I wasn’t a fan of the writing. It was nothing special. The premise of the book was good but the execution wasn’t. It didn’t really deliver. A disappointing book

Family. A part of who we are today and who we were before. When Grace's husband dies unexpectedly, a piece of who she is dies with him. It's that black curtain no one wants to look behind for fear of seeing their own future. But look she has and Grace can see no future before her, her life has stopped. So she moves from the house she shared with her husband, takes her dogs and waits for the nothingness to swallow her. Her family is gone.

Then, her great aunt calls. She's dying and she needs family. Remembering the times she and her aunt shared seems like a life time ago, but she's family and Grace needs someone to need her. So Grace and the dogs move in with her aunt, determined to ease the burdens her aunt is facing. Together they will learn to live while healing. The story is emotional, It's well written with excellent characters that will touch your heart and leave you feeling better about those family members who've been irritating you.

A story truthfully about love, heartfelt, warm, funny and light hearted read, this made me think about my own relationships.

I’m always eager to try new authors, and this debut novel did not disappoint.

Grace Cavanaugh was a charming character. She was spirited, intelligent, and had a great sense of humour. Her great aunt, eighty-six year old Maggie Reilly, was also a quirky and likeable woman.

The title of this novel originates from the setting. Hungry Hill is a section of Springfield, Massachusetts. This is the neighbourhood where great aunt Maggie has lived her entire life. Grace moves from her home in Greenwich, Connecticut to help her.

This novel covered themes of loss, starting over, and the challenges that being a caregiver can present. I was a bit surprised at the amount of lust and sexual innuendo, but I got over that. Grace was trying to accept the loss of her husband and she found that her Aunt Maggie needed her – possibly as much as Grace needed a change of scene to move on from her loss.

Grace’s two dogs added some levity to the story (and some solace for Maggie). Dog lovers will be especially appreciative of this novel. Ellen was an gigantic Irish Wolfhound, and Stogie, was a small terrier/mutt who resembled a fat brown cigar.

Written with compassion and humour, this novel was an entertaining and compassionate read. Recommended!

I don’t usually gravitate towards romance novels and was not expecting Hungry Hill to be one. That said, it has been a very long time since I have planted myself in a comfy chair to read, read, read until the book was done. Among the themes are love, grief, letting go, family, community. I cared about the characters. And there was romance! The novel is compulsively readable and filled with romance and humor. This is Eileen Patricia Curran’s first novel. I consider it a light read and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a flirty romance or is looking for something lighter to read between heavier books. Thank you to Net Galley and Kinsale Press for this good read!

I received a copy of Hungry Hill by Eileen Patricia Curran from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I almost lost my husband in 2018 to a stroke. Fortunately, he survived and even recovered almost 100%. Still, the trauma of that near-loss remains with me today and I was astounded at the emotions I felt and still am dealing with four years later.

And I think that's what drew me to Hungry Hill. I watched Maggie Reilly deal with a grief I came all too close to experiencing and really wanted to see how she rebuilt her life when her very foundations were rocked to their core.

Hungry Hill made me confront the questions I almost had to deal with, but fortunately was spared from...for now. Which is one of the greatest benefits to reading fiction we can ask for.

Grace Cavanaugh just lost her husband. She moved out of their beautiful Victorian home and moved into an apartment with her dogs. She is depressed and doesn't know what to do. She hears from her aunt who she hasn't seen in years. They were very close years ago and now Maggie, who is 87 years old needs her help. This would mean moving into her aunt's house which Grace sees as a good change for her. The relationship between Grace and Maggie reignites and the banter between them is humorous and realistic. Grace also meets Maggie's neighbors who are two young brothers who help Grace to care for her aunt and also help Grace to come back to life.

(ENGLISH REVIEW BELOW)
Un roman qui se voulait touchant, que j'ai apprécié malgré la distance que je ressentais avec l'histoire.
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Dans ce roman, à travers nos protagonistes, Grace et Maggie, l'autrice aborde des sujets difficiles tels que le deuil, la vieillesse et le manque d'amour. Grace se sent comme si elle avait tout perdu suite au décès de son mari et Maggie, elle, perd peu à peu de sa vitalité.
J'ai bien apprécié suivre la construction de la relation entre les 2 femmes, qui ne se sont pas vues depuis des années. 2 femmes d'une génération différente qui ont des choses à apporter à l'autre. Leur affection et leur reconnaissance pour l'autre m'ont attendrie.
Le style d'écriture est plaisant. J'ai le sentiment que l'autrice a voulu faire passer mille et une émotions à travers son texte.
Je suis malheureusement restée imperturbable pendant ma lecture. Mais malgré ça, ça ne m'a pas empêché d'apprécier le développement de la psychologie des personnages, leur reconstruction en tant que personne et leur parcours de vie.

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ENGLISH REVIEW

A book that was intended to be touching, which I enjoyed despite the distance I felt with the story.
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Grace Cavanaugh is intelligent, kind-and a bit of a wise ass. Lately, though, she's also something else: completely lost and just a little crazy. Her entire world has collapsed since Valentine's Day, when her husband, Michael, died unexpectedly after a romantic dinner celebrating their devotion. With her world turned upside down, she abandons the couple's gorgeous Victorian mansion and retreats to a cramped apartment with their three dogs in tow. Living in misery, barely finding energy to walk the dogs, Grace succumbs to her sorrow.
Just as she hits bottom, a relative she hasn't seen in years calls out of the blue. Maggie Reilly, her eighty-six-year-old great aunt who still lives in the house she was born in, has troubles of her own. She desperately needs a family member to take care of her, so she reaches out to Grace hoping the bond they shared decades ago remains strong enough to bring her great niece back home.
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In this book, through our protagonists, Grace and Maggie, the author tackles difficult subjects such as mourning, old age and lack of love. Grace feels as if she has lost everything following the death of her husband and Maggie is slowly losing her vitality.
I enjoyed following the construction of the relationship between the 2 women, who have not seen each other for years. 2 women from a different generation who have something to offer each other. Their affection and their recognition for the other touched me.
The writing style is fun. I have the feeling that the author wanted to convey a thousand and one emotions through her text.
Unfortunately, I remained unfazed while reading. But despite that, it didn't prevent me from appreciating the development of the psychology of the characters, their reconstruction as a person and their life course.

