- Hardcover: 294 pages
- Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books (13 Oct 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307461572
- ISBN-13: 978-0307461575
- Product Dimensions: 16.4 x 2.9 x 24.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,448,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Last Will of Moira Leahy: A Novel
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Product Description
Product Description
"An original, intriguing tale about the ways that love can break us or bind us."
–Therese Fowler, author of Souvenir and Reunion
This haunting debut novel explores the intense bond of sisterhood as a grieving twin searches for her own identity in the ruins of her sister's past.
A LOST SHADOW
Moira Leahy struggled growing up in her prodigious twin's shadow; Maeve was always more talented, more daring, more fun. In the autumn of the girls' sixteenth year, a secret love tempted Moira, allowing her to have her own taste of adventure, but it also damaged the intimate, intuitive relationship she'd always shared with her sister. Though Moira's adolescent struggles came to a tragic end nearly a decade ago, her brief flirtation with independence will haunt her sister for years to come.
A LONE WOMAN
When Maeve Leahy lost her twin, she left home and buried her fun-loving spirit to become a workaholic professor of languages at a small college in upstate New York. She lives a solitary life now, controlling what she can and ignoring the rest–the recurring nightmares, hallucinations about a child with red hair, the unquiet sounds in her mind, her reflection in the mirror. It doesn't help that her mother avoids her, her best friend questions her sanity, and her not-quite boyfriend has left the country. But at least her life is ordered. Exactly how she wants it.
A SHARED PAST
Until one night at an auction when Maeve wins a keris,a Javanese dagger that reminds her of her lost youth and happier days playing pirates with Moira in their father's boat. Days later, a book on weaponry is nailed to her office door, followed by the arrival of anonymous notes, including one that invites her to Rome to learn more about the blade and its legendary properties. Opening her heart and mind to possibility, Maeve accepts the invitation and, with it, also opens a window into her past.
Ultimately, she will revisit the tragic November night that shaped her and Moira's destinies–and learn that nothing can be taken at face value–as one sister emerges whole and the other's score is finally settled.
The Last Will of Moira Leahyis a mesmerizing and romantic consideration of the bonds of family, the impossibility of forgetting, and the value of forgiveness.
–Therese Fowler, author of Souvenir and Reunion
This haunting debut novel explores the intense bond of sisterhood as a grieving twin searches for her own identity in the ruins of her sister's past.
A LOST SHADOW
Moira Leahy struggled growing up in her prodigious twin's shadow; Maeve was always more talented, more daring, more fun. In the autumn of the girls' sixteenth year, a secret love tempted Moira, allowing her to have her own taste of adventure, but it also damaged the intimate, intuitive relationship she'd always shared with her sister. Though Moira's adolescent struggles came to a tragic end nearly a decade ago, her brief flirtation with independence will haunt her sister for years to come.
A LONE WOMAN
When Maeve Leahy lost her twin, she left home and buried her fun-loving spirit to become a workaholic professor of languages at a small college in upstate New York. She lives a solitary life now, controlling what she can and ignoring the rest–the recurring nightmares, hallucinations about a child with red hair, the unquiet sounds in her mind, her reflection in the mirror. It doesn't help that her mother avoids her, her best friend questions her sanity, and her not-quite boyfriend has left the country. But at least her life is ordered. Exactly how she wants it.
A SHARED PAST
Until one night at an auction when Maeve wins a keris,a Javanese dagger that reminds her of her lost youth and happier days playing pirates with Moira in their father's boat. Days later, a book on weaponry is nailed to her office door, followed by the arrival of anonymous notes, including one that invites her to Rome to learn more about the blade and its legendary properties. Opening her heart and mind to possibility, Maeve accepts the invitation and, with it, also opens a window into her past.
Ultimately, she will revisit the tragic November night that shaped her and Moira's destinies–and learn that nothing can be taken at face value–as one sister emerges whole and the other's score is finally settled.
The Last Will of Moira Leahyis a mesmerizing and romantic consideration of the bonds of family, the impossibility of forgetting, and the value of forgiveness.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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79 reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
A Beautiful Story
15 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover
If you're looking for mindless popcorn, this is probably not for you. If you're looking for high brow literature, this probably not for you either. But, if you're looking for a highly readable and extraordinarily well crafted story, this is definitely for you. The plot line has been adequately addressed in other posts - so I won't recap. The story is told in two parallel narratives - a present day story told from Maeve Leahy's point-of-view and an out-of-time story involving Maeve and her twin sister Moira Leahy as adolescents. These lines are so skillfully interwoven, it will send shivers through you.
