Gripping, emotional and uplifting – a novel about the true power of friendship. ‘Tender, emotional and uplifting … I loved it’ Lucy Diamond ‘A superb writer – the Irish Jojo Moyes’ Irish Examiner The simple fact of the matter is that Iris loves life. Maybe she’s forgotten that. Sometimes that happens, doesn’t it? To the best of us? All I have to do is remind her of that one simple fact. Tuesday … of that one simple fact.
Tuesday morning starts like any other – until Terry discovers her best friend Iris has gone missing. Finding her takes Terry, Iris and Terry’s confused father Eugene, into an extraordinary journey – one that will change all of their lives. And, along the way, what should be the worst six days of Terry’s life turn into the best.
Because friendship teaches us all to be brave. And, sometimes, the rules are made to be broken.
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RULES OF THE ROAD by Ciara Geraghty is a beautifully written and poignant women’s fiction story of friendship, family, and love. It is an emotional journey from start to finish and I was in a complete book hangover/coma when I hit the end. (Have some tissues handy for not only the sad tears, but the happy.)
Terry is a wife, a mother of two grown daughters, the rock of her family and an all-around worrier. Everything must be in its place and every precaution must be taken. The girls are gone now, but she has found out she needs to pick up her father, who has Alzheimer’s from his care home for the week.
When they return home, Terry realizes she has not seen her best and basically only friend and neighbor, Iris recently. Iris loves life. She is bold, says anything and is willing to try anything. But since Iris was diagnosed with primary progressive MS, Terry worries. Iris has been dealing with her disease, but it is and will get progressively worse. When she checks out Iris’ home, she finds her friend has made plans for a journey that will be her last.
Terry knows the only way to stop Iris is to join her. Terry, her father, Eugene and Iris take off on a six-day road trip from Ireland to Switzerland that will change all of the lives.
For me, this book is written with some of the most realistic and memorable characters of any women’s fiction book I have read so far this year. A friendship that at first glance seems strange, but then you realize their friendship is based on a deep love and caring that may not always be spoken, but it is heartfelt and strong. Iris had decided on her path and she enjoys the trip to its fullest, but in the end, she discovers she needs her friend to be with her and she does not want to be alone. Terry is the character that grows and blooms the most along every hour of their trip. Her interactions with her father, her wanting to change her best friend’s mind, the discovery of her own freedom and strengths, all converge in an emotional awakening that this author was able to capture beautifully with the written word. All the secondary characters were also fully fleshed and add an additional depth and realism to the story.
I cannot say enough about this beautiful story!
I highly recommend Rules of the Roa
A story of true of friendship, love, life and death.
Iris Armstrong is Terry’s very best friend.
Terry realizes that Iris is getting tired of living with MS.
Then Iris decides that she is going to take one final road trip alone.
No she isn’t! Terry will not let that happen!
Terry decides to also embark on this trip and persuade her friend to not exit the world just yet. She will show her and hopefully make Iris know how much she is needed and loved.
The trip is quite a learning experience for both Terry and Iris and it was definitely highlighted with some crazy things happening.
Terry will learn some major life lessons as well while being on this voyage and supporting Iris.
I enjoyed this book!
This was the first book I read by Ciara Geraghty. I adore her writing style. I will definitely be reading her previous books now that I have this author!
I was drawn to read this book since I love stories with an older person as a main character.
The many relationships in this book were so honestly written. True friendship where a friend puts them self out on a limb to help a love one. The impossible task of dealing with an aging parent, but somehow it is handled with humor and grit. A mother learning that hovering over her young adult children is not helping them. Seeing a spouse and marriage in a new light from a distance.
I definitely do not want to write about the plot. I began reading this book not knowing much about it, and I think that was perfect for me. To experience the journey of this book as it unfolds was fantastic!
This book was so emotional to me. It touched me deeply and I highly recommend it!
I want to thank NetGallery and HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) for giving me the wonderful gift of the advance reader copy of this book. My review is my own opinion not influenced by receiving the ARC.
Tender, funny, and heartbreaking… Ciara Geraghty is a wonderful writer.
I wasn’t sure when I started this book if I was going to like it, but the more I read, the more I liked the characters and by the end, I had my tissues out and wanted to have friends like these.
Thoroughly enjoyed!
This book deals with a difficult and controversial subject in a light and entertaining way. The characters are very believable. This would be a great book club read, sparking interesting discussion .
Loved this book. Important topic that was treated respectfully and with warmth and even humor. Wonderful,!!! I’ll read it again soon.
This book is different from what I usually read but I would highly recommend it because it involves an elderly parent, a mother and her family as well as a very best friend who has a degenerative disease and is contemplating self induced death. The author is Irish and the setting of the book is all in the UK which gives a different perspective.
Assisted suicide is a very hard topic and this book takes you through all the emotions for those who choose it and the people left behind.
It’s a pretty original concept
This book held me but also was somewhat dark.
I enjoyed this delightful book about friendship. Unique characters and an easy read.
