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The Star and the Shamrock #3
The Hard Way Home
Dublin 1950
Liesl Bannon has never felt like she was truly at home anywhere, not since her mother placed her and her brother Erich on the last Kindertransport out of Berlin in 1939. She’d been so much more fortunate than most Jews, saved from the horrors of the Nazi regime. Being adopted by Elizabeth and Daniel Lieber meant she and Erich spent the war in Northern Ireland, safe and loved, but Liesl always knew something was missing.
When an opportunity to return to Berlin to represent her university presents itself, she is so torn. Should she go back to the city that rejected her and her family, would it be too harrowing, or would it feel like home?
In Berlin, a chance encounter with an old family friend sparks emotions for Liesl that she’d suppressed since she was a child. She finds herself desperately wanting to go back to those carefree days before Hitler, when life made sense, but why was her family so set against her return? Was it because they were worried about her as they claimed, or was there a darker, more sinister reason?
The Hard Way Home is the third book in the best-selling Star and the Shamrock series.
Liesl Bannon has never felt like she was truly at home anywhere, not since her mother placed her and her brother Erich on the last Kindertransport out of Berlin in 1939. She’d been so much more fortunate than most Jews, saved from the horrors of the Nazi regime. Being adopted by Elizabeth and Daniel Lieber meant she and Erich spent the war in Northern Ireland, safe and loved, but Liesl always knew something was missing.
When an opportunity to return to Berlin to represent her university presents itself, she is so torn. Should she go back to the city that rejected her and her family, would it be too harrowing, or would it feel like home?
In Berlin, a chance encounter with an old family friend sparks emotions for Liesl that she’d suppressed since she was a child. She finds herself desperately wanting to go back to those carefree days before Hitler, when life made sense, but why was her family so set against her return? Was it because they were worried about her as they claimed, or was there a darker, more sinister reason?
The Hard Way Home is the third book in the best-selling Star and the Shamrock series.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 16, 2021
About the author
Jean Grainger
69 books1,231 followersJean Grainger was born in Cork, Ireland. She has been a tour guide of her beloved home country, a teacher, a university lecturer and a playwright. She began writing fiction at the suggestion of her clients on tours, many of whom were sure all the stories she told them would make for a great book. Her first book, The Tour, has become a Number 1 bestseller on Amazon. It tells the story of a disparate group of American visitors to Ireland, who, along with their Irish tour guide have a life changing experience in the magical Emerald Isle.
Her second book, So Much Owed, is a family saga set during the Second World War. The story centres on the Buckley family of West Cork and how their lives are pulled in different directions as they become embroiled in the war. It is a sweeping family saga of intrigue and romance against the background of occupied Europe.
In her third novel, Shadow of a Century, she tells a tale of a battered old flag found in New York in 2016, a century after it was used during the Easter Rising, when Ireland made her final bid for freedom from Great Britain. This tells the story of a journalist who uncovers a story, one with much more to it than a flag.
Her fourth novel, due out in Spring 2016, Under Heaven’s Shining Stars, is set in the 1970s in Cork, Ireland and is a novel about friendship. Three boys, Liam, Patrick and Hugo, though from very different backgrounds are united in a deep but often times challenging friendship. As their lives progress, only by staying strong, can they prevail. Or fail.
Her novella, Letters of Freedom, tells the story of Carmel, stuck in a pointless marriage, when a figure from her past emerges and changes everything with a ‘like’ on Facebook. This quick read will touch your heart.
She lives in Cork with her husband and her two youngest children. The older two come home occasionally with laundry and to raid the fridge.
Her second book, So Much Owed, is a family saga set during the Second World War. The story centres on the Buckley family of West Cork and how their lives are pulled in different directions as they become embroiled in the war. It is a sweeping family saga of intrigue and romance against the background of occupied Europe.
In her third novel, Shadow of a Century, she tells a tale of a battered old flag found in New York in 2016, a century after it was used during the Easter Rising, when Ireland made her final bid for freedom from Great Britain. This tells the story of a journalist who uncovers a story, one with much more to it than a flag.
Her fourth novel, due out in Spring 2016, Under Heaven’s Shining Stars, is set in the 1970s in Cork, Ireland and is a novel about friendship. Three boys, Liam, Patrick and Hugo, though from very different backgrounds are united in a deep but often times challenging friendship. As their lives progress, only by staying strong, can they prevail. Or fail.
Her novella, Letters of Freedom, tells the story of Carmel, stuck in a pointless marriage, when a figure from her past emerges and changes everything with a ‘like’ on Facebook. This quick read will touch your heart.
