About this item
Beloved author Felicity Hayes-McCoy returns with an enchanting, cozy new novel, perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Nina George, and Nancy Thayer - It's Christmas in Ireland, and when Cassie Fitzgerald arrives from Toronto to visit her grandparents, she learns that it's never too late to come home.
"The perfect winter heart-warmer." - Cathy Kelly, bestselling author of Between Sisters and Secrets of a Happy Marriage
The days are turning colder, preparations are under way for the Winter Fest, and everyone is hoping for a little holiday magic on the Finfarran peninsula. And as Cassie Fitzgerald, fresh from Toronto, is about to discover, there's more to the holidays on the west coast of Ireland than mistletoe and mince pies.
Enchanted by the small town where her dad was born, Cassie makes friends and joins local librarian Hanna Casey's writing group in Lissbeg Library. But the more she's drawn into the festivities leading up to her first Irish Christmas, the more questions she wants to ask.
Why does her sweet-tempered grandmother Pat find it so hard to express her feelings? What's going on between Pat and her miserly husband Ger? What happened in the past between the Fitzgeralds and Hanna's redoubtable mother Mary Casey? And what about Shay: handsome, funny, smart, and intent on making Cassie's stay as exciting as he can. Could he be the one for her?
As Christmas Eve approaches, it's Cassie, the outsider, who reminds Lissbeg's locals that love, family, and friendship bring true magic to the season. But will her own, fractured family rediscover the joys of coming home?
About the Author
USA Today bestselling Irish writer Felicity Hayes-McCoy is the author of the 'Finfarran' novels, set in a fictional county on Ireland's West Coast. Marian Keyes calls her writing "a pitch-perfect delight", Cathy Kelly, bestselling author of "Between Sisters" and "Secrets of a Happy Marriage", has described the Finfarran books as "a delicious feast", and "sunshine on the page", while Jenny Colgan, bestselling author of "The Cafe by the Sea", calls them "charming and heartwarming". The Heart of Summer, (Finfarran #6) was published by Hachette Irl in May 2020. Ireland's Sunday Business Post reviewer wrote "This works perfectly well as a standalone novel ... her writing sings", and bestselling author Patricia Scanlan wrote "Fans of Maeve Binchy will adore it - she just gets better and better!"Finfarran #1, The Library at the Edge of The World, was published in June 2016: The Sunday Times called it "engaging, sparkling and joyous" and The Sunday Independent wrote "If you like reading a feelgood novel, take a journey to the edge of the world. An easy, pleasant summer read for fans of Maeve Binchy". Summer at The Garden Café, the second in the series, came out in the UK & Irl May 2017, The Mistletoe Matchmaker, a warm, empowering Christmas story, in October 2017, and The Month of Borrowed Dreams, in June 2018: The Irish Independent's review called it "a heartwarming novel which will leave you longing to read the earlier ones". The best-selling author Marian Keyes said she was 'utterly charmed' by Finfarran #5, The Transatlantic Book Club, which was published in 2019.A US & Canadian edition of The Library at the Edge of The World, published by Harper Perennial in Nov 2017, was chosen as a LibraryReads Pick. The US & Canadian edition of Summer at The Garden Café was published in 2018, The Mistletoe Matchmaker followed in Oct 2019, and The Transatlantic Book Club will be published there in Fall 2020.The Finfarran novels have been translated into six languages and can also be purchased in English as ebooks and audiobooks. Described as 'wise, funny' and 'blazingly beautiful' by the actress and writer Joanna Lumley, Felicity's first memoir, The House on an Irish Hillside was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2012. It takes the author to London - where she worked as an actress and met her English, opera-director husband - and back again to Ireland, to a remarkable stone house on the Dingle peninsula where she first studied the Irish language in her teens. In response to requests from readers, Enough Is Plenty: The Year on the Dingle Peninsula, a sequel to The House on an Irish Hillside, was published by The Collins Press in 2015. Illustrated with photographs taken by Felicity and her husband, and with a foreword by the best-selling Irish writer Alice Taylor, it charts the cycle of the Celti