Favorite Quotes:
But she’ll be stressed about it and pretending she’s not stressed at all, which, in my experience, makes the thing you’re stressed about even more stressful.
This must be a swanky part of London because the charity shop is like a proper boutique with an accessories section and an immaculately turned-out young woman with terrifying eyebrows behind the counter and a bright, fresh smell that has no bearing on old, discarded clothes and worn-out shoes.
Vera rummages through a chest of drawers in the corner, dropping various bras and scarves on the floor until she finds a T-shirt with a picture of Tom Jones’s face on the front and the word “Sexbomb” printed below it.
Dementia likes the quiet. I picture the disease like an olden day’s librarian; all tutting and shushing. And usually I oblige.
The awful thing about thoughts is there’s no getting away from them. They’re right there. Going around and around on a track in your head like a toy train.
Motorbikes are on my list of terrors. High on the list. I’d prefer the girls to tell me they were, I don’t know, drug addicts, rather than owners of a motorbike. You can always go to rehab. But there’s no coming back from the morgue.
There is a collection of words, queueing at the back of my throat. Jostling against the back of my teeth. If I open my mouth, they will tumble out and none of them will be sufficient. None of them will be enough.
My Review:
This poignant and emotive story held a highly unusual premise and was rather ingeniously plotted and narrated through the highly anxious, introspective, and frustrated lens in the first person POV of the main character of Terry. The writing style was agile, evocative, and cleverly amusing as well as heart squeezing. If you were hoping for a fast-paced adventure and a road trip full of hi-jinx, you need to keep looking. This is a thoughtfully written yet highly engaging character-based tale with real-world issues while generously seasoned with humorous observations and vibrant imagery.
Two best friends, Iris and Terry, along with Terry’s elderly dementia patient father, impetuously struck out on a journey from Dublin to Zurich in Terry’s older car, to complete a personal mission for Iris, one that Terry hoped would not conclude as Iris had meticulously planned. Terry had insinuated herself into Iris’s plan at the last minute hoping to change the end result before reaching their destination.
Iris was besieged with the progressive physical deterioration, discomforts, and limitations of a chronic disease and did not relish living the remainder of her life trapped in her body – which is an issue that resonated intensely with me, as this is a personal fear of my own. Terry’s elderly father’s advancing Dementia was a constant concern and bone wearying challenge, which was deftly and sensitively handled with a surprisingly informative and often humorous approach to the complications.
Their odyssey was slow, quite arduous, and fraught with anxieties and a plethora of imagined catastrophes for Terry, a nervous driver who was afraid of the motorway and drove so slowly that even elderly drivers honked and swore at her. The trio experienced numerous detours and escapades as well as eye-opening insights and out of her comfort zone adventures that powered profound changes for Terry. The ending was not one I expected yet was realistic and surprisingly satisfying as I continue to ruminate over Ms. Geraghty’s clever missive. I have a feeling these characters are going to continue to inhabit my headspace for quite some time.
A beautiful, touching story that both warms and breaks the heart. A poignant celebration of the power of friendship and how to live life your own way.
Women’s fiction can be a hit or a miss for me, and all too often leans toward the former. This one landed firmly in the hit category. The story is emotional and it touches on some tough topics, some harder to read than others. Hard to read or not, the whole thing is beautifully done, and Ciara Geraghty has a writing style that is both compelling and compulsive. I realize that I’m being vague, which is intentional so I don’t spoil the read for anyone. I will say that this story is so much more than the blurb suggests. These characters certainly touched me, and I won’t soon forget them or their journey. If you enjoy women’s fiction and drama, I would definitely recommend this one.
Rules of the Road had me laughing and crying on the same page… Such a talented writer.
Written with warmth and humor Rules of the Road, by Irish writer, Ciara Geraghty, explores the dark themes of loss in general and Alzheimer’s and Assisted Suicide in particular. In the end, this is a book about love, friendship, self-discovery, and living your best day every day.
With her father in the car, Terry searches for her friend Iris to prevent her from doing something she could regret. After locating her, the three embark on a road trip from Dublin, Ireland to Zurich, Switzerland. 930+ miles and many adventures later, their lives will change forever. The road trip is quite eventful. Iris, Terry and her dad get themselves into some rather humorous situations, do a lot of self-reflection and get to know each other better than they ever thought they would. This is a story of self-discovery, friendship, family and acceptance. There are some tough subjects in this story, ethical suicide, dementia, new beginnings after losing your job, and more. There’s a bit of a race against time for Terry, trying to convince her best friend, Iris, that life is always worth living, but she soon learns more about Iris’s choices and reasons as they travel toward the border to Zurich; learning more about the parts Iris’s MS that she hides from Terry and the world.
There is not all doom and gloom in this story. I enjoyed the happy times they shared on this road trip which reminded me how important it is to look for the positives and happiness in life while you can. The Multiple Sclerosis and Dementia are dealt with in a serious and sensitive way, but do keep tissues nearby. This was an emotional story with a very human side and I definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a human story.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book