I surprised myself by enjoying this story, considering that it is about the secrets and the shadowy negatives of an extremely complicated family. What I liked the most about it is the change in the protagonist Eliza Conroy, a girl in her late teens, by the time the story wrapped up at the end. Then, the characterization itself is first-rate, which made up for the gory facts behind most of the actions.

In the story, Eliza has postponed attending the university even though she wants it and has the means for it. The reason is the family business with a B&B and several rental cottages. One day, she comes home to find her mother Annie in the bathtub with a slit wrist, an apparent suicide. With some help from their veterinarian’s son, she manages to take her mother to the hospital, and the story continues from there with Eliza trying to solve the mystery of why Annie Conroy became so despondent.

The setting for this dramatic story is a small town in the west coast of Ireland, although Ireland has little to do with the plot, as this story might happen anywhere.

Besides the family members, there are several other seemingly secondary characters who, at times, sneak into the front row, but this is not a bad thing. It only makes the story more interesting. In fact, if it weren’t for all those characters, the mystery wouldn’t be a mystery but would emit the illusion of a sappy daytime drama.

The characterization is outstanding, and each character is given his or her due place and importance. While the real villain has lurked quietly in the background, finding out that he is the villain at the end made the story even more confounding and thought-provoking.

Eliza as a character has a swinging best friend Fiona, Eliza's Da, a somewhat distant and mostly drunk father figure who always sticks with his best friend Paddy, Maeve the housekeeper, an old school teacher from her high-school days, and a not too many boyfriends. Except for her mother’s gloom, Eliza seems to have an okay life, but this is only in the beginning. When she starts to poke into the mystery of why her mother tried to kill herself, the readers find out with her the family secrets and the well-hidden facts about almost every character.

Although I did enjoy reading this story, I found its turns and twists to be excessive, especially after somewhere in the middle of its dark plot. I believe too much twisting toward the end, especially when it involves several characters, can lead a reader’s attention astray.

Still, the writing is very good with a satisfactory resolution of the plot and the superb characterization, which has enhanced greatly the quality of this novel.

how Eliza's character evolved.

a bit shocked at the revelations at its ending pages.

is Therese Pautz, an attorney, entrepreneur, and public speaker. She currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is her first book.

it is really a very good mystery, even if it is about a family, its members, and how they relate to one another; also, because those the reader thinks might be good characters end up falling pretty low on the morality scale.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Rain and Revelation   from Amazon.Com!

Created Jul 17, 2020 at 6:04pm • Submit your own review...