Shortlisted for a 2017 RoNA Award With her whole life ahead of her, beautiful young Grace’s world changes forever when she’s married off to a much older judge. Soon, feeling lonely and neglected, Grace meets and falls in love with an Indian doctor, Vikram—he’s charming, thoughtful, and kind, everything her husband is not. But this is 1950s Ireland, and when she falls pregnant, the potential … pregnant, the potential scandal must be dealt with. As soon as she has given birth, Grace is sent to an asylum by the judge, while Vikram, told that Grace died in childbirth, returns to India heartbroken.
Thirty years later, after the judge’s death, his estranged daughter Emma returns home to pack up his estate, where she finds Grace’s diaries and begins to piece together the life of the mother she never knew. Meanwhile, Vikram is planning a long-awaited return to Ireland with his much-loved niece Rosa—who has grown up hearing all about her uncle’s long-lost love—to stand, at last, at the grave of the woman he adores. When the judge’s will is finally read, revealing he has sent letters to Vikram and Emma, the deception spanning both decades and continents finally begins to unravel, exposing long-buried family secrets along the way and raising the question of if true love can last a lifetime.
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There was too much repetition. It seems the writer was “padding” the story much too much. The story itself was a good story but the presentation was not to my liking. This is a story for someone who is into Romance Novels
Naive
It was an enjoyable book with two worlds coming together.
Poorly writen
Well written. Just when I thought I figured something out, the author threw something at me totally different. I was constantly pulling for a few of the characters. I enjoyed it and it was a rather quick read as I had to find out what was going to happen next…
Couldn’t put it down. Very interesting story set in Ireland in the 50’s s. This was a great read and I was sorry when it was over!
This book was wonderful. I really enjoyed reading it. The characters were very true to life and I felt I could relate to them. This is a tragic story but has a wonderful ending. I was very entertained and read it in a couple of days. I highly recommend this book.
The Judge’s Wife by Anne O’Loughlin September 2016
Grace is raised by her calculating, cold-hearted Aunt Violet, and is forced into an arranged marriage to the older, wealthy, influential Judge Moran in Dublin. She soon falls in love with Vikram, an Indian doctor. When the affair leads to a pregnancy, Judge Moran has Grace committed to a mental institution, Our Lady’s Asylum, Knockavanagh in 1954.
Grace and Vikram’s daughter, Emma, is born and raised by the Judge, under the watchful eye of Aunt Violet. And when Emma inherits the house, years later, she finds Grace’s belongings and letters and slowly uncovers the story behind her mother’s marriage and relationship with the man she loved.
The story shifts between Ireland and Bangalore, India, where Vikram lives with his sister, Rhya and his niece, Rosa. India’s colours, fragrances and sights come alive under O’Loughlin’s pen, following a trip to that country.
Through the author’s job as a legal reporter she is able to expose some of the sins of Ireland’s past with regard to the treatment of women and patients in mental institutions.
Although the plot has the makings of an excellent story I couldn’t quite feel for the characters because I questioned, too often, their credibility, intense focus on themselves and whether or not the ending really was possible?