The Lace Makers of Glenmara – Review

So much for a “weekend” book!  I devoured it in one day, a Friday, finishing up at close to midnight last night.  I love books that give you a sense of place, where while you read you find yourself wanting to go and visit.  The setting and the people of this small town in Ireland were fun and interesting to read about.  The story itself was a bit predictable, you know by the end of the first chapter pretty much where everything is going to end up, but that is okay.  It is like wearing your most comfortable shoes and starting your walk towards a familiar place, you just love going.  I loved the journey. 

The book also had a lot of similarities to the journey I have been making over the past few years.  There were a lot of quotes that I highlighted as they were so true to me.  “Mistakes aren’t necessarily a problem, sometimes they lead you in a different direction.  Who says you always need to follow the rules?  Breaking the pattern can be the very best thing, even though it can be scary at first”.  Going out on own after my husband left (which is also what happens here, which doesn’t give anything away as it occurs in the first page) was so scary and new.  I had never been on my own before, there was always someone there.  First at home growing up, then with Tanya, then with Ron and no gaps in between.  To be on my own was definitely a very scary and dramatic change for me.  It has taken me a long time to adjust, to figure out that at many times it is okay to be alone, although I definitely still miss having someone here to share my day with or just to talk to at times about anything that feels important or maybe not important at all!  “Life itself is a thread that is never broken, never lost” (Jacques Rourmain).

“Real life was empty rooms, Real life was eating and cooking for one, Real life was less laundry and a cleaner apartment, Real life was waking up alone, which was all right because she was furious about the betrayal.”  Yep  “The road lay before her, plain and simple, offering two ways to go, forward or back, no forks or splits or detours…..the road made no excuses or apologies, it didn’t have to it was what it was..”  I choose to go forward, just as Kate did.  And I think that is why I liked the book, we both chose to go forward.  We all need to find our Glenmara.