Today’s I’m sharing a Women’s Fiction novel I recently read. Technically it’s historical fiction, but regardless of the time period it read more like women’s fiction to me. Doesn’t make it a bad thing lol, just sharing I guess.
** Affiliate links used **
About the Book
A Map to Paradise Author Susan Meissner
on April 15, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Friendship, Fiction / Historical / 20th Century / Post-World War II
Pages: 352
Amazon | GoodreadsCan the lonely thread of her life be woven into a new and finer pattern?
When Saoirse Fagan arrives at Drumboe Castle to start her new job as housemaid, she is dismayed to learn that the lord of the house passed away a week prior. Already running from the tragedy that claimed the lives of her family members, Saoirse wanders the road through the darkening glen with nowhere to go until Aileen McCready offers her a lift and a place to stay for the night.Aileen's brother, sheep farmer and weaver Owen McCready, is known for his intricate and impeccably woven tweed. But when he's injured, his entire livelihood is endangered. A new--and distracting--mouth to feed adds fuel to the fire, and Owen struggles to keep his family afloat. Though Saoirse is eager to help, even offering to learn the weaving craft, Owen is hesitant to accept aid from this strange young woman, no matter how inexplicably magnetic he finds her.
But Saoirse is not one to give up easily. She's determined to convince the McCreadys that they need her--perhaps as much as she needs them.
"Jennifer Deibel is an amazing writer and storyteller. She weaves a tale of love and forgiveness that's as beautiful as the cloth she describes."--Tracie Peterson, bestselling, award winning author of over 140 books, including The Heart of Cheyenne and the Pictures of the Heart series
My Perspective
Melanie, Eva and June have such unique perspectives that really made this story come to life. Meissner did a great job of offering each their own time to shine so to speak. Their POV’s not only covered current time (well current historical time), but also revealed in stages their own back stories. For some reason I found myself more connected to Eva and June then Melanie. I can’t put my finger on why, but Melanie was just an ok character, not someone I could see myself wanting to befriend.
Meissner also does a great job of making history come to life. Back then there was a lot of people from all walks of life, “blacklisted” simply because of the possibility of being found a communist. I’m not saying I agree with communism, but I am saying it wasn’t fair for them to be treated as such. I enjoy when authors bring things like this to their books. It makes it more real, different, and makes you feel empathy for the characters. It kind of reminded me of Susie Finkbeiner’s The All American, which had a similar plot theme in it.
The pacing of the book felt slow to me, and I sometimes had a hard time keeping interest in the story. I kept pressing on, and I encourage you to do the same if it should happen to you. Overall I did enjoy seeing Melanie, Eva and June come together and see how each of their stories would play out. And it definitely picked up once you got closer to the end. I think Meissner fans will enjoy reading about Melanie, Eva and June.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
** There is minor profanity in this book **
About the Author
Susan Meissner is the USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction with more than three-quarters of a million books in print in eighteen languages. Her novels include The Nature of Fragile Things, starred review Publishers Weekly; The Last Year of the War, a Library Reads and Real Simple top pick; As Bright as Heaven, starred review from Library Journal; Secrets of a Charmed Life, a 2015 Goodreads Choice award finalist; and A Fall of Marigolds, named to Booklist’s Top Ten women’s fiction titles for 2014. She is also RITA finalist and Christy Award and Carol Award winner. A California native, she attended Point Loma Nazarene University and is also a writing workshop volunteer for Words Alive, a San Diego non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk youth foster a love for reading and writing.
What interests you about this story?