for a book but stick with it and you will not be disappointed.

One wild night in the middle of December, local GP Enya is driving home from a house call when she comes across a taxi parked in the middle of the road and a boy lying motionless on the wet ground. Oscar, the taxi driver, tells her he has just found the boy like this and he doesn’t know if he’s breathing. As the rain pours down Enya kneels in the road and performs CPR, desperately hoping she can save his life. After she’s questioned by the police and returns home she sits in the car for moment, soaked to the skin and thinks about her mother. Brigid, a rather eccentric and free-spirited woman, died at the age of 47 while swimming in the sea. For a while, as Enya battles to save the teenage boy’s life she feels the water on her face and wonders if this was how her mother felt? Enya struggles in the aftermath of the incident and can’t seem to put it out of her mind. Is it because the boy was so like her son, of a similar age and wearing the same clothes? The storm propels her into huge life changes as she walks away from her loveless marriage and takes a job in the small town of Abbeydooley. There she lives in a remote spot, but with a rag tree in the garden that brings people from far and wide to tie their ribbons and fabric to it’s branches. Even though her days are filled with patients and she starts to make friends, that night in the rain just won’t leave her. As she looks out of the window at the sacred tree she is faced with the stories of all the people who’ve tied a memento there. Could it be time to face the truth of her own story as well as the memory of her mother?

We meet Enya in the middle of a crisis and the night of the storm is really the breaking point of that crisis. Enya is 46 and the day after her 47th birthday she will be older than her mother ever was. She has always had the sense that her mother was still going before her but from that day it’s only her. Alone. The grief hits her like a tsunami wave. There’s also the matter of her marriage and living situation. Xander made me feel cold. He comes across as clinical and controlling. The house they live in doesn’t feel like a home to Enya. Their home was the new build that she poured all her effort into, it’s where she had Ross and where she learned him to ride a bike in the garden. Now it’s their GP surgery and they live in Xander’s family home that he inherited after his parent’s death. There is nothing of Enya in the house and everything inside is exactly where it was when Xander was a boy. If she moves the coat rack slightly or repositions an ornament it is soon quietly placed back where it should be. He even controls her relationship with Ross, having chosen his boarding school and at home telling her not to disturb him when all she wants is to spend time with her son. There’s an invisible barrier there and I could feel her sense powerlessness. Enya has been struggling for some time: feeling overwhelmed at work; making small mistakes with forms and requests; desperately trying to find an escape, somewhere she can breathe. She has also struggled to let the injured boy go and has visited the hospital and made contact with the boy’s mum. When the offer comes to relocate to Abbeydooley she jumps at the chance.

Her introduction to Abbeydooley life isn’t a smooth one. The tree is baffling to her. It has filthy and torn rags all over it and completely obstructs her view from the window, taking all her light. She sees it as an eyesore and asks the maintenance person to come out and remove it. Margaret is a brilliant character and the women don’t get off to the best start. Margaret has assumed the tree is damaged and turns up the next morning with a chainsaw, but when she sees the tree is intact she refuses to touch it. Doesn’t Enya realise this is a rag tree, a sacred tree that’s watered by a spring from the site of the original abbey. People believe it’s a sacred site, that their prayers will be answered if they leave something to represent the person or problem they’re facing. It seems ridiculous to Enya, especially when a tour mini-bus arrives with a group of pensioners excited to see this symbol of pagan traditions. Alongside this observance of pagan religion, Enya also has to contend with the church. A visit from the parish priest makes her realise that traditionally the GP and priest have worked quite closely together, sharing information and forming a team to help parishioners and patients. Enya is reluctant, but is starting to learn that in these remote rural areas, being a GP is a very different thing to the app led and computerised system she and Xander used. Maybe she will have to adapt to a new way of working and living.

