A review by libraryjo62
The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor

3.0

I am admittedly not a romance genre fan, but this was as much historical fiction as that so I was happy to read it as a book club read. This did fall flat for me as it was somewhat predictable in places. Of course, Jimmy and Grace would reunite. Of course, Maggie would go back to Ireland and then shortly thereafter die having completed her final life task. The middle part of the novel was exciting as one might expect the 2 hour race to get off the boat would be. I really do appreciate the author's attention to issues of class and status. She did a fine job explaining the sheer silliness of the first class passengers and Harry properly called them the "toffs". I do think the whole Grace story line didn't work for me. Instead I'd rather have met Maggie in her late 70s whose husband has passed and who can now find a second chance with Seamus when she finds him again so many years later. But, I'm not this author and didn't write this book. An Ok enjoyable read overall, a solid 3, completely respectable for this debut novel.