Memory Stones [Paperback]

Kate O'Riordan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2003

Nell, a rare female Master of Wine, enjoys an uncluttered and elegant life in Paris, sharing her days with Lulu - the cantankerous poodle her best friend bequeathed to her as a joke on her deathbed - and sharing her passion for wine with Henri, her lover and married vineyard owner. Until a phone call shatters the peace of her carefully constructed world...It is her daughter's neighbour in Ireland, with news so worrying that Nell can no longer avoid the inevitable. She must return home for the first time in over thirty years. But why has it taken Nell so long to swap the boulevards of Paris for the green fields of Western Ireland? And why didn't she even go back for her own mother's funeral? A poignant and gripping exploration of love, loss and the nature of memory itself, THE MEMORY STONES is a moving study of the intricacies of mother/daughter relationships, observed with razor-sharp precision and great tenderness.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kate is an award-winning novelist, playwright and television screen writer and has been a recipient of the SUNDAY TRIBUNE/HENNESSY PRIZE for 'Best Emerging Writer'. THE MEMORY STONES is her fourth novel after INVOLVED (shortlisted for Dillons First Fiction Prize), THE BOY IN THE MOON (Arts Council Award) and THE ANGEL IN THE HOUSE, which is being adapted for a feature film. Kate has also contributed to the hugely successful short story collection LADIES NIGHT AT FINBAR'S HOTEL. Kate was brought up in the West of Ireland, but now lives in London with her husband. She is currently working on her fifth novel, and a commissioned screenplay.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743450175
• ISBN-13: 978-0743450171
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,336,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Mothers and Daughters - The Transparent Graft between the Two, March 3, 2011

By 

Hira N. Hasnain "~Enamored Soul~" (Ontario, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Memory Stones (Paperback)

"Mothers and daughters are not entirely different from lovers, she thinks. Both have the capacity to destroy and to reconstruct once more. But with each reconstruction a little strip of skin, a transparent graft, must be lifted from somewhere to seal up somewhere else." writes Kate O'Riordan in this beautiful gem of a novel about the relationships between mothers and daughters. A heart-warming, lilting story, rich in its prose and lush in its description of beautiful Ireland, following the lives of four generations of women of one family. The struggles of these women, their bonds, their secrets and their warm, relatable characters make a wonderful tale - a poignant and gripping exploration of love, loss and the nature of memory itself, "The Memory Stones" is a must read!