Originally published: 3 October 2019

Author: Eithne Shortall

Published by: Corvus

Genre: Fiction

Page count: 400

Reading dates: 29 September- 4 October 2019

Set on idyllic Pine Road in Dublin, this is a story of a group of middle-class neighbours, friendship and what goes on behind closed doors. The story starts as a new family move onto the road which of course gets the curtains twitching…

Martha, her husband Robert and two daughters are the mystery family who have moved to Pine Road under mysterious circumstances having been forced to leave their previous home after a robbery left them traumatised.

Also new to the road is Robin who has moved back in with her mum Carmel, bringing her 4 year old son Jack with her.  Robin was one of the “it” girls at school but after getting involved with Jack’s dad Eddy, who was involved in lots of dodgy dealings, she has decided to start again with a clean slate.

Edie aspires to the perfect life – she desperately wants a baby with husband Daniel, wants to be accepted and liked by her neighbours.  She can’t understand why Daniel is so reluctant to start a family.

The three women become friends and gradually secrets are revealed.

Not the sort of book I would describe as a page turner, I enjoyed this nevertheless.  I always looked forward to picking it up again and returning to the Pine Road dramas and happenings.

There were a lot of characters in this book (mostly women) and although we mostly focus on Martha, Robin and Edie, the author is talented in bringing the other characters to life, despite them having very little page time.  The Pine Road Poker WhatsApp group, in just a few lines of text really makes you feel like you know the women!  Some of the conversations really made me laugh – I really warmed to the residents.

A few discoveries and secrets are revealed along the way and I was sorry to see this entertaining read end.

Many thanks to Readers First for sending me a copy for this book.

About the author:

Eithne Shortall studied journalism at Dublin City University and has lived in London, France and America. Now based in Dublin, she is an arts journalist for the Sunday Times newspaper. She has been a committed matchmaker from an early age and, when not concerning herself with other people’s love lives, enjoys sea swimming, cycling and eating scones.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eithneshortall

Website: http://eithneshortall.com/