Ellie and the Harpmaker is a solid first purchase for most adult fiction collections. A lovely read.

A really enjoyable read with main characters that I fell in love with. It was easy to root for a happy ending for the protagonist.

loved the characters in this book, a romance of a different kind, between a young married woman and a maker of Irish harps.

This. Book. Was. So. Good.

I also need to mention that as someone who has experienced being in a shitty relationship similar to Ellie's I did experience anxiety at times, when she would justify her husband's abusive/controlling behavior ultimately leading to the pinnacle (which I will not spoil in this review).

However, I LOVE Dan. And all the other characters really. Really well done story! Will be looking out for more work by this author in the future!

Ellie and the Harpmarker is a hard book for me to review. I first heard about it through Netgalley and was really intrigued by the summary. Luckily I got a copy of the novel for a review and here I am.

First off the book was not at all what I expected. Sometimes that's a great thing and the novel takes you to a new fantastic place, sadly this wasn't one of those times. I didn't really like the story from the start and every time I gave it another chance, some other plot device came in and changed my mind. I very much enjoyed the main characters and without them I would not have finished the book.

I read this a few months ago and finally got around to writing the review because I was so angry with one choice at the end of the novel. And even still just thinking about this book while writing the review brought those feelings back.

Overall the book is well written, and I can definitely attest to the fact that the story stays with you, but in the end I did not enjoy Ellie and the Harpmarker. There were just too many times I was let down by the storyline.

🦀🦀🦀🦀 Charming! A lovely, somewhat predictable, achingly sweet, heartache of a story. This was an enjoyable read. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. #EllieAndTheHarpmaker #NetGalley

4.2 - unique, sweet story; great characters (both positive and negative); someone else used the term "lyrical" to describe - that's a perfect description

An absolutely heart breaker of a novel. Beautiful and haunting. Cannot wait to see what comes next from Prior.

What a lovely, charming book. I was pleasantly surprised by this novel about an unlikely friendship between a quirky, harpmaker and an unhappy housewife. I really enjoyed the writing. This novel is full of heart, humor and I loved it.

I requested this book as background reading as Berkley marketing (Fareeda) are promoting it on BookBrowse. Personally, I found it enjoyable. More importantly, it has been well received by our members who reviewed it for our early reader program, First Impressions, and in addition to the promotion activity, it is likely we will also feature it as an Editor's Choice editorial section.

Hazel Prior has a way with words!

I'm not usually one who enjoys great amounts of description in my books. I prefer lots of dialogue and action. Ellie and Dan, however, are the exception for me. I loved Dans thoughts and explanations; his very literal understanding of comments made to him by the very few people in his life.

I found myself thinking about the characters when I couldn't be reading the book. Hazel Prior's writing is as magical as harps and fairies and pheasants named Phineous!

Thanks to the author and publisher of #EllieAndTheHarpmaker and #NetGalley for allowing me to read this advance readers copy in return for an honest review.

Dan is living his dream, making harps. His life is uncomplicated and going smoothly until Ellie wanders into his barn. She is searching for something to bring some excitement into her life and decides she would like to learn to play the harp. This decision has an interesting effect on all concerned. An unusual and compelling story,

This was a sweet story, although I found the characters frustrating. Ellie lied to everyone about everything. Her husband was just an awful person, and I didn't understand her motivation for wanting to stay with him. Dan was a good character, although perhaps could have had more depth. His "backstory" was a bit unbelievable as well. In the end, I did enjoy the book, and it was a light enjoyable read, but I had seen it compared to A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant and but it did not come nearly to that level for me.

If you like romantic stories from authors such as Nicholas Sparks, you will love this book, which features a flighty poet and a neurodivergent hero who makes lots of sandwiches and is obsessed with creating unique Celtic harps. The narrative helps to foster deep connections between the reader and the characters. As a trigger warning, it does contain some domestic violence scenes, but it is overall a fairly pleasant read.

sounded better in the summary than execution, but i looved the writing and am eager for more from this writer

While the premise of the book sounded interesting and I was invested for the first half, the plot became predictable and I predicted what was going to happen long before it did. I'm also convinced that one of the main characters falls on the Autism spectrum, and I'm not sure that this was portrayed particularly accurately or with the proper sensitivities. It was a fine one-time read for me, and if I worked in a public library where contemporary fiction was popular, I'd consider this an optional buy.

This is a charming, upbeat novel that will appeal to a wide group of readers. The characters are lovable and you quickly root for them to grow and be successful..... and they do grow and change for the better.

A heartfelt and lovely story about finding friendship and love in the unlikeliest of places and with the unlikeliest of people. Hazel Prior did a superb job in this debut novel. The characters were a pleasure to get to know, especially Dan. I loved seeing the world through his eyes. It was quite refreshing and I always love reading about characters like him and the special someone that befriends them.

This book made me want to take walks through the English countryside, eat small sandwiches, and run my hands over the smooth wood of a harp. Sadly, only the eating of the sandwiches is possible at this time. But thankfully, Hazel Prior’s beautifully descriptive writing took me to the Harp Barn in the English countryside and I could envision Dan’s beautiful harps.

I also really loved the ending. I was getting extremely anxious as the percentage remaining was counting down. The best way I can describe the ending without giving anything away is to say it was understated and elegant. This book was a joy to read.

Dan has a barn in Exmoor where he makes beautiful harps by hand. He is content being alone for hours on end. Then one day, Ellie happens upon his barn, and starts to chat with him about his harps, which she cannot believe he made himself. Taken aback, Dan gives a harp to Ellie, which she promptly returns, after being convinced by her family that Dan is expecting payment in exchange for it. They are already on the path to an odd friendship however, and continue to see each other, hoping for something more.

The story is interesting, but the writing doesn’t work for me. It’s a lot of explanations. A lot of “I did this... She did that...” kind of sentences. The story could’ve been good, if told by a different storyteller. I also didn’t really care for Ellie. She’s a bit weak and wishy washy, but her biggest crime is the way she talks down to Dan. All the sneaking around and trying to expose Rhoda’s lies, it just frustrated me more than entertained