‘She lined up the envelopes on the console table and read each name under her breath to herself.
Sheila. Máire. Barbara. Henrietta.
My girls, thought Nora, with a satisfied nod.’
– Once A Year
[ About Once A Year ]
Sheila has finally — and secretly — divorced her unreliable husband and is ready to celebrate. But as she prepares to join the annual festive get-together at the hotel her family has owned for generations, she’s not quite sure how to break the news to everyone. And she’s not the only one keeping something to herself.
Nora, Sheila’s formidable mother, is distracted by her doubts about the hotel’s new manager: her granddaughter Máire. Can she hide her feelings and put family before the business for once?
It was always the plan for Máire to take over the hotel, but she never realised how much she would have to give up. Is she now facing a choice between her career and her marriage?
And Máire’s sisters, Henrietta and Barbara, have their own reasons for coming to the Castlehill Hotel — one needs time away to think, and the other is eager to take a risk.
As the Sullivan women gather for the first time in months, at a place filled with memories, bittersweet and painful truths come to the surface. When their time together ends, will they be brought closer, or find themselves further apart than ever before?
[ My Review ]
Once A Year by Felicity Hayes-McCoy published October 16th with Hachette Ireland and is described by Felicity as ‘a festive intergenerational story about family relationships and secrets, especially those between mothers and daughters.’
As the name suggests this book is centred around an annual event, one that takes place at the Castlehill Hotel. Nora Sullivan, the matriarch of the family, has hosted a weekend for all the women of the family across the decades since she stepped into her role in the management of the hotel many years previously. She dedicated her life to building up the business but now she finds herself in a predicament over what to do with it next.
Máire, one of her grandchildren, is currently the hotel manager but Nora is concerned that it is all a little overwhelming for Máire. The responsibility of running a hotel is huge and Máire is very slow to delegate responsibilities, leaving her exhausted and short-tempered with everyone around her. As her mother and siblings descend on the hotel for a weekend, Máire is struggling to be there for them while also keeping everything in check with the managing of the hotel. Raymond, her husband, barely sees her anymore with fractures slowly appearing in their marriage.
Sheila, Nora’s daughter, left the hotel and the family home years back to chart her own course, one that her mother never approved of. Now, after finally seeing her divorce come through, she is extremely nervous of returning to Castlehill and explaining her decisions to her daughters and mother. Sheila has had an exhausting life and this decision will change her life for the better – once she can get the other Sullivan women on side.
Barbara is the strong, independent go-getter but she is facing her own personal dilemma and is taking a risk coming back to Castlehill. Her heart has been broken in the past but is she willing to put herself out there in the hope of finding what she really wants?
Henrietta is a step-mum to Jane, a teenager, with a very protective father. Having lost her Mum at a very young age, Jane has had to be brave but the impact of those younger years has left her quite reserved and an observer of life. Henrietta is caught between being a friend and a substitute mother, leaving her in a quandary when it comes to Jane’s development as a person and her own role as a wife and a mother. Henrietta is quite restrained but has the time come for her to put her own mark on her marriage?
As Nora observes all the ins and outs of her family’s lives she is considering her future and that of the family business. Has she the strength to make some very big decisions? Will this weekend make or break the Sullivan women?
Once A Year is a sweet tale of family dynamics across generations. The Sullivan women are all facing momentous decisions in their lives and it’s lovely to see how they each help each other come to terms with their path in life. It’s a gentle story of the everyday moments that become important in our days. A mother’s growing awareness of her children’s need to make their own decisions, while also being there to encourage and listen when necessary. A daughter’s understanding of her mother. A grandchild recognising the battles faced by their grandmother in days gone by. A new mother recognising her need to be brave. All these daily moments and more are captured and portrayed in Once A Year, a novel perfect for anyone in search of a comforting read.
[Thank you to Plunkett PR and Hachette Ireland for a copy of Once A Year in exchange for an honest review]
[ Bio ]
Felicity Hayes-McCoy, author of the best-selling Finfarran series, was born in Dublin, Ireland. She studied literature at UCD before moving to England in the 1970s to train as an actress. Her work as a writer ranges from TV and radio drama and documentary, to screenplays, music theatre, memoir and children’s books. Her Finfarran novels are widely read on both sides of the Atlantic, and in Australia, and have been translated into seven languages. She and her husband, opera director Wilf Judd, live in the West Kerry Gaeltacht and in Bermondsey, London.
Her website is felicityhayesmccoy.com and you can follow her on Bluesky @fhayesmccoy@bsky.social, on X @fhayesmccoy, on Instagram @felicityhayesmccoy and on Facebook at Felicity Hayes-McCoy Author.
Great review, Mairéad. This sounds like a book I would enjoy. I am putting it on my list for reading in March for Reading Ireland. Thanks for sharing it.
Ah that’s wonderful. Thanks Carla x