Judith Cuffe lives in County Wicklow, Ireland and this is the second novel in the Evolve trilogy; I have not read the first -- When Destiny Sings.

This is not a story to be read in one sitting, as it is shown on the Kindle to be almost a 7 hour-read. But because it is a complex story it can't be told in a shorter time. The prologue sums up the rest of the story, but not completely, and the reader is not aware this is not the beginning of the story, but actually the end, and might be a bit confused for a chapter or so.

Ann Maguire has returned to Knockmore, a small Irish community where of course, everyone knows everyone else's history and "business." But the story is as much about Knockmore House and its story as about Ann, who left at age 17. Ann has mixed feelings about the house, and has returned to Knockmore to find the truth that would set her spirit free. Ann has been living in Dublin, working as an accountant, separated from a cheating husband and living with her best friend, Sophie for six months. Now she is moving into a tiny house where she grew up, which was kept by her Aunt Lucie, her father's sister now in Australia.

After meeting with her loud and nosy neighbor, Tracy and her 3 young boys, Ann becomes close friends with Denise, the owner of the coffee/tea house which connects to a mortuary, and Ian, local hardware store owner, who both become very supportive of her in her trials.

Into the mix the author has put a family with serious and ongoing issues, Eugene and Olive Dempsey with their adult children, Jessica and Mark, who lives in Dublin, and who are now residents of the Knockmore House. Olive is an unusual, rich and bored woman, whose plan for "modernizing" the house creates an unexpected turn of the story, leading to surprising occurrences.

This book requires conscious reading, as one tends to be absorbed into the many issues involving the main characters, Ann's personal growth, and her evolving into a love-filled life, unimagined until the last few chapters. ( )