Macmillan Audio Review of The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

If you're looking for a feel good read with complex characters and plenty of dysfunctional family drama, The Connellys of County Down should be your next read.
Enjoy!

ASIN: B0BJYBB316
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: 08-01-2023
Length: 9 hours- 21 minutes
Source: From Publisher for review
Buy It: Audible/ Chirpbooks

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

"The perfect book for driving around the Mid-Atlantic or New England, the audio equivalent of un-put-down-able."—AFAR magazine on We Are The Brennans

From Tracey Lange, the New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans, comes The Connellys of County Down: a story about fierce family loyalty, good intentions gone awry, and the consequences of improbable love.

When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.

While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew, and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

Listen to a sample:

MacmillanAudio · The Connellys Of County Down by Tracey Lange, audiobook excerpt

My Macmillan Audio Review:

The Connellys of County Down
Tracey Lange

 

 

Tracey Lange’s sophomore novel is fantastic, a fly on the wall look at a gritty family of siblings who each are keeping secrets that could destroy them. Each of the siblings has strengths and weaknesses but it’s Tara that’s the star of the show, she’s got guts, she’s loyal to a fault and she’s never felt worthy. Eddie is a close second, a flawed man, a loving single dad that will pull at readers heartstrings. The detective Brian Nolan is also a close second as readers quickly learn he’s a noble man and the real deal, then there’s Conner who is such a great kid in spite of his dysfunctional family. Geraldine however is a bit harder to like, that is until the author brilliantly starts unpeeling her complex layers letting readers see her without her protective walls. The plot is engaging the backdrops are location perfect and the narrative has an effortless flow. Fans of family drama and realistic fiction with complex characters and an intriguing storyline will find themselves finishing this in just one sitting.

Narration:
Barrie Kreinik does an impressive job of narrating giving each voice a notable distinction, she does a fantastic job on both male and female voices and is perfect with accents my personal favorite was the nasally Bronx accent of Tara’s parole officer. All of this gives the Macmillan Audio edition of the novel a definite edge.

The Connelly siblings of Port Chester NY were raised on the fairy tales of their mother and the failings of their father then unspeakable tragedy strikes when their mother dies and their father disappears and turns them into dogged fighters when well meaning but unwelcomed authorities get too close to the truth. Now they’re about face another set of obstacles that will either make them stronger or destroy them.

Tara Connelly is about to be released on parole from Taconic prison after serving 18 months on a drug trafficking charge but as she’s about to leave the cop who helped put her away offers her a ride home. She’s not sure what he’s up to but since her older sister Geraldine doesn’t show up, against her better judgement she accepts his offer.

Geraldine Connelly has kept her family together since she was in high school, she is and is not looking forward to Tara’s homecoming, she does miss her sister but she knows Tara the wild child will disrupt all the rules and regulations Geraldine has set in place in Tara’s absence. Plus, she’s afraid that Tara will discover her secret.

Eddie Connelly is trying to keep it all together for his son Connor but thanks to his traumatic brain injury suffered in a car accident caused by his father it’s not always easy. He can’t wait for his little sister Tara to come home, everything always seemed brighter with her around and he knows Conner will benefit the most from Tara’s presence.

 

About the author:

Born in the Bronx and raised in Manhattan, Tracey Lange comes from a large Irish family with a few secrets of its own. She headed west and graduated from the University of New Mexico before owning and operating a behavioral healthcare company with her husband for fifteen years. While writing her debut novel, We Are the Brennans, she completed the Stanford University online novel writing program. Tracey currently lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, two sons and their German Shepherd.