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The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

Contemporary fiction

The Connellys of County Down

Repeat author

Tracey Lange is back at Book of the Month – other BOTMs include We Are the Brennans.

Early Release

This is an early release that's only available to our members—the rest of the world has to wait to read it.

by Tracey Lange

Excellent choice

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Quick take

In this moving tale about forgiveness, loyalty, and love’s limits, one family tries to keep it together, together.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Emotional

    Emotional

  • Illustrated icon, Multiple_Viewpoints

    Multiple viewpoints

  • Illustrated icon, Inspirational

    Inspirational

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

Synopsis

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.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of The Connellys of County Down.

The Connellys of County Down

Chapter One

When the unit intercom buzzed and the cell door rattled open on its old metal track that morning, Tara breathed a heavy sigh of relief and swore it was the last time she’d ever hear that racket in her life. For 525 consecutive mornings that noise had signaled the start to a day that looked just like the one before, another day when she was told exactly what to do and exactly when to do it.

She’d been restless most of the night, wired with anxiety. Until she walked out the door of that place, something could still go wrong. That wasn’t likely. She had yet to see one woman’s release date changed this late in the game. But that’s how it was when she let herself want something so damn much. The closer she got to getting it, the more she doubted it.

Jeannie had snored like a trucker as usual, but Tara hadn’t bothered nudging the upper bunk with her foot to get her cellmate to turn over and quiet down. It wouldn’t have helped. When the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m., Tara was sitting on her bunk, back against the cinder block wall, knees pulled up to her chest. While she waited she listened, peeled apart the sounds that fused together to create the early-morning white noise of prison life: the ring of a telephone and the guards’ distant conversation, echoes of a cough here and a clearing of a throat there, bodies turning over in their bunks—seeking, for the last few moments of rest, a comfortable position on a metal frame covered by a two-inch mat.

Less than an hour to go. They’d told her to be ready to leave her cell by seven thirty, before morning roll call. The discharge process would be fairly quick, then her sister, Geraldine, would be waiting outside in the parking lot. Tara had hoped her brother would pick her up; Geraldine had a way of shredding Tara’s nerves in short order. On their last phone call three days ago Tara subtly asked about it—I know how busy you are, Ger. Maybe Eddie could make the trip. But Geraldine shot that down, saying Eddie shouldn’t lose a day’s wages and rock the boat at work by asking for time off, never mind so he could pick his sister up from prison, she had added, whispering the last two words, no doubt in case anyone around her overheard.

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Why I love it

I love books about messy family dynamics. The Connellys of County Down takes us back to the heart and soul of this genre: three siblings with their family baggage in tow under one roof, fighting to make their lives just that little bit better every day.

The book opens on Tara Connelly being released from prison. She didn’t expect any fanfare—okay, maybe at least a car ride home?—but she returns to a house already filled with other people’s problems. Her brother, who suffered a brain injury years before, is still struggling to hold down work as a single parent. Her sister is an anxiety ridden compulsive shopper and secretive about her job in a way that raises eyebrows. And the cop who arrested Tara can’t seem to leave her alone...

There’s a quote I highlighted the first time I read this book that I think perfectly encapsulates what makes it so special: “The most honest words didn’t have to be loud or dramatic to cut deep.” Tracey Lange writes with an incredible emotional honesty that makes her characters shine; she also beautifully depicts the day-to-day interactions between loved ones that are imbued with meaning through years of trust and anguish. The Connellys of County Down is so full of heart, and its wonderful message about compassion and forgiveness will stay with me for a long time.

Member ratings (14,383)

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Contemporary fiction
View all
The Last Love Note
What Does It Feel Like?
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
The Wedding People
Honey
The Leftover Woman
The Same Bright Stars
Bye, Baby
Swan Song
The Days I Loved You Most
The Connellys of County Down
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
Jackpot Summer
Adelaide
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Again and Again
Evil Eye
Black Cake
Maame
Romantic Comedy
Someone Else’s Shoes
Once There Were Wolves
We Are the Brennans
The Bad Muslim Discount
What Comes After
Olga Dies Dreaming
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Monster in the Middle
Nine Perfect Strangers
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
Honey Girl
In Every Mirror She's Black
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Sankofa
The Unsinkable Greta James
The Love of My Life
The Five-Star Weekend
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
The Wishing Game
Behold the Dreamers
The Mothers
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Little Fires Everywhere
The Music Shop
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
The Reckless Oath We Made
Dear Edward
When We Were Vikings
The Girl with the Louding Voice
A Good Neighborhood
Big Summer
All Adults Here
Happy & You Know It
Friends and Strangers
The Comeback
True Story
The Last Story of Mina Lee
Troubles in Paradise
White Ivy
This Close to Okay
The Chicken Sisters
The Prophets
In a Book Club Far Away
The Other Black Girl
Apples Never Fall
A Quiet Life
We Are the Light
The Most Likely Club
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
The Hotel Nantucket