Letters to My Daughters Paperback – 15 Feb. 2018

My only previous experience with the novels of Emma Hannigan was in 2014 with the release of The Summer Guest which I found a decent read with a superior plot to most female aimed fluff. I was therefore hopeful of a repeat experience and a warm, insightful and ultimately uplifting in the vein of Maeve Binchy with her final book, Letters to my Daughters. Sadly I found it a disappointing read with the ‘letters’ referred to in the title pretty inconsequential to the actual story and a cast of largely unrealistic characters whom I found difficult to invest in or connect with as their lives are so far removed from reality.The three Brady girls and devastated by the passing of their childhood nanny who was the linchpin that held the family together and effectively raised them and offered the support, love and understanding that has allowed each to become the independent and successful women they are today. While their mother, Martha, lived for a job that placed her at the heart of the community as a midwife and found meaning through supporting ‘her mothers’, it was Nanny May who nurtured her own children; forty-year-old Beatrice and thirty-eight-year-old twins Jeannie and Rose. Still struggling with the idea of retirement after having relocated from Pebble Bay, Dublin to rural Connemara in the west of Ireland with husband Jim, Martha remains the impatient and selfish woman she has always been with a difficult relationship with all three of her girls. She is jealous of the adoration they and Jim have for Nanny May, a woman who was not family and in her opinion was compensated very well for the work she performed. Thus when she stumbles upon a bunch of farewell letters that Nanny May has written to Jim, Beatrice, Rose and Jeannie, an act of petty spite sees her remove them before they reach their intended recipients. It is only at the reading of the will, nearly two hundred pages later, that the existence of these letters is revealed to the heartbroken Brady bunch and as Jim stays on in Dublin supporting his daughters, Martha uses his absence to throw herself into resuming her career as a busy midwife.With each very different daughter facing a crossroads in their lives they know they would value the advice of comforter and confidante, Nanny May, more than ever. As all three prepare to make life-changing decisions they are thrown together and come to strengthen their close bond and treasure the support they provide to each other. In the process they also air their differences with their mother and relieve the tension that has forever blighted their family life. Of the three sisters I found Rose the most sympathetically portrayed with Jeannie a more one dimensional creation and Beatrice a bit too beige to really inspire. Although there is some attempt at justifying Martha’s hands-off approach to raising her three girls with her lack of affection towards them having its roots in her own past I found her jealousy difficult to reconcile with a community midwife who thinks nothing of offering maternal advice and understanding to every expectant mothers.Letters to my Daughters is an easy, undemanding read but a thin plot and a succession of highly unlikely and very fortuitous events hardly make for a meaningful story. The novel is ridiculously overextended and when Nanny May’s letters are finally aired almost four hundred pages later they are simply succinct summaries of each of the problems that the three sisters have faced in the past year, from marital woes to motherhood and career concerns. The novel is clearly written to a formula and obviously intended to illustrate the importance of making changes in order to live the lives that make us happy and caring less about what other people think and more about our own families. A significant factor that limited my enjoyment was the fact that the Brady family were far from ordinary and a privileged bunch with money to burn who could afford the best, never have to scrimp and sail through most of the “dramas” in their lives without encountering much of an hold-up. All in all a solidly predictable female fiction read with the takeaway being that life is far easier when money is plentiful!

Three daughters are struggling when their Nanny dies. They learn she has written each of them a letter but they seem to have disappeared. Along comes Martha, the girls mom, who's a perfect midwife and always ready to run to new mothers at the drop of a hat, but is harsh to her own daughters. The story tells of the girls personal fights but also the fights of their earlier lives where they tried to get their mothers attention and approval. Jim, their dad, is there hero and total opposite to their mom. He encourages the girls and supports them in their dreams.The book is written with love and compassion and touches many subjects which readers can relate to and probably compare notes to. Emma is, what i like to call a true Irish author. She writes from the heart and touches every reader with her words. A brilliant read which will certainly keep you warm on the cold wet days

My mum introduced me to Emma's books and sadly we lost her to the same cruel disease as Emma's family did and when I saw that this book was published and it was going to be her last, I downloaded it but I couldn't bring myself to read it for ages as it brought back memories. So finally I have read it and it's a beautiful warm read. I liked Martha's character even though she didn't do much to make her feel herself loved by those closest to her, she was as trapped by her past as much as other characters in the book. I would definitely recommend reading this book and will read it again over and over in the future.

This was the first book I’d read by this author. However then I since learnt the poor lady has passed away. How sad.I will read more of her books however, I’ve read she wrote 11 in total I think. This book touched my heart. It’s characters lovely and just a general all round thoroughly enjoyable read. I think it was in some ways typicalOf families that work and all lead different lives but in their hour of need allCome together. Lovely.Would very much recommend it

As usual I really enjoyed the book written by this author and it is such a shame that this was her last one. The story revolves around a family in a village near Dublin. Some of it was predictable but some was not! A great read.

I read about Emma's brave battle with cancer and decided to read her book which I loved and all the more poignant after just finding out she passed away on Saturday. It is a fabulous book about families and the relationships within that unit and the secrets they keep from each other. It highlights how rather than being a victim we should take responsibility and write our own destiny. I'm looking forward to reading more of Emma's work. A wonderful writer who will be sadly missed RIP xxx

I only read this book for one reason, I have always admired Emma Hannigan for the way she has lived her life. She had given hope and continues to do so for the life she chose to live after the horrible diagnosis she was given over 10 years ago. This book illustrate this. No matter what life throws at you, only you can make yourself happy .It is well written, with rounded detailed characters and a story that you can never out guess.

I read this book in one day as I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the story of the lives of the Brady family although it was a little bit predictable at times. Lovely read!