A thoughtful, engaging story of “going home” to Northern Ireland in the midst of tumultuous upheaval - economic, personal, and world-changing - told through the eyes of the newly widowed and bereft narrator. As time moves on, she learns to adjust with the help of a community that surrounds her with acceptance and understanding, enabling her inner wounds to heal from the outside in.

Rosie Schaap has written a memoir about her working trip to Northern Ireland after her husband and mother died. She was drawn to Irish village life after growing up in the city. She met and married an Irishman and decided to move to Northern Ireland permanently. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

This was a well-written and deeply personal story of grief and the journey to overcoming the depth of lost love and life as we know it. Schaap partners her grief journey with her move to a small almost forgotten town in northern Ireland. I loved her descriptions of all things Glenarm and the peaceful countryside of the coastal county of Antrim. Her reminisings of characters and places were delightful to read about to the point I almost want to move to the town myself. The beginning of the book had a tendency to meander a bit too much keeping it off point from the central theme, but I enjoyed the ending and its promise for a future of love again.

This was a NetGalley ARC. Thank you!

I wasn’t sure what story would unfold in these pages, but I love Ireland and a good memoir, so win-win!

What I found instead was a book with passages I highlighted again and again. The author ends up in Northern Ireland to heal following the deaths of two people close to her. Having lost my mom in 2020, I understood her need to change her location and find a path to healing.

The author weaves a tale of a charming village surrounded by the sea and a lush forest. I found myself wishing I could go there with her and sit in the forest, listening to the sounds of nature around me. The people she met along the way are lively characters and exactly what I would expect in an Irish village.

If you enjoy memoirs, this one is slow, winding, and a thoughtful read that intertwines Ireland’s magical feel with a journey toward healing.

This memoir has many dreamy descriptions of the small town in which the author finds solace for her grief. I particularly enjoyed the nice bits of historical and cultural context about Northern Ireland which enriched her narrative. I am very glad to have had the opportunity to read it before a May trip to Belfast and may even visit Glenarm during my trip!

One of the author’s most cherished devices — her habit of interrupting herself with em-dashes, often going on long, meandering, comma-riddled diversions, sometimes even losing her thread, only to end with a mismatched finish — quickly began to grate on my nerves and was used so frequently I began to wonder if the author was using it to compensate for a lack of more imaginative ways to construct sentences. (See what I did there?)

I also found it a little odd, like one fellow goodreads user, that some of the more substantial developments in her life received only passing mentions before falling into the background. These include her exciting monthly column at The NY Times, her relationship with Mark, and her experience returning to university for an MFA. Two of these were introduced once only to never be mentioned again, and one of which suddenly became her husband after hardly receiving more status than that of a roommate. It gave a sense of discomfort, or even shame, on the author’s part to speak on happy life events, a suspicion that seems plausible given that a primary theme is grief, particularly regarding the passing of her husband.

Nonetheless, I am grateful for the opportunity to gain insight into these experiences and have great respect for the person who found her balm in a new home, and a fitting partner with whom to share it. Cheers!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I finished this book a while ago, and I had to sit on it to really think about my review and rating. I recently had a family member in hospice, so I shouldn't have started reading this on the bus as I almost cried at the first few chapters. This book captures what it's like to lose someone close to you and how everybody grieves differently. I really appreciate the imagery, it made me also want to move to a small village in the countryside. I love the anecdotes of the author's interactions with other people who have lost a spouse and how she was supported by complete strangers in a time of need. Overall, this book is great for anyone who has lost a family member or someone close to them and is struggling with society's expectations of how they should grieve.

The Slow Road North by Rosie Schaap is a meditation on death, grief, and life after the passing of loved ones. Schaap lost her husband and mother in quick succession and slowly found her way to peace after a move to Northern Ireland.

A beautiful memoir by Rosie Schaap. With colorful descriptions, musical words, and deep emotions, the reader truly gets a glimpse inside the author’s experience. We are given background from the author’s life in New York, a peek into her beautiful relationship with her first husband. She leads us through the bottom of her grief and teaches us what she did to help see light again. What a novel idea, to see a place as a solution to work through grief. I will be thinking a lot about this one. And hope to someday see Glenarm for myself!