She lives in Cork with her husband and her two youngest children. The older two come home occasionally with laundry and to raid the fridge.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 386 reviews
April 1, 2021
I was about halfway through this book when I thought that this might be the first 4-star review that I’d have to give this author. I thought the protagonist was a silly, star-struck twit, who knowing what her Mutti had been through, would have the audacity to think her mother was lying to her. When I really thought about it, it was because, at her age, I was the same way. Only my parents didn’t try to make me see the truth. But I kept reading and this can be a really hard thing to read about. I know how bad the Nazis were, but reading it made it real. This is tense and suspenseful and not for the faint of heart. But if you persevere, you will be treated to a story full of love, hope, and courage. It will find a way into your heart and change you forever. I can’t urge you enough to read this.
June 27, 2020
In The Hard Way Home, the war has ended. Once again these characters who have become my family, leap off the page and wrap me in their struggles. Reading about war and the aftermath is difficult, but Jean Grainger always makes it worth while. This is an amazing story of faith, love, family, overcoming fear and seeing if you can go home again. It will make you laugh, make you cry and make you rejoice at the human spirit.
June 21, 2020
Jean Grainger writes stories about the human condition and changes the background information to create a new story. This story begins in 1950 Ireland and Germany where we are able to watch and see how people are coping and adjusting to the post war world. As in every human's life there is joy and sadness, love and hate, etc. in this story. Jean is such an adept writer she brings us into their lives and begin caring deeply about her characters. I laughed when they laughed, cried when they cried and fell in love with all of them. A book worth reading.
August 26, 2021
I would have given The Hard Way Home five stars except the beginning was too long and filled with information I already knew from the two earlier books in the series. Having written a trilogy myself, I struggled between the need to inform new readers while not boring previous ones. My publisher insisted I do this though it seemed to me that few would read the third novel in a trilogy without having read volumes one and two. Now for my review.
I thought the previous volume, The Emerald Horizon was dark, with all the difficulties of a Jewish woman trying to hide, and survive, in Berlin during WW2. But this one, with its plot of a woman caught up in an emotional abusive relationship, was hard to read at times. I hope other readers recognized the coercive control Liesl's German boyfriend was applying, although it eventually becomes impossible to ignore. Thankfully, her family helps her see the signs and escape, though not without great cost. I confess that when our heroine gets to Berlin, I thought the author was being too easy on the Nazis. But then the villain is slowly exposed, along with his increasing evil anti-Semitism, and we see the true horror that Hitler wrought.
Yet readers do get the looked-for happy, or at least satisfying, ending. Our heroine finds true love as many of the Kindertransport children, now young adults, leave for new lives in Israel.
I thought the previous volume, The Emerald Horizon was dark, with all the difficulties of a Jewish woman trying to hide, and survive, in Berlin during WW2. But this one, with its plot of a woman caught up in an emotional abusive relationship, was hard to read at times. I hope other readers recognized the coercive control Liesl's German boyfriend was applying, although it eventually becomes impossible to ignore. Thankfully, her family helps her see the signs and escape, though not without great cost. I confess that when our heroine gets to Berlin, I thought the author was being too easy on the Nazis. But then the villain is slowly exposed, along with his increasing evil anti-Semitism, and we see the true horror that Hitler wrought.
Yet readers do get the looked-for happy, or at least satisfying, ending. Our heroine finds true love as many of the Kindertransport children, now young adults, leave for new lives in Israel.
June 16, 2020
The Hard Way Home by Jean Grainger is book three in The Star and the Shamrock series. Set in 1950, the war is over and the Jewish refugees that populate the farm in Ballycreggan are beginning to seek other homes. Liesl, who left Germany on the Kindertransport, is now in college... and searching for her forever love as well as a physical place where she feels she belongs. She was 11 when she left Berlin, old enough to remember, but will a college sponsored trip back to Germany bring her the peace of place she seeks? Ms. Grainger has written a beautiful story of survival and hope, but not without some significant bumps that will keep readers engaged. This is a wonderful series about survival during a horrific time populated with characters that leap off the pages and burrow into a reader’s consciousness. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book. Most highly recommend.
March 5, 2021
3.5 stars
I had to push myself to read the first half of this book. Thankfully after the half way point it got better. I guess the author needed the first half of the book to build the characters and foundation for the rest of the story even though having read the previous two books, I found the repetition brought in from those quite boring. The use of lots of repetition I guess helps the story stick even more 😁
The author does well to take time to build her characters and is able to describe them so aptly that you can visualize and almost feel like you are meeting them.