This was a very good book about duty and honor while being fun too. I loved the writing style. Aunty was fun and I enjoyed the characters growth.

Hungry Hill is an impressive work. It is complex but so interesting. Maggie is my favorite character and could very well be my role model. Grace exhausted me and was probably meant to do so. This was a story that I enjoyed.
Many thanks to Kinsale Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A beautiful account of terminal illness that really rings true. Maggie's final days are so hauntingly accurate to those I've experienced with loved ones. I really liked the intimacy of the novel and the attention paid to small moments.

The novel's biggest weakness, and the reason I've given it four, not five stars, is the relationship between Matt and Grace. I felt it lacked depth, like the difficulties weren't explored properly and it instead relied too much on sexual chemistry.

In the beginning of Hungry Hill, by Eileen Patricia Curran, Great-Aunt Maggie calls Grace and asks her to some home to Springfield, MA, and help out for a while. They both know the state of Maggie’s health and they know that “for a while” actually means until Maggie dies or is completely unable to live at home any more, without actually saying that. Grace, recently widowed with nothing much holding her in Connecticut, arrives with her dogs almost immediately. They haven’t been especially close recently, so it takes some effort for Maggie to reach out, but Maggie and Grace quickly reestablish the special friendship they had when Grace was a little girl.

Hungry Hill is wonderfully New England-y, with constant little wealthy Connecticut jabs at working-class Mass. (So many people in New England grew up in a small mill town and now drop their new, upscale address every chance they get, and I felt like Grace was a real person who’d have jumped into those conversations.)

Grace is irreverent and mouthy, but the novel drags when every single person Grace meets also has a smart mouth. It’s funny at first, but soon starts to feel like every single person in the novel is doing a bit. Surely someone in the greater Springfield area speaks directly? Isn’t there a minor character who could be confused or annoyed by the constant snappy comebacks? This is definitely Grace’s personality, but she doesn’t feel like a clever standout.

The romance storyline is a bit flat, but I think that’s ok that Matt seemed a bit underdeveloped because the story is more about Grace deciding there’s life after her beloved husband’s death than about whether Matt is the person she’s going to stay with. He’s handsome, with instant chemistry, and the inevitable snappy dialogue with Grace. The important part is that Grace lets herself connect with someone else — that connection with others really is the heart of the story.

The main story in Hungry Hill, about Maggie’s illness and Grace’s healing, stays strong. Grace is able to help Maggie in her illness and at the end of Maggie’s life, and both women have to accept this part of the journey. Just as Maggie had to admit weakness and accept help in her illness, Grace also has to admit weakness in her grief. At the end of her life, Maggie is surrounded by friends, neighbors, relatives, her priest and others from her church, just a wide community of affection, even though she never married or had children. This is, overall, a novel about the strength found in choosing community and connection in adversity, instead of isolating ourselves, even when that seems easier.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Grace, recently widowed, leaves her home to take care of her beloved elderly aunt. Through her new circumstances, she learns how to live again.

A story, ultimately, about love. A novel about Grace, it was easy to read and made me think about my own relationships.

A folksy, down to earth approach to grief. Grace Cavanaugh is grieving the loss of her husband and great aunt Maggie, who is dying. I enjoyed all of the characters including
It was a heartfelt, warm, funny, light hearted read.
Thank you NetGalley and Kinsale Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Grace is dealing with depression after the recent death of her husband. She moves from Greenwich Connecticut to Hungry Hill to help her ailing 86-year-old great-aunt. The book started out OK but went down hill fast. After Grace arrived at her aunt's house, she immediately starts having an affair with the younger neighbor, she leaves her ailing aunt alone to go on shopping sprees, flaunts her money and looks, and the list goes on. There is little that is good to say about the main character of this book. I was disappointed in this book. Thanks to author Eileen Patricia Curran, publisher Kinsale Press, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for an honest review.

Grace has lost her husband a year ago and she is floundering with her two dogs. Grace's great aunt Maggie (who both share the same birthday) is 86 and has terminal cancer. Maggie has asked Grace to move in to help her in her time of need. Grace is still grieving her husband but she is close to Maggie so she can not so no. Grace and Maggie's relationship is humorous and it helps to get them both past the days and weeks. I inhaled this book and would recommend it. Thank you Netgalley for the arc and Eileen Curran for an exception read.

I had a hard time connecting with Grace. I have been in these caretaking and grieving situations and her experience was not mine and kind of distracted me. Maybe it was also life circumstances for me right now?

Eileen Patricia Curran has written a beautiful novel on the importance of relationships during the most challenging times in our lives. Grace Cavanaugh is mourning the unexpected death of her husband, Michael, when she agrees to shepherd her great aunt, Maggie, through her last days battling terminal cancer. With easy to read prose, natural banter between family and friends, this book teaches the importance that healing from grief takes time, love and purpose. Comfortable and comforting with very relatable characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for another opportunity to become acquainted with an author I might not have otherwise discovered.

I am unfortunately finding it next to impossible to get into this book. The dialogue is incredibly stilted and awkward and fairly painful to read… It was hard to see where, if anywhere; the story was going.