Saturday, August 19, 2017

The Crows of Beara by Julie Christine Johnson

She has just gone through rehab for drinking and is working hard on not falling back into the same rut.  Then she does something stupid and her husband finds out about it.  It's the straw that broke the camel's back.  Their marriage is ending, she's moving out, and now her job is on the hook.  Will she be able to do this promotion or will she lose her job?  What happens is she finds her soul...

Ashland Creek Press and the author sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published September 15th.

The story is set along a windswept coast in Ireland.  You can feel the atmosphere, the wet and cold, and the mysticism of the land.  There's a lot of history here and some of it still talks to you.

Annie goes in believing it's just a standard promotion.  The proposed copper mines would bring jobs and better economy to the island.  But there's a conflict.  It's a nesting site for the Red-billed Chough, which is an endangered species.  It's like when they found the spotted owl in Washington forests.  Loggers want to log, and environmentalists wanted to save owls.  Nobody was completely happy.  This one looks like it's going to get the same results.

Annie starts out strong and does well with her presentation.  Then she finds out the company doesn't care about the birds, doesn't want to meet with public, and that they are hot trotting the permits through.  She's pretty sure they aren't meeting all the requirements.  Soon she's at odds with them.  She backs off to regroup.  She's not sure where she's going next or what she's going to do but she has found a new love.  They both have baggage and things to work through but love is there.  

You learn a bit about Ireland, a bit about corvids, and a bit about life in this story.  I could feel the call of Ireland and the mysticism of the isle.  Annie hasn't given up yet...

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