A lovely memoir set in Northern Ireland that spoke well to the power of place and community. However, the story itself was a bit all over the place and not quite as tightly told as I would have liked.

The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country by Rosie Schaap is an enjoyable memoir about love, loss, second changes, and the stunning Northern Irish countryside.
This is a memorable biography and memoir that offers the reader a glimpse of a hear broken, a love lost, and the author's journey through grief and finding hope upon the other side.
Reading about Glenarm, a small village in the Northern Irish countryside, was my personal favorite, and I really enjoyed the glimpses given.
Thank you NG and Mariner Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 8/4/24.

A beautiful memoir of life after great loss. Rosie has lost her husband and her mother in a short amount of time so she packs up her life in NYC to move to Glenarm, Ireland a small village in the north of Ireland to heal. . She discusses what it’s like to be a young widow and how Ireland is the perfect place to grieve her loss because they handle death and grief there better. There’s the forest and the sea and of course the people. She manages to meet a new love and settle in Ireland. Her love of Ireland and its people comes across and this book has a strong sense of place. I was scribbling notes about Irish music , poets and places I want to visit someday.

The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country by Rosie Schaap is an enjoyable memoir about love, loss, second changes, and the stunning Northern Irish countryside.

This is a memorable biography and memoir that offers the reader a glimpse of a hear broken, a love lost, and the author’s journey through grief and finding hope upon the other side.

Reading about Glenarm, a small village in the Northern Irish countryside, was my personal favorite, and I really enjoyed the glimpses given.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and Mariner Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 8/4/24.

Thoughtful and lyrical prose, an examination of grief and restlessness without self-pity and a generous helping of self-effacing humor- all descriptions of a book that almost defies categorization. It's a love letter to her late husband, to New York, and to Ireland. Globetrotting and exploration, a life in miniature, overall a worthwhile read.

This memoir is an exploration of grief and continuing on after giant life changes. The first third or so discusses the death of the author's spouse, and the second two thirds read almost like vignettes about life in a quaint Northern Irish town. I love books that have a strong sense of place, and this painted a clear and lovely picture of Glenarm. Powerful reflections on mourning and how to continue on after a loss; also, how this varies between the US and Northern Ireland. 4⭐️, I really liked it. Thank you to NetGalley & Mariner Books for the ARC!

A beautiful story of grief, loss, and finding yourself again, but in a real way - a slow unraveling way that isn't often spoke of. It takes time to heal - it takes time to see a new path. Isn't usually a big decision but tiny moments that build upon one another! Rosie painted such a real and heartwarming story. Her authenticity invites you along to discover herself. It also made me hungry to book a trip to Ireland.

Grief needs a place to breathe.

The author lost her mother and her husband within 13 months of each other.

Overwhelmed with grief she moves to Ireland. Then the Pandemic happens.

I felt that the author was holding back on us. She would say that she is pursuing her Masters degree in ireland. Yet we never heard of her going to school.
She starts dating/seeing Mark, then they are married. What happened to the courtship?
She gets a plum assignment of being the Beverage person for the New York Times, yet doesn't say how she is now making money.

Her vivid descriptions of grief, widowhood, were amazing. Especially her new friend who lost her son to a car accident was achingly beautiful and very courteous to the grieving process.

Overall I liked the book, but felt that there was some loose ends that needed to be tied up.

This is a memoir of a life lived and a life unfolding. Going from the loneliness of loving and caring for someone close to death to starting your life over in a place you grow to love. This book is filled with heartache, remembrance, love, joy. I thank NetGalley and Mariner Books for the advance read and the look back to when I was in Glenarm and Carnlough!

What a delightful read. Rosie Schaap explores so many different emotions in The Slow Road North: grief, anticipation, happiness, contentment - it was really great to hear about how she grappled with life taking its own twists and turns. The emphasis on finding community was really special to read especially in the midst of so many changing variables in her world. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

Absolutely wonderful. Heartwarming, fascinating, well-written, intelligent, great detail about a life and country I would love to experience. I am so grateful I was given the opportunity to read this book. It was my 1st of 2024 and a perfect start!!

I enjoyed reading Rosie Schapp's new memoir - thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This book had all the feels : grief, happiness, exploration, new beginnings, real life turning out to be not quite as you thought it would be. I found the book sincere and loved the setting of Northern Ireland. If you like memoirs check it out.