Overall, this was a solid edition to the star and the shamrock series but yet to decide if I read book 4.
I had to push myself to read the first half of this book. Thankfully after the half way point it got better. I guess the author needed the first half of the book to build the characters and foundation for the rest of the story even though having read the previous two books, I found the repetition brought in from those quite boring. The use of lots of repetition I guess helps the story stick even more 😁
The author does well to take time to build her characters and is able to describe them so aptly that you can visualize and almost feel like you are meeting them.
Overall, this was a solid edition to the star and the shamrock series but yet to decide if I read book 4.
January 22, 2021
This was the third book in the star and shamrock series. It was not as enjoyable as the first 2. They were quick moving and good stories. I’d rate it 2.5 stars because I didn’t dislike it but it could have been a few chapters to finish off the 2nd book. This one focused on the daughter Leisl who returned to Berlin searching for her past during a debate contest. She runs into an old friend who becomes her fiancé. He turns out not to be whom she believed him to be. Lots of words and pages, glad I’ve finished it.
January 14, 2022
I began this journey with a book club, though the book club has yet to meet (virtual) due to illness, I continued with the 3-book series. The characters are well developed and the story is very interesting. It is not an adventure book, and it is a little "sappy," but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Each book in the series ended well, and if you had not read the others, they explained the story thus far, so you weren't lost. Each book also ended (except possibly the first where you didn't know where the mother was) so that if you did not want to continue with the series, you didn't have to. But the characters were so enjoyable, I wanted to know where they ended up.
It is a good story about World War II, the Jewish atrocities by the Nazis, small town life in Ireland, and the goodness of most people. There isn't a lot of violence. There is some sex romance, though not explicit. And some European History.
I enjoyed my read and do recommend the series.
It is a good story about World War II, the Jewish atrocities by the Nazis, small town life in Ireland, and the goodness of most people. There isn't a lot of violence. There is some sex romance, though not explicit. And some European History.
I enjoyed my read and do recommend the series.
June 28, 2020
This is certainly a very thought-provoking and heart-breaking book, which made me feel uncomfortable and sometimes it put me in a melt-down mode. This author truly puts in a great deal of research to write her fictional novels which are often based upon past history, and often unpleasant history, and this one has some difficult scenes. It is not an easy book to read and I am sure it was not an easy part of past history to research or to write about.
I loved following the characters from this series and feel like they are part of my life now. I have been an ARC reader for each and every book written by this author and it has certainly opened my eyes to so many people, places and things.
Well-done, Jean Grainger!
I loved following the characters from this series and feel like they are part of my life now. I have been an ARC reader for each and every book written by this author and it has certainly opened my eyes to so many people, places and things.
Well-done, Jean Grainger!
January 26, 2022
So I didn't realize when I first started this that this was a part of a series.. blonde moment. But I loved it. I love historic fiction and having this post WW2 story was great. Now to go back and read 1 and 2
July 21, 2020
Very good book.
October 6, 2020
Another wonderful read!
July 12, 2021
Another amazing instalment in the series, this is the story of Liesl, her growing up adventures, romances, mistakes, and triumphs. Beautifully told, a story of horror, healing, and amazing love!
October 25, 2021
3.5 stars. This third book in the series carries on the story of the two Jewish children, Liesl and Erich, who were sent by Kindertransport safely out of Berlin during the war. Now Liesl is grown and in college. She goes back to Berlin to a debate contest and faces the old memories. I enjoyed the book, but as others have said there’s so much repetition of events in the first two books. I’m still not sure that a person would enjoy it as a stand-alone. My advice—read the series in order.
August 20, 2022
Mostly about Liesl, this is my favorite of the series so far. I’m so glad these books were recommended to me. On to book four!
May 3, 2023
Loved this book and the series!
July 18, 2024
By far my favorite book in the series!! The characters struggle with modern problem in the 40s and they’re so relatable and the development was amazing
July 6, 2020
Great book!! I loved all the characters in this 3-book series.
May 13, 2022
Amazing!
August 8, 2023
Eh. The first two in the series were sooo much better. The first two were actually about WWll, but this was just the struggle of a young woman in love. I would not recommend
May 19, 2021
Too much redundancy. I understand that in order to connect books in a series it is necessary to reacquaint the reader with facts from the previous book, but it is not necessary to continuously repeat facts. It becomes tiresome.
This picks up with the children of Ariella now grown and Liesl is at Trinity College in Dublin. She develops a romantic interest with a young Irish student, but there are issues resulting from his inability to defend her to his parents who do not accept her being Jewish.
