Becoming Finola - Softcover

Shea, Suzanne Strempek

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743403770 ISBN 13: 9780743403771

Publisher: Washington Square Press, 2004

Synopsis

In the latest novel from the award-winning author of Around Again, an American takes an unexpected trip to Ireland and finds the woman she was meant to become.

Newly unemployed, Sophie White has nothing better to do when her recently widowed best friend, Gina, invites her along on a much-needed, postcrisis getaway. When, after only one day in Ireland, Gina decides she should do her grieving back at home, she urges Sophie to remain and make the most of the summer in Booley, the tiny seaside village that was their destination.

A job offer accepted on a whim lands her in the village's craft shop, and in the position once held by Finola O'Flynn, a woman who'd swiftly left town a few years before. Sophie takes on Finola's job of creating beaded bracelets, but also takes over Finola's abandoned home, then Finola's left-behind wardrobe, and finally, after her own episode of lost love, Finola's discarded man, charismatic shop owner Liam. But could Sophie -- or anyone -- ever take over the legendary place that her predecessor still holds in the hearts of Booley?

Friend, confidante, and guru to all -- literally a lifesaver to some -- even in her absence Finola continues to captivate. Her myth manages to reenergize Sophie, who passes along the gift through bracelets she infuses with invented "powers" that make the wearers believe they have what it takes to face life's challenges. But is Sophie powerful enough to face a whopper of her own when Finola returns to Booley and to the life she deserted? Does Sophie have the magic to make room in one tiny village for two women who want the very same life?

About this title

Review:

"Suzanne Strempek Shea may just be the fiction find of the summer."

Synopsis:

Sophie didn't expect to fall in love with the quaint Irish village of Booley. Before she visited, she couldn't even find it on a map! She's there for a vacation, but finds she doesn't want to leave lush, green Ireland - not to mention Liam, the handsome shopkeeper whose store she has been helping to run. Sophie extends her stay and finds herself welcomed into this quirky community with open arms. The villagers bend her ear with gossip and history about themselves. But the story she is most interested in is that of Finola O'Flynn - the namesake of the shop she works in, former tenant of the cottage where she lives, and Liam's ex-girlfriend. She left over a year before, but tales of her time there still flourish throughout town. The elusive Finola is clearly well-loved by everyone and begins to take on an almost-mythical status. Sophie's new mantra becomes WWFD or What would Finola do? She even starts to wear the clothes that Finola left in her closet and speaking in an Irish brogue at the store. With this new philosophy, Sophie's life magically begins to change for the better. She is more centred and more open to other people's affections.

And her relationship with Liam is growing serious. But trouble begins when the object of Sophie's adulation makes her appearance--is there enough room in Booley for two Finolas?

About this edition

• Publisher: Washington Square Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0743403770
• ISBN 13: 9780743403771
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336