The Woman on the Bridge: You saw The Girl on the Train. You watched The Woman in the Window. Now meet The Woman on the Bridge

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The novel grew on this reviewer. At first, it seems simplistic with broad brush strokes used to relate what is going on politically. And annoyingly, the burgeoning love story between Winnie and Joseph is signposted by that most formulaic of devices, namely sparring and arguing to indicate sexual tension. Sheila O'Flanagan has accomplished what many have tried and few have been successful at doing. She has put a human face on Ireland's history while making all the myriad allegiances, battles, uprisings, rebellions, and suffering understandable to the lay reader. It is obvious that this novel was intensely researched in addition to the wealth of the author's own family archives. Despite her misgivings, the alluring young man, Joseph Burke, draws Winnie into politics that she’d rather avoid. Not because she doesn’t want freedom: she does. But even more, she wants to keep her family safe – and her father has already been shot. But there is no safety for anyone. Her father had been an innocent bystander, and Winnie’s troubles escalate as she becomes drawn into Joseph’s family and their struggle for a republic. Established author and contemporary fiction writer Sheila O’Flanagan delves into the world of historical fiction for her newest creative novel.

Overall, The Woman on the Bridge is an atmospheric, absorbing, heartfelt debut in the historical fiction genre for O’Flanagan that does a beautiful job of highlighting her exceptional ability to portray complex, memorable characters, which in this case are based on real-life family members, and historically troubling times in such a way that is not only insightful but also impactful. By the time that year of mourning ended, Michael King was no more. Now that he had jettisoned the alias and his former life as a failed covert operative to double down on his overt life as an Orthodox rabbi and a family man, Meir Kahane could fully embody his most trenchant beliefs. His urgent nationalist fervor for Israel strengthened after the Six-Day War in 1967, as did his sense that he, above all men, had some greater service to impart. The Woman on the Bridge is told across multiple timelines and from various perspectives. As with all of this authors previous books it draws the reader in from the start and keeps you suspended till the very end. There are many twists in this latest book by Seddon and, just when you think you've predicted what is going to come next, she throws in a curveball that sends you spinning in another direction, wondering what the hell just happened!! It's a well drawn plot, with believable characters depicting that we really need to be careful who we trust in this life, some people can be very naive in these situations, whilst others are very convincing in their actions, which Charlotte and Maggie proved on countless occasions. If you love an intriguing read that keeps you guessing throughout, then this one is for you. Her family saw things differently. They saw a girl too wild to be constrained, whose beauty signified danger, whose deep, melodious voice was a siren call, who had to be kept away from the older men who kept coming around, who defied them every chance she had. She felt at odds with her conservative, tight-knit family, whose dreams were largely circumscribed by the edge of Long Island Sound. Joseph and Winnie are like chalk and cheese. While Winnie is happy to keep to the shadows, Joseph is on the front line fighting for his country’s freedom. With his family sheltering fugitives and smuggling weapons, Winnie is fully aware that if she gets involved with him, she would be swapping her quiet and sedate existence for risk, jeopardy and danger on a daily basis. Joseph would not let a single hair on Winnie’s head to be harmed, but with his family demanding full commitment to the cause, will she choose the man she has fallen head over heels in love with over her family’s safety? Or will she wait for a time of peace that might never come?There’s no record of her graduating from Harding High, but she may have switched to another school to complete her studies. She moved to New York City around the age of 18 in hope of launching an acting career, but there are no records to prove how long she stayed. Whatever the case, by the spring of 1966, the 22-year-old’s dark-haired, olive-skinned, blue-eyed beauty opened the door for modeling jobs in Manhattan. And even though the visibility is poor, Charlotte can't help but see the flash of white on the bridge. She believes that her eyes are deceiving her. There's a young woman in a bridal gown clinging to the steel girders. She looks like she's about to jump. Within seconds, Charlotte pulls over and begins to climb with no regard for her own safety. She extends her hand and the frantic woman grabs it just in time. Dublin, Ireland, 1920: a stone crashes through the window of the shop where Winnie O’Leary works. Terror grips the poor girl as she shelters under the counter and listens to battle running in the street outside. Cue romance when an attractive young freedom fighter enters to apologise for the damage – and Winnie gives him an ear-bashing. Her name wasn’t Estelle Evans, and her story was even more tragic and upsetting beyond the dive off the Queensboro Bridge. She took her life because of a romance built on lies. For Michael King’s real name was Meir Kahane. She had fallen for a man who went on to become one of the most notorious and divisive figures in modern Jewish history. She would never know if he loved her or if he used her as he would come to be known for using others to further his own nefarious purposes.

The premise is silly, yet the story reader grabbing and electrifying and the writing beyond superb, the ending shiveringly callous and nasty…… it’s a difficult review to write but I would say give it a go and you might just enjoy it as much as I did in the end On a dark cold evening Charlotte spots a woman perched atop a bridge, ready to fall. Maggie is trapped, dumped on her wedding day and desperate to end it all. Winnie’s story is a typical historical saga, with trouble after trouble piling upon her. It’s not only wars: they also suffer disease, drunken fights, and childbirth. It’s all eminently believable, and an author’s note confirms the inspiration of her grandmother’s oral history. Winnie soldiers on, as she must, earning the label ‘strong woman’. But, despite all her sorrows, the book retains the warmth of hope and of love. Estelle and Laura walked along the lower level of the bridge on the Manhattan side. Laura flagged down a passing car. “Help! Help! She wants to jump!” she cried, grasping at any chance she had to save her friend’s life. The Woman on the Bridge is a complete change of genre for Sheila O’Flanagan. It takes her away from what we have come to know and love her for – women’s fiction and instead delves into historical fiction specifically Ireland’s fight for independence. I admit I was hesitant, given that historical fiction is one of my all-time favourite genres, that the author would be able to switch genres just like that. Well, I can safely say, I needn’t have had any worries at all. The Woman on the Bridge provides the reader with a fascinating insight into the life of an ordinary young woman living in Dublin in the 1920’s detailing her experiences of Ireland’s struggle to win independence form the British.In a country fighting for freedom, it's hard to live a normal life. Winnie O'Leary supports the cause, but she doesn't go looking for trouble. Then rebel Joseph Burke steps into her workplace. Winnie is furious with him about a broken window. She's not interested in romance. But love comes when you least expect it. This is well written and the descriptions of the war, are expertly executed. Sheila O’Flanagan makes the reader believe that they are actually part of the plot.