This book should be savored like a really high quality piece of dark chocolate. Let it sit there on your tongue a while, soften-up, begin to melt. Anticipation is part of what makes the "Last Will" experience so wonderful and meaningful. Secrets of the story are revealed in brilliant measures, journeys of the characters are completed in graceful arcs, the prose is gorgeous and the story crescendoes in a series of scenes - one in particular - that will leave you, at minimum, misty - more likely with tears streaming. The main character, Maeve, emerges emotionally whole at the end, but this story is so emotionally engaging and satisfying that this reader is feeling a bit 'healed' as well. A very visceral experience and the mark of great writing.
This one has lingered with me and is still turning over in my mind. The richness of the characters, the story structure, the language. I wish I had someone to talk about it with. This would be a really good choice for book clubs.
This book should be savored like a really high quality piece of dark chocolate. Let it sit there on your tongue a while, soften-up, begin to melt. Anticipation is part of what makes the "Last Will" experience so wonderful and meaningful. Secrets of the story are revealed in brilliant measures, journeys of the characters are completed in graceful arcs, the prose is gorgeous and the story crescendoes in a series of scenes - one in particular - that will leave you, at minimum, misty - more likely with tears streaming. The main character, Maeve, emerges emotionally whole at the end, but this story is so emotionally engaging and satisfying that this reader is feeling a bit 'healed' as well. A very visceral experience and the mark of great writing.
This one has lingered with me and is still turning over in my mind. The richness of the characters, the story structure, the language. I wish I had someone to talk about it with. This would be a really good choice for book clubs.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Touching, and just..just.
27 Sep 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Enough. Just light enough. Just dark enough. Just perfectly balanced and just enough.
Maeve and Moira were twin girls who lived with their family on the Penobscot. They lived
with loving parents, an adventuring grandfather and good friends and neighbors.
Like so many twins they shared a special closeness, and even a language between just the
two of them. For years they had all that they needed in just themselves in the security of their
family. Time passes. Things change. A mothers well meaning choices came back to haunt them all. One
day, a boy came into their lives and things changed forever.
The story of how Maeve lived after the changes, and what happened to this loving family..
is entrancing, magical at times and filled with sorrow and loneliness. Just for a while.. and
then as they do, things changed. They changed because Maeve found a strength in her she didn't know she had.
She was prodded by her father to step out, step forward and to live. A wise man, he was. He set both of his daughters free.
Read this book. Highly recommended.
Maeve and Moira were twin girls who lived with their family on the Penobscot. They lived
with loving parents, an adventuring grandfather and good friends and neighbors.
Like so many twins they shared a special closeness, and even a language between just the
two of them. For years they had all that they needed in just themselves in the security of their
family. Time passes. Things change. A mothers well meaning choices came back to haunt them all. One
day, a boy came into their lives and things changed forever.
The story of how Maeve lived after the changes, and what happened to this loving family..
is entrancing, magical at times and filled with sorrow and loneliness. Just for a while.. and
then as they do, things changed. They changed because Maeve found a strength in her she didn't know she had.
She was prodded by her father to step out, step forward and to live. A wise man, he was. He set both of his daughters free.
Read this book. Highly recommended.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Magical!
25 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover
Twenty-five-year-old Maeve Leahy is haunted by the tragic accident of her twin sister, Moira, nine years ago. Since then, Maeve, the vibrant twin and saxophone prodigy, has shut down her emotions and shut out the music, leading a lonely and sterile life as a professor of languages in upstate New York. But she can't resist the call of a keris, a Javanese dagger, that she buys at auction. The keris leads her to Rome, and to danger and romance and a confrontation with the past and the present.
The chapters alternate between the present in Maeve's voice and the past in Moira's voice. Walsh is an artist with words, using them exquisitely, painting pictures with a few strokes that evoke emotions. Yet the pace is quick, the scenes enchanting, compelling me to read on.
This is Walsh's debut book, and I'm thrilled to think she'll have many other books for me to read in the future. Soon, I hope!
The chapters alternate between the present in Maeve's voice and the past in Moira's voice. Walsh is an artist with words, using them exquisitely, painting pictures with a few strokes that evoke emotions. Yet the pace is quick, the scenes enchanting, compelling me to read on.
This is Walsh's debut book, and I'm thrilled to think she'll have many other books for me to read in the future. Soon, I hope!
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