Lainey is used to unexpected surprises in her line of work helping clients launch new products and market their businesses, but this one takes the cake. The Irish aunt she hasn’t seen since her family moved to Australia decades ago has suddenly died and left everything to her father. The catch? Someone from their family must move back and run her B&B for a year before they can inherit the estate. According to her parents and brothers, that someone should be Lainey. Will Lainey give up her life in Australia to be an innkeeper in Ireland, or will she choose to stay where she is?
Published as Spin the Bottle outside the US, Greetings from Somewhere Else is Monica McInerney’s novel following an Irish ex-pat family living in Australia who continue falling on hard times only to stumble into a windfall that still lies just beyond their reach. Utilizing her own experiences in both countries as well as her professional experience as an events organizer and tourism expert, this novel includes shines with those details developed through her life experiences. This is a story about family dynamics, staying true to what is most important to you over all else, and the power of lifelong friendships.
I give Greetings from Somewhere Else 3 out of 5 stars. I found the premise of this book a little far-fetched – I know few 20-somethings that would move thousands of miles away for a year so their family could inherit an estate, especially when they have a successful professional and personal life. I was also a little disappointed in the author’s attempts to force the heroine and her childhood friend together romantically, even though he is in a relationship. The final nail in the 3-star coffin so-to-speak was the surprise visitor from Australia that shows up towards the end. Without giving away too much, it dropped this firmly in the “Hallmark film” realm for me. Small tweaks could have made this storyline so much more substantive and meaningful without losing the lighthearted feeling. With that said, this was an easy read – chapters are short and vocabulary easy.
If you have enjoyed authors like Erica James or Jenny Colgan, you will enjoy Monica McInerney’s writings! While lighthearted and overall appropriate for all readers, with a mention of inappropriate student-teacher relationships, this book may be best directed to more mature readers over 16. If you’re sensitive to family dynamics, especially amongst siblings, this may be a difficult book as well.
I chose Greetings from Somewhere Else for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “Saint Patrick’s Day. For the past few years, I’ve read non-fiction books about Saint Patrick or Ireland but chose to go with fiction this year. Instead of focusing on fiction set around the holiday, I wanted to focus on fiction set in the country to give a broader spectrum. This one is set not only in Ireland, but a good portion is set near Tara – a place that is tops of my Ireland travel wish list! What’s on your travel bucket list?
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