Poignant read. Touching story about love and family. Thank you for the opportunity to read it...........................................

Well, this turned out to be such a lovely read as not only do the characters warm your heart, especially Maeve Maloney, who really is something special, but also because it is set in the northern seaside town of Morecambe, a place I have visited several times.

On the surface, Sea View Lodge is like so many B&Bs which, in their heyday, provided warmth and hospitality but which are sadly, a little down on their luck, and in need of a bit of TLC. Now almost eighty, Maeve Maloney keeps her B&B exactly like her parents did back in the 1950s and opens her heart and her home to all those who have a unique set of needs. The unexpected arrival of a man from her past brings back painful memories that Maeve has kept hidden for far too long.

Owl Song at Dawn has a wonderful resonance which captures your heart from the very beginning and the residents who call Sea View Lodge home pretty soon become as familiar as old friends. There's something very special, and at the same time quite difficult to read in this book as it highlights the way that prejudice and ignorance once blighted lives. and who instead of intolerance needed compassion and encouragement.

Tackling difficult issues in a readable way is a remarkable skill which the author has got absolutely spot on. Owl Song at Dawn made me laugh, made me cry and made me realise that family, friendship, love and hope are what really matters.

This was a very heart felt read. We find Maeve an 80 year old telling the story. It weaves the past and the present but really more reminiscing to Edie her twin sister. So have a seat with an open mind and enjoy.
Have the tissues ready.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Maeve is nearing eighty and except for her time in college has never lived anywhere else but in Sea View Lodge. A Lodge that caters to the mentally and physically disadvantage, and where two young people with Downs syndrome live and work. This is now her life now, but she once had a twin sister, Edie, a sister who was born mentally and physically handicapped, a sister she loved very much. A sister her mother and father kept at home despite pressure from the doctors and social services to institutionalize her, a sister whose eventual fate causes her unending grief and guilt. Then a friend from the past arrives and just maybe she can come to terms with her past.

This book was inspired by the Author's own sister and it is a emotional but worthy read. The pressure in the fifties and sixties to sterilize these unfortunate children, to institutionalize them and basically to forget about them and concentrate on their remaining family members, heartbreaking. Maeve's story as she tries to live her own life, while always including her sister, was just full of lobe and hope. Things don't turn out as planned for her but she makes the most of what she has left by catering to and helping others less fortunate. The present story and the past story were equally compelling, something that I very rarely find in books that skip back and forth in time. I enjoyed these characters, and in between we hear from Edie herself, in the special way she thinks and feels. Added a personal touch and insight as well. All in all a very good and heartfelt story.

ARC from Netgalley.

Owl Song at Dawn was a very unique and wonderful story. I read 2 to 3 books each week and it so refreshing to find a book that delves into a subject that so little is written about in the fiction genre. The characters are very well developed and the story really pulls at your heart strings. It gave me a new appreciation and understanding for special needs families and the love and hardships they endure in order to keep their family member safe and with them. it was also amazing just how much that member added to the family dynamic. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a true to life story of a wonderful family.

This book was so amazing. I cried and laughed and cried some more. I can't wait to read this again and pass this one on to others.

A mild dose of flu yesterday had me unable to do much other than droop on the sofa with blankets, dogs and a blazing fire but no complaints because it gave me the chance to finish this wonderful book in one sitting and I could blame the wet eyes on the illness rather than the moving story of family love, guilt and the kindness of strangers.

There's so much to love about this book - the characters, the story, the relief that children and adults with different learning abilities are for the most part treated better by society now than in the past and whether you're blessed to have a learning disabled family member or not, there's much to provoke thought and discussion, such as Maeve finding the word mongoloid brought up images of beautiful people riding horses through the Steppes and that it described Edie better than honouring "Doctor Down who shut people away in an asylum" (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Langdon_Down">a bit unfair</a>). I'm old enough to remember when the words Mongol and Mongoloid were being phased out in favour of Down(s) Syndrome and it caught me right in the feels when I was least expecting it, having thought exactly, exactly that as a child.

It's very much a Lancashire* novel, without a speck of the "ey oop, there'll be trouble at t'mill, tha'll see" dialogue that a lesser writer might have gone for but is instead full of lyrical prose, especially when Maeve is speaking to Edie or when Edie herself is speaking her wonderful rhymes. I hope that it's adapted in the future for radio (audio book?) and someone like Jane Horrocks can read/star in it. And while many of the characters are differently abled, Maeve Maloney's straight-talking no nonsense, often judgemental character is never "worthy" or do-gooding, she simply surrounds herself with good people regardless of outward appearances and treats everyone to a good tongue lashing when needed, however they're abled.

But the wonderful relationship between the twins, told in such vivid colours by a woman plagued by misplaced guilt throughout her life, is the real star of this novel and one that will stay with me for a long, long time. Hugely recommended to one and all.

[I was lucky to receive a review copy from Legend Press in exchange for an unbiased review - an indie publisher who are fast becoming my "Desert Island Publisher" - they keep bringing out such high quality novels, often by first time authors that I wouldn't have discovered in any other way and who will be writers whose work I will follow for years to come. Bravo.]