The Girl Who Came Home

A Novel of the Titanic

By: Hazel Gaynor

Narrated by: Connor Kelly-Eiding, Alana Kerr Collins

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A voyage across the ocean becomes the odyssey of a lifetime for a young Irish woman….

Ireland, 1912…

Fourteen members of a small village set sail on RMS Titanic, hoping to find a better life in America. For 17-year-old Maggie Murphy, the journey is bittersweet. Though her future lies in an unknown new place, her heart remains in Ireland with Samus, the sweetheart she left behind. When disaster strikes, Maggie is one of the few passengers in steerage to survive. Waking up alone in a New York hospital, she vows never to speak of the terror and panic of that fateful night again.

Chicago, 1982…

Adrift after the death of her father, Grace Butler struggles to decide what comes next. When her great-grandmother Maggie shares the painful secret about Titanic that she's harbored for almost a lifetime, the revelation gives Grace new direction and leads both her and Maggie to unexpected reunions with those they thought lost long ago.

Inspired by true events, The Girl Who Came Home poignantly blends fact and fiction to explore the Titanic tragedy's impact and its lasting repercussions on survivors and their descendants.

©2014 Hazel Gaynor (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Awesome Book about Titanic.

Would you listen to The Girl Who Came Home again? Why?

Absolutely, I love all books about The Titanic! I wish I had more titles in mind to order more! This was fiction? But I could definitely see reality.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Girl Who Came Home?

The grandmother was able to keep quiet and not pass judgement throughout the entire story on to the granddaughter. Lovely story!

Which scene was your favorite?

When she found the box in the attic.

Who was the most memorable character of The Girl Who Came Home and why?

The grandmother of course.

Any additional comments?

Just a very nice relaxing read. LOVED IT ALL!

I couldn't put this down

I couldn't put this down. Once I got over the confusion of Maggie and Margaret and Peggy the book was a delightful, although sad, story. I was teary in Chapter 3 before they ever got on the Titanic. Seamus and his letters! I'm glad this wasn't a re-telling of James Cameron's movie (which was not as good as earlier movies) and was instead the tale of a group of friends from a small Irish village. My grandparents left Ireland at about the same time so I was very moved by the story. I usually don't like audiobooks with multiple narrators but this worked well to differentiate the change in time and POV. The ending was a bit predictable (there were subtle clues) but I enjoyed this very much.

Loved it ! And disappointed, too

Loved the historical setting, didn't like the present-day (1982) sequences quite as much, but the alternating stories kept me engaged, until the big "climax". Such a cheat ! I hate it when authors think it's a plot twist to withhold information until the final reveal. ( I don't want to give anything away, but most astute readers will see what's coming, so it's anti-climatic). It's not a plot twist, it's deceiving the reader😔
However, until that big let-down of an ending, with everything too neat and HEA ( happily ever after), this was really wonderful. Great narration !

Really Impressed

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! It was a bit slow at first, but the author does a great job seamlessly weaving the two timelines of the story together. I also appreciated how she included life after the tragedy of the Titanic for the survivors and gave a perspective of someone whose family member did not survive. It was heart-wrenching, but made it different from other Titanic stories.

I was also incredibly impressed with both voice actors. Both did a great job at pulling in the emotion of their characters. However, Connor Kelly-Eiding is extremely talented at creating different voices for her characters. You could easily differentiate between who was speaking in the story.

I highly recommend this to anyone that enjoys history, especially of the Titanic, and even romance.

Love Titanic!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I loved this book! I was very well done. Instead of a single time line, this book want from 1912 to 1982! I fell in love with all the characters. I loved the ending, it made me cry! I would recommend this book highly!

Have you listened to any of Connor Kelly-Eiding and Alana Kerr ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

It was genius having to narrators with very different dialects! The ladies brought life to the characters!

Great Idea – Awful Execution

I hate it when that happens! When a good idea for a tale is ruined by a poorly written story… it’s so annoying!

I was looking forward to a good book and the idea was promising but the execution was a huge let down, packed with clichés and eye rolling coincidences and silly developments; such a shame.

The book was: Insipid. Cliché. Formulaic. Trite. Simple. Flat. Predictable… Pick any one, they all fit.

Wonderful story

Just finished! What a wonderful, well written tale of a Titanic survivor. A must read or audiobook.

Loved it!

Such a lovely story and so well performed! I loved the readers voice and accent. Soothing and perfect for this story.

A love story

A love story taking us back to that terrible disaster of the sinking of the Titanic. The story gives the reader insight into the poor peasant people that were on that ship, how they survived.

Perfect Ending

Loved the narrator's accent and really enjoyed how the book ended. This was easy to listen to and I would recommend.

Superb!

Written with such compassion, the author and narrators really made you feel as though you were a part of the story.

The emotion got to me several times, which rarely happens!

Looking forward to more by this author!

Wonderful story that keeps you listening to the very last word

Beautifully written, so nostalgic and gripping. The story is enchanting and reminds us of a terrible disaster. I highly recommend this audio

Beautifully written.

Historical fiction, loved it from the very first page. A beautiful twist that I didn’t see coming.
Very likeable characters, daunting in places as you would expect. Raw emotions with characters that I could picture. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend. The narrators were also enjoyable to listen to, especially the beautiful gentle Irish tone.

Such a beautiful hopefilled book

The story was so well crafted and yet heartfelt. Wonderful. Great feeling for Ireland and the need to move forwards, accepting the fear.