Liesl is selected to attend a debating competition that is to take place in Berlin. This is her first time back in Germany since she was ten and leaving as part of Kindertransport.
While in Germany she reconnects with a childhood friend who helps her take trips down memory Lane, remembering the good things about Germany before Hitler. However, this friend is not who he presents himself to be. What happens is, unfortunately, predictable,
Overall, an average story with a predictable plot. Not what I've come to expect from Ms. Grainger.
This picks up with the children of Ariella now grown and Liesl is at Trinity College in Dublin. She develops a romantic interest with a young Irish student, but there are issues resulting from his inability to defend her to his parents who do not accept her being Jewish.
Liesl is selected to attend a debating competition that is to take place in Berlin. This is her first time back in Germany since she was ten and leaving as part of Kindertransport.
While in Germany she reconnects with a childhood friend who helps her take trips down memory Lane, remembering the good things about Germany before Hitler. However, this friend is not who he presents himself to be. What happens is, unfortunately, predictable,
Overall, an average story with a predictable plot. Not what I've come to expect from Ms. Grainger.
July 15, 2020
An end or a beginning?
i have thoroughly enjoyed all three books in this series. This book leaves room for at least one more book. Liesl's return to Berlin and subsequent involvement with Kurt changes her life forever. Lisa's love for Kurt comes across as intense, but in an adolescent way. But considering she was on the rebound from Jamie and had been buried in her academics, her closeminded obsession with Kurt is understandable. As Kurt shows his true colors, the relationship ends tragically. Lies returns to Ireland and the loose ends her tied up a little too quickly and neatly. But how does her life evolve after that? Maybe a fourth book should be written.
i have thoroughly enjoyed all three books in this series. This book leaves room for at least one more book. Liesl's return to Berlin and subsequent involvement with Kurt changes her life forever. Lisa's love for Kurt comes across as intense, but in an adolescent way. But considering she was on the rebound from Jamie and had been buried in her academics, her closeminded obsession with Kurt is understandable. As Kurt shows his true colors, the relationship ends tragically. Lies returns to Ireland and the loose ends her tied up a little too quickly and neatly. But how does her life evolve after that? Maybe a fourth book should be written.
July 5, 2020
The Hard Way Home: The Star and The Shamrock Book 3 is by Jean Grainger. This Irish author had taken the story of the Kindertransport in Ireland and created this beautiful story of people of all religions, genders, sexes, and nationalities coming together to help those in need and each other. The book is set in Ireland and as the Irish in the story speak, I can hear their voices loud and clear. Jean has done an amazing job of making you feel you are right there in the story.
Liesl and Erick came to Ireland as children and we met them during one of the hardest times of their lived. We came to love them and the people in the town of Ballycreggan and view them as part of our own extended families. We laughed when they laughed, cried when they cried, talked with they talked, and listened to the stories as they told them. We rooted for them and cried for their choices.
Liesl was a debater at Trinity College in Dublin and could relax and ignore the people in the crowd as she prepared for her debate. She didn’t like to debate against her beliefs; but that was why her parents had sent her to college. Now she was free to study for her exams. A few days later, she went to see Professor Kingston. After his congratulations, he tells her she has been nominated to attend the European Intervarsity Union Debates as a representative for Trinity College. What an honor this would be! To compete with the best debators in the world would be a dream come true. She just didn’t know how her Mother would feel. It would mean going back to Berlin where it all started. Could she do it? Would her Mother object?
The book is absolutely marvelous! I highly recommend your picking up any of her books which are in several different series. Any of the series are really good, especially this one.
Liesl and Erick came to Ireland as children and we met them during one of the hardest times of their lived. We came to love them and the people in the town of Ballycreggan and view them as part of our own extended families. We laughed when they laughed, cried when they cried, talked with they talked, and listened to the stories as they told them. We rooted for them and cried for their choices.
Liesl was a debater at Trinity College in Dublin and could relax and ignore the people in the crowd as she prepared for her debate. She didn’t like to debate against her beliefs; but that was why her parents had sent her to college. Now she was free to study for her exams. A few days later, she went to see Professor Kingston. After his congratulations, he tells her she has been nominated to attend the European Intervarsity Union Debates as a representative for Trinity College. What an honor this would be! To compete with the best debators in the world would be a dream come true. She just didn’t know how her Mother would feel. It would mean going back to Berlin where it all started. Could she do it? Would her Mother object?
