Leaving Clare — Geraldine O'Neill

Growing up in the 1950s in Kilnagree,, a small village in Co Clare, Rose Barry lives a quiet, predictable life. Working part-time in the local pub while helping her grandmother at home, Rose's only ambition is to marry a decent local lad and stay close to her family in Kilnagree.



In Offaly, Rose's pretty, precocious cousin Hannah Martin is hiding dark secrets. Dreaming of the day she can flee her vicious-tempered mother, Hannah finds a welcome escape with her cousins in Kilnagree where she is the life and soul of the party.



Lenora Bentley, whose daughter lives in Kilnagree, also finds peace and tranquility when she visits Co Clare. A wealthy widow, living in a large empty house in Dublin, Lenora is nursing a wound that refuses to heal. In trying to come to terms with her grief. Lenora has closed herself off from a fulfilling social life and the one man who could open the door to a very different future.



Will Rose find happiness in Killnagree or do her fortunes lie elsewhere? Will Hannah break free from her domineering mother and her own dangerous behaviour? And will Lenora ever be able to let her guard down to enjoy a full life again?

All three women are searching for a new life which means leaving the old behind. For Rose Barry it may well mean leaving Clare.