The whole book is a combination of a woman trying to find her way in the world and navigate emotional challenges, with a darker mystery woven in. The backdrop of Abbeydooley is almost like the light relief in the story, with it’s old-fashioned ways and humorous characters like Handyman Willy. I wondered whether it would be a redemption arc, where the town’s quirky ways would win Enya over and change her life. It’s a space for Enya to breathe and think, but her demons have definitely followed her. We’re not sure whether she’s a narrator we can rely on. It’s not Xander’s opinion or the little slips at work that concerned me, it’s more about her rising paranoia and the reveals that prove she isn’t telling us everything. When an agitated man turns up at the surgery to confront Enya we have no idea who he is or what bearing he might have the story. She sees another man through her window late at night, are they the same man or is someone making a late night visit to the tree? All this time Xander keeps her what from her son so she’s reduced to leaving voice notes for him in the hope he’ll listen to them alone. Xander claims he’s protecting their son, but from what? I really enjoyed Margaret because she sees Enya at her worst and remains her friend. Margaret knows what it’s like to make a mistake and blow your own life apart. So she’s the best person for Enya to spend time with. What I found sad is that Enya has had support there all along. Although Xander has controlled her, she has allowed her life to slowly constrict her to the point where she felt her only choice was total escape. Yet she has her sister and brother-in-law who are warm and welcomed her into their home when she first leaves. She could have made changes, been closer to her son and faced up to everything. Enya seems like a person who runs away: from grief, from her marriage, from the truth. I didn’t warm to her as a character, but her journey was fascinating and I did want her to break free from all the restrictions she placed on herself. She would certainly make a fascinating client.

As Dr Enya Pickering negotiates the twists and turns of a mountain pass driving home in a violent storm, she’s flagged down by a man who’s found an injured boy in the road, a victim of a hit-and-run. For a scary moment Enya thinks the boy is her teenage son, Finn. It’s not, but the incident sends her spiralling.
Cecelia Ahern’s 20th novel deals with loss, trauma and grief, and the messiness of dysfunctional families. Enya shares a successful medical practice with her doctor husband, Xander, but their relationship is fraught, she and Finn are growing increasingly distant and Enya feels lost. She decides to leave her Dublin home when she hears about a post for a doctor in rural Ireland.
Earlier this year when interviewing the author, she spoke about seeing a rag tree in a botanical garden and how it inspired this novel. A rag tree is an old Irish tradition of taking a piece of cloth from a sick person and tying it to a specific type of tree near water. The belief is as the rag disintegrates the person will heal.
The house Enya rents has a huge, ugly rag tree blocking her view and its branches tap on the window at night, but her attempts to have it cut down she angers the locals.
The tree plays a central role in the story as she realises her feeling of being adrift began when she turned 46, the age her mom was when she died when Enya was 12. She knows it’s irrational, but she can’t imagine being older than her mom and it causes her to relive the anguish of her loss all over again.
It’s a moving story which will have you thinking about ageing and the choices we all make.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Cecelia Ahern is an auto buy author for me after falling in love with so many of her stories, and in Into the Storm, she has done it again! Sublime!

When one of my all time favourite authors releases a new book I get super excited so to get a netgalley arc was amazing - thank you!
Like with all of her books, the writing was rich and characters well described with Margaret being my favourite! The plot was interesting although I did find it to be a bit of a slow pace & I must admit this wouldn’t be my favourite book of Cecilia’s however I will 100% read whatever she writes because on the whole her books are fantastic!
3.5 stars from me.

I thought this was a different read from Cecelia as it has a mystery at its core - how did a teenage boy come to be on the road seriously injured on a stormy night? How did he get there? Who hit him? This adds suspense and tension to the story as Enya worries about the boy's progress. Enya is not telling the truth about what she was doing in the evening before helping the boy and she's trying to keep these secrets hidden. Marriage breakdown, life's unraveling, and secrets are all threads woven through the story. I'm a fan of Cecelia's storytelling, and this book didn't disappoint

Into the Storm by Cecilia Ahern

I have enjoyed several Cecilia Ahern books previously and I was intrigued at the premise of this book.

Dr Enya Pickering is driving home in the pouring rain when she is flagged down by a taxi driver. On the floor she sees a boy, who looked uncannily like her son, who had been knocked over. She performs CPR on the boy until the ambulance arrives and so saves his life. Her life then falls to pieces – her husband, also a GP in the same practice wants her gone, and her beloved son won’t speak to her. When her father tells her about an opening for a GP in a remote village in Ireland, she decides that it’s fate and takes the job. However, is everything as it seems and will the past catch up with her?

I really enjoyed this story. It’s somewhat of a ‘whodunnit’. It has great characterisation and shows how people are not always inherently good or inherently bad, but more all a bit of a mixture. A great, well written story.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7002527488
https://maddybooksblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/into-storm-by-cecilia-ahern-i-have.html

Thanks to NetGalley, publishers and author for an ARC of Into The Storm.
I have read other books by Cecelia Ahern, and she has an incredible way of making the reader feel all the emotions in the book.
I really enjoyed this book, although at times it had me feeling completely stressed and wrung out alongside the main character, Enya.
Highly recommend.

