The Ballroom Café

Book excerpt: Sisters Ella and Roberta O'Callaghan live in separate wings of their crumbling Irish mansion. They haven't spoken for decades, torn apart by a dark family secret from their past, and only communicate through the terse and bitter notes they leave for each other in the hallway. Debbie, an American woman, is searching for her birth mother. She has little time left but as she sets out to discover who she really is and what happened to her mother, she is met by silence and lies at the local convent. With the bank threatening, Ella tries to save the family home by opening a café in the ballroom much to Roberta's disgust. And when Debbie offers to help out in the café, the war between the sisters intensifies. But as Debbie finally begins to unravel the truth, she uncovers an adoption scandal that will rock both the community and the warring sisters. Powerful and poignant, The Ballroom Café is a moving story of love lost and found. PRAISE FOR THE BALLROOM CAFÉ 'Secrets emerge, there's a whopper of a twist and this unabashed tear-jerker ends with a well-earthed, well-calculated emotional finale.' THE IRISH TIMES 'A moving tale of loss, love and redemption.' BELLA MAGAZINE 'Deftly written, moving and courageous.' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'Slow-marching, romantic prose draws us into an old world that is rustic, genteel, quaint...[but] scandals lie in wait.' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Highly engaging debut you will want to dive into.' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT, Ireland 'A lovely first novel.' CATHY KELLY, bestselling author. 'A warm and engaging story in a unique and original setting. I loved journeying through the lives of these fascinating characters. A beautifully drawn, skilfully written, well-researched novel.' KATE KERRIGAN, New York Times bestselling author of The Ellis Island Trilogy 'A lovely story of two women with the courage to confront the injustices of the past, bringing light to a dark corner of Ireland's recent history.' KATHLEEN MACMAHON, bestselling author of This Is How It Ends