This is, I think, the best part of the book, full of tension and pace. Even though the war is coming to an end they are in desperate danger. And there is plenty of action when they are captured by the Germans, despite their Irish neutrality. It gathered pace for a while as Kate and Ben travelled to Europe trying to find Charles, who Kate refuses to believe is dead, and into the war action. It didn’t help that this book follows on from a previous one that I haven’t read, which tells the story of Venetia’s mysterious disappearance. It was slow to get going and I had to keep looking back trying to work out what was happening and who was who. Ireland was neutral during the war but that didn’t stop Ben and Kate’s involvement, after Kate’s husband Charles Miller, an American soldier is reported killed in action. I found it hard to get interested in the story at the beginning and in fact stopped reading it for a while. He meets Kate Begley, known as the Matchmaker of Kenmare and they become friends. Set during World War II, Ben, still grieving after the disappearance of his wife Venetia ten years earlier, is travelling around Ireland collecting folklore and trying to find out what has happened to her. It’s narrated by Ben McCarthy looking back on his life as he tells his story to his children. It’s a story of journeys, of love and romance, and of war and mystery.

I received my copy, an advanced uncorrected proof – without the lovely cover I’ve shown here – courtesy of Meier, the marketing company. The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney turned out to be a mammoth read that took me far longer than I expected.

Ireland by frank delaney reviews