The book is absolutely marvelous! I highly recommend your picking up any of her books which are in several different series. Any of the series are really good, especially this one.
July 12, 2020
Liesl and Erich’s journey is coming to an end in the third book of The Star and the Shamrock saga and I can help but say that this has been a fascinating story full of emotions, history, adventure, and most importantly great life lessons.
On The Hard Way Home, we see Liesl Bannon facing her future and seeking answers to her many questions and ambitions as she tries to find the place she truly belongs to. Liesl had grown up to be a very independent and successful young woman who is lucky to have the love and support of a large family. However, she feels there is something lacking and that is the assurance of which place on Earth is her home. Throughout the plot, Liesl experiences a bumpy road of a season that takes her from Ireland to Germany. She does find her place but also gets to live what I dare to say a life-changing episode.
While the last novel brings to light the war trauma subject, this time the author guides us through the recovery process and the assumption of a strong spirit of achievement to overcome the past and move on. But it also recovers a concept of equality and appreciation for the goodness of those who fought alongside the victims to conquer their destinies.
Please click here to read the full review on my blog: https://sarahjavierblog.wordpress.com...
On The Hard Way Home, we see Liesl Bannon facing her future and seeking answers to her many questions and ambitions as she tries to find the place she truly belongs to. Liesl had grown up to be a very independent and successful young woman who is lucky to have the love and support of a large family. However, she feels there is something lacking and that is the assurance of which place on Earth is her home. Throughout the plot, Liesl experiences a bumpy road of a season that takes her from Ireland to Germany. She does find her place but also gets to live what I dare to say a life-changing episode.
While the last novel brings to light the war trauma subject, this time the author guides us through the recovery process and the assumption of a strong spirit of achievement to overcome the past and move on. But it also recovers a concept of equality and appreciation for the goodness of those who fought alongside the victims to conquer their destinies.
Please click here to read the full review on my blog: https://sarahjavierblog.wordpress.com...
March 14, 2021
I'm sad to give this book so few stars, as I really enjoyed the first two books in this series. I also enjoyed the beginning and very end of this one, and the entire thing was well written. Unfortunately I was really triggered by the abusive relationship Liesl finds herself in, and struggled to get through the middle half of the book, where this storyline plays a prominent role. I'm still going to read the 4th book in the series, because I've really connected with the characters and have thought a lot about the real- life aspects of this time period that are being represented. The experiences of those who lived through the horrors of Nazi Germany and World War II shouldn't be forgotten, even in fiction. So I'm looking forward to the next book, I just wish this one hadn't played out the way it did for Liesl.
July 8, 2020
A disappointing conclusion to what had been a great series.
One key issue distracts me from anything of value I might find in this book: it actively promotes sex before marriage as a completely acceptable option with multiple characters.
I wanted to see the plot out to the finish, but this is not a book I'd recommend, and due to the conclusion of the trilogy, I should probably put a caveat on my reviews for the first two books.
One key issue distracts me from anything of value I might find in this book: it actively promotes sex before marriage as a completely acceptable option with multiple characters.
I wanted to see the plot out to the finish, but this is not a book I'd recommend, and due to the conclusion of the trilogy, I should probably put a caveat on my reviews for the first two books.
June 27, 2020
This book rounded out the Star and the Shamrock series by Jean Grainger. This story took Leisl from Germany to Northern Ireland, on the Kindertransport during WWII, back to Germany after the war...The way Mrs. Grainger writes really has a way of putting you in her stories, you actually feel the characters, you see them as well as the surrounding area...Like all of her books, they are based in history, which is what makes them so interesting...If you would like a really good book you would be doing yourself a favor by downloading, or buying a copy...I am on the ARC and am not paid for my review.
July 8, 2020
I enjoyed the first two of this trilogy very much but found this one disappointing. The anti-semitic language, even from the Nazi character, was innappropriate and more vile than neccessary. The repetition of the previous book's storyline I found boring as well.
April 8, 2023
Amazing stories about Amazing Survivors!
I have just finished "The Hard Way Home" and can't wait to read #4. I feel as if I now know these people!
The unbelievable cruelty they endured made me realize how fortunate I am.
I have just finished "The Hard Way Home" and can't wait to read #4. I feel as if I now know these people!
The unbelievable cruelty they endured made me realize how fortunate I am.
June 15, 2021
Excellent
Terrific read great continuation of the characters lives. Wrapped up some questions from the previous book too. Enjoyed it on to number four.
Terrific read great continuation of the characters lives. Wrapped up some questions from the previous book too. Enjoyed it on to number four.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 386 reviews