THINGS WE NEVER SAY (REISSUE) by Sheila O'Flanagan
Sheila O'Flanagan . Unknown Year . English
Sheila O'Flanagan's unputdownable bestseller THINGS WE NEVER SAY is a must-read for fans of Marian Keyes and Veronica Henry. Abbey Anderson is stunned when she comes home to find her boyfriend has left her. She has never needed her mother more, but that door is firmly closed. Abbey is feeling very alone - then a charismatic Irishman appears on her California doorstep, with an astonishing revelation about her family. Soon Abbey is on a flight to Dublin, looking for answers to questions she never knew she should be asking. Across the Atlantic, Fred Fitzpatrick's adult children are oblivious to the shock heading their way. They're focused on their father, who is increasingly cantankerous in his old age. Sometimes it's only thoughts of his fortune that make it bearable to be with him. But Fred's story is not the open book they all thought it was. Nor is his will. As a shadowy crime emerges from history, Abbey and the strangers about to become part of her life will say, and do, things they never thought they would. It could end in disaster - or a surprising new beginning . . . Praise for Sheila O'Flanagan 'Glamorous, blockbusting, empowering . . . Sheila knows just what it is to be a woman' Veronica Henry 'Reading a Sheila O'Flanagan novel always feels like sitting down for a cup of tea with a friend' Beth O'Leary What readers are saying about Things We Never Say: 'The pace was lively - I just flew through the book. Lots of drama, family skeletons to be dug up, relationship dynamics to be explored and all in a fun, breezy writing style' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'A truly feel-good story with lots of twists and turns' Amazon reviewer, 5 stars 'What I enjoyed about this book was I never quite knew what was going to happen next. Families, greed, deception, secrets and a touch of romance - all I would ask for in a story' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Another brilliant book from Sheila O'Flanagan. I was drawn into the story right from the first chapter. Great characters and a great storyline' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
Categories: Life Sciences
About the Author
I've always loved reading and when I was a child I used to write stories for my younger sisters as a bribe to make them do my share of the housework. It usually worked! Ireland is famed for its writers, but for me growing up most of the novels were rural in both their settings and their points of view. I wanted to read books about people like me, who lived in the city and struggled with the chaotic bus timetable and had dreams and ambitions that had nothing to do with the farm. I also wanted to read novels in which the women were the heroes of their own stories. Too many women in the novels I read were there as a wife, mother or daughter and their role was to develop the storyline for the male character. I wanted to hear those women's stories and tell them myself. Although I was constantly writing, the idea of being a novelist was a bit of a pipe dream. I had to earn a living and so I got a job in finance. It was the complete opposite of anything I'd ever expected to do but - at least for a time - I enjoyed it and I did well. Nevertheless the dream wouldn't go away and in my thirties I decided that I would make a real effort to write my novel. Eventually, after a couple of false starts, Dreaming of A Stranger was written and published and became an Irish bestseller. Since then I've written more than 25 novels as well as 3 collections of short stories and 2 novels for children all of which have been bestsellers both in Ireland and overseas. They include The Hideaway, What Happened That Night, Isobel's Wedding and Suddenly Single and my sales have topped 9 million copies around the world. In most of my books, I put women in situations where they have to dig deep inside themselves to find their inner strength even though sometimes they struggle to realise it's there. Readers often ask who my favourite characters are, but every one of the women in my books is as close to me as a member of my family. (For the time when I'm writing a book they're even closer because they're in my head 24/7. At least with the family I can walk out of the room or put the phone down!) Regardless of who my readers are, I always try to do three things when I'm writing: Tell a good story Make the reader feel like they know the characters Make each book better than the last I've been very lucky in having so many books published and hearing from readers all around the world. And I'm glad that, when times were tough, I remembered the quote that 'a professional writer is an amateur who wouldn't quit" I'm a passionate avocate for increasing literacy and helping people who have come to reading late in life so that they can find the same pleasure in reading as I've had. I've taken part in a number of different televised projects to help people who've struggled with reading and writing and I've contributed to both the Quick Reads and Open Doors series of novellas for new readers. I'm also a board member of Fighting Words, the creative writing centre set up by Booker prize-winner Roddy Doyle where I've worked with teenagers to write their own published stories and retired people who are working on their memoirs.
