Coming Home Patricia Scanlan

Book Review - Coming Home Patricia Scanlan

Two sisters - two very different lives.

Alison’s American dream is in tatters. Her highflying career is on the skids in the financial meltdown. Her Upper East Side apartment is now way beyond her means . But pride prevents her from telling her family back home just how bad things are. Olivia is fraught trying to juggle family, career, preparations for Christmas and organize a surprise party for their mother’s seventieth birthday. How she envies, and sometimes resents, her sister Alison and her life of excitement and affluence in New York.

Coming home is the last thing Alison wants to do, especially now that she’s met a rather attractive, sexy, down to earth neighbour who doesn’t believe in ‘non exclusive dating’ unlike her wealthy boyfriend, Jonathan. But family ties are strong. Alison and Olivia sort their differences, the party throws up a few surprises and Christmas brings changes for Alison that she could never have imagined before coming home

The Author: Patricia Scanlan

Patricia scanlan was born in dublin, where she still lives. Her bestsellers are Apartment 3b; Finishing Touches; Foreign Affairs; Promises, Promises; Mirror, Mirror; City Girl; City Woman; City Lives; Francesca's Party; Two For Joy; Double Wedding; Divided Loyalties, Forgive And Forget and Winter Blessings, A Collection Of Quotes, Blessings, Poems and Reminiscences.
Patricia is the series editor and a contributing author to the open door series. She also teaches creative writing to second-level students and is involved in adult literacy.

What we think

Alison Dunwoody, now jobless banking high flier, down on her luck moving out of her expensive uptown New York apartment to a fourth-floor studio on the wrong side of town not wanting to tell her family of her circumstances, will she be able to keep the secret when she returns home for her mother's surprise 70th birthday.

Her sister - Olivia Hammond, harassed wife and mother of three, put upon daughter and sister-in-law, is trying to organise her mother's party, do her Christmas shopping and clear out the guest room for Kristy's return.

Her mother - Esther Dunwoody, not relishing the thought of her pending birthday, hoping there won't be a fuss. Ester would rather get on with making the Christmas puddings while planning decorating the tree with her precious grandchildren. Little does she know there's a big celebration in store ...and certainly a few surprises.