From Ireland to Kings Cross, a legacy of loss and hope echoes across the generations … Tinahely, Ireland, 1959 Rosie Hart is content leaving her home behind to follow her new husband to Australia. But she soon discovers there is no room for her or their young son in the life he has built in vibrant Kings Cross. As their marriage crumbles, Rosie will need to fight for the golden future her son … need to fight for the golden future her son deserves.
Rose Bay, 1984 Haunted by her past, Rosie is determined her daughter Maggie will follow the path she has set out for her. But Maggie has plans of her own, and Rosie can only pray the grief that plagues the Hart name won’t follow her.
Sydney, 2017 When her grandmother dies and leaves Brianna Hart a secret apartment in Kings Cross, Brie wonders what else Rosie was keeping from her. As Brie chases the truth of Rosie’s past she uncovers an incredible story of passion, violence, love and tragedy. Is the Hart family’s legacy of loss inescapable, or has Rosie gifted her granddaughter with a future of hope?
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‘Expertly woven … a heartbreaking tale of first love lost, second chances, new beginnings and overwhelming guilt. It captured my heart and my imagination.’ – Beauty and Lace on The Lost Pearl
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Emily Madden your stories are amazing and beautiful, I loved how you bought three woman to life, how strongly I felt the emotions flowing through them all, the lives they lived the things that happened to them and above all else the strength and courage Rosie, Maggie and Brie show. This is a must read set in three timelines that starts in Ireland and ends in Kings Cross Australia, I loved it.
Rosie Hart is mother to young Jimmy, her husband has already been in Australia setting up a home for her and their son and in 1959 Rosie decides that it is time to make the move, she ends up in Kings Cross and that her husband is not the man that she thought he was, life throws some tough balls for Rosie but she never gives up and is soon earning her keep and finding love.
Maggie Hart, is Rosie’s daughter, she is smothered by her mother’s over protection and moves out at a young age and works in a bar and after a tragedy and discovering that she is pregnant decides that it is time to finally go to university, her relationship with her mother is strained and when it looks like there might be a bit of change with that, another tragedy happens.
Brianna Hart is Maggie’s daughter, Brie is raised by Rosie in Rose Bay and is encouraged to aim high, she becomes a photographer traveling the word covering natural disasters, but when Rosie dies and she is left an apartment in Kings Cross there are a lot of secrets that need to be uncovered.
I am tearing up writing this review, and I do hope I do it justice, because it is such an awesome story, the emotions and characters that we meet along the way, the beautiful woman in Rosie who is strong and caring the tragedies that she goes through and then Maggie, can Brie find love and move into the future with hope for love and happiness for herself and future Hart woman? I have to say that the eulogy from Brie for her grandmother about feathers is just so beautiful. Thank you Emily Madden for a story that will stay with me for a long time to come.
This is a stunning story that tells the story of three generations of the Hart woman who all resided in or had ties to around Kings Cross a suburb of Sydney
The first generation is Rosie Hart she followed her husband to Australia from Ireland he had arrived a few years earlier than her When she finally arrives she discovers a husband that no longer wants her or their family she has to strike out on her own but the people of the cross rally around the young single mum The next generation is the story of Maggie Rosie’s daughter she is a highly educated woman who wants to do things her way and strike out on her own away from her domineering mother . The third member of this family is Brie the granddaughter on the death of her grandmother she returns to the Cross and starts to unravel the secrets of her family when she realises she knows very little about them. This is a story that is deeply personnel and draws you in It was an absolute pleasure to read and the fact that it is set in my home town of Sydney was an added bonus
Copy received via Netgalley for an honest review
Across decades, across generations, across continents, Emily Madden has given us another beautiful story of love, lies and the truths that come out long after we are gone.
I love the setting of the melting pot that is Kings Cross. Growing up in Sydney, yes, the Cross does have a reputation, however it is a wonderful place too.
Told from Rosie, Maggie and Brie’s POV over a 50 year period, I was swept away with their lives, their loves, their losses.
I wasn’t sure where this story was going to take me, and I was surprised at times with what was happening. I think I spent the last 10% of the story reading through tears.
Ms Madden has a wonderful way of writing. I feel like I am part of the story as I impatiently turn each page.
I am now looking forward to what she brings us next.