Apart from the Crowd [Kindle Edition]

Anna McPartlin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McPartlin's second novel (after Pack Up the Moon) follows the unlikely story of two tormented people who come together in a small Irish town. Mary has survived the deaths of her mother, her first love and her five-year-old son, earning her the nickname Mary of the Sorrows from the residents of Kenmare, Ireland. When Sam Sullivan, a music executive from New York, moves in next door, the town would like nothing more than for handsome Sam to bring her happiness. Mary, however, is happy to keep things as they are and tend to her best friend Penny, recently brokenhearted and turning to drink, and Ivan, her cousin who is lonesome after his wife left him. Sam isn't looking for love either. Instead, he has traveled to his grandmother's birthplace seeking refuge from his demons. Despite their best efforts, Mary and Sam grow close, and through their friendship they find the strength to build their lives again. McPartlin presents a realistic and complex story of love in its many forms without piling on the melodrama, and an unexpected conclusion helps elevate this sophomore outing. (Aug.) ""
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Product Description

In a little Irish town like Kenmare, there's no need to worry whether people will discover your secrets. They already have.

For Mary, that means being remembered for her tragic losses, even if she'd rather get on with her life. For her cousin Ivan, as close as a brother, the gossip is all about how his wife took the kids and ran off with her new lover. For Mary's friend Penny, it's an old romance that didn't work out quite right, and a current affair with a bottle of vodka.

Then Sam Sullivan rents the cottage next door to Mary, and within hours the whole town is talking about the film-star-handsome American. When Sam hurts his back while helping his new neighbor and spends the next week confined to a mattress on her floor, gossip runs rampant. But neither Kenmare nor Mary know about the secrets Sam is so successfully hiding....

For Mary's circle of friends, Sam's arrival marks more than one change. And Mary -- whose unlucky history has kept her apart from the crowd much of her life -- has finally found a man with whom she feels she might truly connect. But so long as both are captive to memories they dare not reveal, the past is a barrier that will keep them forever alone.

In this powerful novel, Anna McPartlin perfectly captures the drama, the emotion, and the laughter of a small Irish community, for those who fit in -- and those who don't. Apart from the Crowd mixes wit and insight to create an engrossing tale that will keep you reading to the very last page.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 553 KB
• Publisher: Pocket Books; Reprint edition (August 12, 2008)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001E6IHUY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awkward prose can't totally hinder great storyline, December 24, 2008

By 

Megan Snider "writemeg" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apart from the Crowd (Paperback)

What "Apart From the Crowd" lacks in lyrical quality or impressive writing it more than makes up for with a captivating story, warm characters and substance. Mary is an incredibly flawed but beautiful character as she learns how to release herself from the many hurts life has offered her, and Sam arrives in town to remind her what it is to feel truly connected to another person. She, in turn, brings him back to life. They're not the central "tenants" of the story, though -- many other people in the small Irish town of Kenmare journey through Mary and Sam's lives while trying to figure out their own. I especially loved the story of Ivan, Mary's cousin, and his own release from past hurts.

While I was a bit distracted by the clunky prose at points, "Apart From the Crowd" was an engrossing story of love, loss and redemption. It managed to explore many personal, romantic and professional issues without belaboring them -- and was far less predictable than I originally feared. An enjoyable read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book worth reading, September 8, 2008

By 

chico (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apart from the Crowd (Paperback)

Fans of Irish writer Marian Keyes will enjoy Apart from the Crowd by Anna McPartlin. I definitely did not feel the angst was piled on and her humor helped to offset it. Books with great character development and dialogue rise above the rest, and this one definitely did that.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well written character study, August 7, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apart from the Crowd (Paperback)

Life to Mary is an archipelago of tragedy as one island of loss leads to the next island of loss. Usually this means the death of a loved one like her child, but she muses that it can be less final for instance when she was twelve, her new puppy Mr. Monkels lost a part of an ear in a freaky fishing accident.

However as Mary needs to move past the latest trauma, her cousin Ivan's wife dumped him and took their kids with her. Her best friend Penny loves married alcoholic Adam, who happens to love his wife and Penny; and plans to keep both women in his life. Then there is her new neighbor Sam, a former music world VIP until drugs destroyed his career and his life. He is trying to remain clean, but like the other people in Mary's life and even herself, hide their indiscretions from one another.

Although with five you get the entire buffet not just an egg roll; this well written character study is overwhelmed at times with too much angst oozing from each player. The story line engages the audience who empathizes with each key character; however also the weight of the collective quintet feels overwhelming. Still Anna McPartlin makes a strong case that Dean Martin was right that "Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime" to share the joy and sorrow of life.