Little Lovely Things: A Novel

Little Lovely Things is a book that demands discussion. When the last of Author Connolly’s beautiful words had faded, the gripping story continued to echo within me. Readers, I need to discuss this book with you. (So spell-bound was I- I sent the author amateurish questions and she kindly answered them. Let’s spare her. You can all talk to me instead. Or discuss it with your book club.)Why did this book affect me? The book blurb, and many reviewers, tell the beginning of the story. Claire is driving with her children when she is overwhelmed by sickness. She pulls into a gas station, leaves her kids in the running car, and the car is taken while she’s in the bathroom.Moms, how many sleep-ending 3 am panic attacks begin with, “What if someone took my kids?” But this is just the start of the story. The point of view shifts throughout the rest of the book so that we see the aftermath through the eyes and hearts of the other characters. The kidnappers, the interested witness, and a young girl are vivid, colorful and deep characters.There are many “little, lovely things” in this book. The kidnapped children, a dress with special charms, a stone from Lake Michigan, the legends of the Lakota and Irish, a child’s drawings, a memory of bubble bath, isn’t this what fills a life? Author Connolly is a masterful storyteller, who blends lyrical metaphors and similes with grim passions and uplifting sweetness to create a story you can’t put down, and can’t forget.In some ways, this book reminds me of What was Mine by Helen Klein Roth, which also focuses on the kidnapper and the years after. Like this book, the point isn’t so much on who is good or who is bad, but rather on how we all manage to keep going day after day. And how, once the dust settles, we still have our little lovely things.I’m glad I overcame my mommy anxieties and bought and read this book. Highly recommend.

This amazing thriller / family drama earned <b>4.5 Stars</b> from me!<b>SUMMARY</b>It's literally every parents worst nightmare, you look away for one minute and your children disappear! You can be Mother of the Year 364 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes a year and then literally have one bad minute and lose everything.Glen and Claire are very busy but loving parents to 4 year old Andrea and 1 year old Lily. Glen is a teacher and high school football coach and Claire is finishing up her residency, very close to becoming a full fledged doctor. With two little girls, a mortgage and crazy schedules, they cannot wait for Claire to complete her training, earn a full salary and begin to have a more stable schedule! They are both exhausted but extremely happy."That Day" was no different than any other Saturday morning. Glen helped get the kids ready before running out to coach the football team, Claire was scrambling to get ready for work, the kids were fighting over a toy. It really could have been any other day. But then as she was driving down the highway in her way to work with the kids napping in their car seats, Claire started feeling funny. Was it possible she was having an allergic reaction to a vaccination she recently received? She was forced to pull over into a has station in a shady part of town, barely making it to the bathroom before being horribly sick. She left the door open so she could keep an eye on the car, but she passed. When she awoke, the bathroom door was closed and her car was gone, along with her babies!The book tracks the police investigation and follows the family through the horror of not knowing what happened. It's told from the point of view of Claire, Andrea, Moira (the woman who was involved in the kidnapping) and Jay (a man who accidentally became involved in the story).<b>WHAT I LOVED</b>I cannot lie, I was completely hesitant to read a book about children being abducted. I picked it up and put it down twice but ended up reading it because it had received so many great reviews from my GR Friends. I am glad I did!The most impressive part of this book is that it's author, Maureen Joyce Connolly's debut novel. I am definitely looking forward to her second!Jay White may have been my favorite part of the book. He, reluctantly, became involved and brought so much depth to the story. I loved the whole mysticism that came along with his Lakota Indian heritage.The setting was interesting on a couple of different levels. I absolutely LOVED the Chicago and small towns surrounding Lake Michigan as the physical setting. It's such a lovely part of the country. Author, Connolly, did a fantastic job bringing it to life through her vivid descriptions.Another interesting aspect to the setting was the time period. The kidnapping took place in 1991, which opened the possibility of the story ending with the family being reunited fifteen or twenty years later. I'm not saying that is what happened, but as I was reading, I was preparing myself for that as an ending. The 1991 setting made me wonder throughout the book if the crime would have been solved faster or prevented with modern technology such as Amber Alerts, car trackers, social media etc. I spent a lot of time having "deep thoughts" about it.I'm addition to being immersed in Lakota Indian culture, the reader was also introduced to Traveller (modern day gypsy) culture. I found this particularly interested since it tends to be a very closed society.I loved Claire. She is so relatable as an over worked, over tired mom trying to do it all! I think many women can relate to her constant state of chaos. I think that as moms, most of us have had at least one moment in a lifetime of responsible parenting that we wish we could take back. Most of us don't end up losing out children over that moment, but it's all the luck if the draw. Its impossible to be perfect all the time.<b>WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE</b>I loved almost everything about this book, but there were a couple parts that were hard to read!!! No one wants to be inside the read of a terrified 4 year old who misses her mommy. That was difficult, but aside from that, it was such a great story.<b>OVERALL</b>A fantastic debut novel! This would make a great book club selection.

from the start of the book, i love to read the family love of Claire and Glen with their children, Andrea and Lily. i share Claire's fear and heartache over her missing children and how i wish that she had left the car and the children under the scruity of the people working at the Shell gas station. At least they would be safe. My heart ached when Moira and her boyfriend forced the children into the heated trunk thereby killing innocent Lily. However, i feared for Andrea who survived and fortunately was not abused physically by Moria boyfriend (as the book did not indicated). I could only understand the strain of the missing children have on their marriage and it is truly a miracle that Jay managed to link missing Andrea to the photo if only it was not distorted in image. I really cried when Glen reached across to reach Andrea with tears running down from his eyes to his jawline and Claire sobbing away when she saw the medallion in Andrea's palm. fortunately it was a happy ending though we missed Lily terribly. i really hope that Maureen Joyce Connelly will make us happy by writing another book that addresses Claire's, Glen's and Andrea's lives after the reunion and whether Claire will have another one or two more babies after loosing Lily. Four years of loosing parental love is alot and I hope the next book will tell us how Andrea blossom under the parental love of Claire and Glen and the Clare and Glen were having an ever happy life thereafter. Please do write the second book to this lovely book, Little Lovely Things.