I found this story rather depressing. I persevered, hoping things would improve but did not enjoy this and found it quite bleak. I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters and was relieved to reach the end of the book. Now to find something more cheerful!

This is a beautifully written novel that is heartbreaking and authentic. Enya is a GP and saves a boy’s life after he is knocked down by a car on a stormy night. The traumatic nature of the situation shakes her world and she leaves her family behind and moves away to a small town. Enya is fast approaching the age her mother was when she died and this along with her own secrets is causing her to rethink who she is and the consequences of her decisions.
Despite the seriousness of the main storyline, this novel is full of humour and well imagined characters. It invites the reader to learn more about Irish history and culture and to gain an understanding of how the impact of certain actions can be felt far and wide.

I really enjoyed this book. I found Enya to be a really interesting protagonist and we see her downward spiral first-hand. She moves to a remote new town in the hopes of starting afresh, yet the change only seems to enhance her struggles. Enyas mental health is depicted in a very subtle but lifelike way which was great to read. I liked that all the characters were very complex, even the more background ones and each person was interwoven into a multi-layered gripping story.

The ending was enjoyable, although I had worked out just over halfway what was happening; but I was enthralled by the plot nonetheless. I enjoyed Cecelia Aherns writing and found it really immersive, but I must admit it didn't stand out from the rest and I did find that certain parts felt as if they were slowing down the fast paced action.

I rated this 3 out of 5 stars.

This was a really moving novel that I wasn’t expecting to be dragged into so much and definitely thought provoking. How life can turn in a moment

As always a fantastic book by a consistently brilliant author. I always regret their ending and always look forward to the next book thanks

I always enjoy a Cecelia Ahern book and this is no different. Sharp and clever a great read from the start

I really enjoyed this book, it was full of twists and turns that I did not see coming. The characters are very well drawn and believable, especially Dr Enya Pickering, the protagonist in the story. She is realistic and relatable, a working mother facing her own issues in the best way she can, and making mistakes as she navigates her way through life, with honesty and compassion. I loved how the book flowed, the characters all had their flaws, as in real life. Margaret was wonderful, a kind soul going through her own turmoil but with a wicked sense of humour, I could envisage Finn, the son of two successful parents who had expectations for him to be equally as successful, and the pressure he felt. Xander, however was not a likeable character, though he was very much a part of the story.
Cecelia Ahern, is a great and prolific writer with over twenty books to her credit. I think she is underestimated tremendously and would encourage readers to read her books with an open mind, they might be pleasantly surprised.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC

I found this to be a rollercoaster of a read. A female Dr is flagged down on a lonely road in Ireland by a taxi driver who has found the body of a young man in the road….

What follows is an emotional journey of grief, complex family relationships and it captures the claustrophobic elements of village life, especially in Ireland!

It’s very well written and I enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview and I wish the author every success.

This was an enjoyable read from the very talented Cecelia Ahern who has a wonderfully atmospheric style of writing which shone through in this book.

This was the perfect Winter’s night escapism read with good characters, what I really loved about this was the rural setting which gave the book a very creepy & gothic feel and the Celtic/Pagan superstitions and rituals was a really interesting addition.

A great read perfect for this time of year.

Wow what a read this is a great book as always from this author but I was really blown away by the ending and did not see that coming.
Here we meet Doctor Enya who after coming across an accident on the road during a big storm re-evaluates her life and ends her marriage. As she moves away from her home and her son she struggles to get past the fear that she will soon be older than her mother who died at the same age as she currently is. Is grief making her loose her mind and herself or are other secrets holding her back and why is she so obsessed with the young lad who’s life she saved. Loved it!!

A fabulous read!

Really struggled to put this book down as I needed to know how this story was going to develop.

GP Enya comes across a hit and run in a stormy December evening, the victim is a teenage boy, who reminds her of her son and treating him as she waist in the ambulance really shakes her up.

Once back home she feels uneasy about many elements of her life and her discontent results in her leaving her husband, son and job and heading to the countryside to take up a new role and spend some time sorting out her headspace.

But then everything she has left behind comes to find her and the true story of the night of the accident unravels.

A great read, with great characters, definitely highly recommended.

I used to love Cecilia Ahern’s books and haven’t read her books for years but I was very excited to review this book. I’ll be honest I struggled to get into this book and I wasn’t sure if it was for me but I’m glad I continued to read. Now that I’ve finished the book, I think I struggled to get into the book because it was cleverly written and I couldn’t work out how the story was going to go. I really liked how it covered a lot of life themes including grief, especially trying to live with loss years later.