Too much narration.Story is wonderful.Could not get hooked by the characters except for Jay White.Moria was despicable.

🎉Book Tours 🎉#suzyapprovedbooktours#MaureenJoyceConnollyMy Review☕☕☕☕☕Thank you. For Having me onThis Tour..🎉🎉This is such a fabulous. Book page turner for sure.80 pages in and this is a book you won't want to put down it's that good.Oh my goodness the things that happen already in this book not one you will want to put down if you haven't read this book definitely pick it up and check it out loving this story..Sad. But really a good book.A story about a mother who was in a hurry .But in route to her destination became very sick. Made a pit stop at a gas station. Left the car running with her two little girls in the backseat..This changed, Her whole life.When she emerged from the restroom car and children gone.Moria and Eamon are such a part of this story. Things that will take place. Unreal.Claire and Glen.The parents of these two young girls go through so much.Losing two young daughters.But will they find their way back to each other.. and well there's more to this story it's one that I read into settings kept me up till 3 a.m. I guarantee you this is a good book.I definitely loved this book we'll be looking for more books by this author...#LittleLovelyThings

I love this story. So heart wrenching. I won't give anything away. I just want to say that the author really nailed the emotion within the characters experiencing the situations they were in. I'm sad it ended and the only criticism I have is that I wanted more. Maybe I'm greedy, but I wanted just a little more story. An epilog. Something. There were just a couple loose ends dangling in the breeze I'd like tied up, otherwise it was very well done. I rarely write reviews on books. I had to express my feelings on this. I want to know what happened to acertain key character and how everyone else is doing now.Oh and I appreciate that the dog held the grieving parents together. There's always a great opportunity for a beloved pet.

Claire Rawlings is experiencing every parents worst nightmare, She was on her way to work at a Chicago hospital where she is a resident when she starts to feel sick. Her two daughter Andrea and Lily in the car with her. Claire knows she is never going to make it to work before she gets sick so she pulls up the highway into a gas station. If is not in the best part of town but Claire has not choice. She pulls bu the bathrooms, the girls are sound asleep, she leaves the door slightly opened so she can keep a eye on the girls and also hear them of they call her.Before long Claire pass out when she wakes up the bathroom is dark and the door is closed. She gets to the door when she opened it both the car and the girls are gone. She asks for help, the police and her husband Glen are both called. But there is no sign of either girl. Each passing day and the girls are not found. What happened t0 Andrea and Lily?Who took them and why? Will Andrea and Glenn ever be reunited with the girls?This is a suspenseful book that pulled me. I kept turning pages and staying up late read. This is the author debut book and I am looking forward to her next one.

Little Lovely Things was so intense and emotional! I’m writing this review as I have just finished the book, and I am in tears and left wanting more. This story just ended too abruptly, and personally for me, I need some more closure.The characters and the storyline are so well thought out, and as a mother myself I connected with Claire’s character on so many levels. I just could never imagine being in Claire Rawlings shoes. I would have given this book five stars, but I just wasn’t ready for it to end yet. This book will not be forgettable any time soon- I highly recommend reading this one!

At first I thought this would be a very unrealistic story but was I wrong. It's very well done and, yes, this could happen to anyone. That poor woman. Those poor children. I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the read, but was disappointed when it ended so abruptly.

This is a good read! very intriguing. Love the characters and stayed up all night to finish it

This book is the definition of a ‘page-turner’...a fast-paced and gripping read.Initially I thought this was going to be a crime/thriller...but there was so much more to this book that makes it quite difficult to categorise into one genre, and also quite difficult to write about without giving too much away.Alternating between 4 character perspectives, Connolly deals with the emotional aftermath of trauma, and the question of identity. She touches on fate and spirituality, predominantly through the character of Jay, which was perhaps my favourite element of the book, and the only element I wish she had explored just a little more, perhaps with an extra chapter.Maintaining an element of uncertainty throughout its entirety, Connolly succeeded in ensuring that this was not a predictable read. Though I must admit, once it did conclude, I was craving an epilogue just to extend what I felt was a slightly rushed ending to pull all of the strands together.As I was reading, I felt I was almost visualising this as a screenplay, and think with the depth of characters and element of suspense, it would make for a brilliant film!

Great Novel. Have recommended this book to friends. Found I wanted to keep reading it.

In the first third of this book Connolly manages to create and sustain an atmosphere that is cleverly unsettling and unpredictable.Unfortunately it all goes downhill after this.The action slows,the prose becomes more descriptive and the characters aren't strong enough to generate any interest.Predictable from more than halfway out with a safe,formulaic ending.