What readers think of Mimi Malloy, At Last!, plus links to write your own review.

Although it has a fairy tale ending, Mimi's road to the dance involves more than just a palace ball. Mimi's journey, despite the dark spots of child abuse and memories lost then found, includes a functionally dysfunctional family, a Yick Yack Club, good lonely hearts, and daily Manhatten libations woven between the crooning of Frank Sinatra songs, literally snatches you in and never eases its grip until the last page.

Julia MacDonnell's novel, Mimi Malloy At Last held me captive from the first page. I often found myself losing track of time, reading late into the night. The novel deals with issues facing an extended contemporary New England family. Many of the family's concerns will speak to Baby Boomers who have retired or are planning to retire. MacDonnell has assembled a diverse family of female characters: mothers, sisters and daughters with such detailed personalities the reader may recognize many of their traits in their own family members. The novel, while set in present day New England takes us back to Mimi's long forgotten childhood trauma, repressed as a survival instinct that will no longer be denied resolution. These lost memories are critical to Mimi's health and happiness. The people and the plot are so completely believable that at times I felt that I was reading a biography.

Mimi Malloy At Last is that perfect book to read on a cold winter afternoon or to take along on a hot summer day at the beach. Mimi Malloy At Last is a must read and has earned a place on my read again bookshelf.

Mimi Malloy at Last is an adventure where a family finds a gap in their family tree. After World War II the Irish Catholic family did not move from Quincy, Massachusetts so they were able to revisit their earlier haunts and homes to relive those memories. It is surprising what they uncovered. Once revealed, the family sighs a big relief and become close again. Mimi Malloy at Last reveals how earlier misconceptions of family life can wreak havoc with sibling hurt feelings, misunderstandings and relationships. Julie MacDonnell handled the mystery with deep understanding and sensitivity. I thoroughly enjoyed going down memory lane with the Malloys and revisiting Quincy in that era after World War II. I look forward to reading MacDonnell's next book.

This story at first glance is about loss, but as you read deeper it is also about the narrator coming to terms with her past. The book held my attention from the beginning. I enjoyed hearing about her life and especially seeing her come to terms with past memories. It was definitely a page turner. I would like to read more from this author.

What a great read! I so enjoyed Julia MacDonnell's story, "Mimi Malloy, At Last", that I could not put it down. A clever way to present a fairy tale so real that I not only identified with her but also identified my mother in her. The deep Irish secret of the past is a mystery that keeps the reader turning pages. The end of the story satisfies without wrapping it up in the infamous fairy tale ending.

We read the Coming of Age books but this is the opposite. This book is the Autumn of Age. It is a great story of a Mom with six daughters all different personalities of course. What has happened to make Mimi a little withdrawn and why do her girls think there is some secret that is with held from them.
This is a book for Mothers and Daughters and even has an edge of romance to the story.

My mother was born nearly the same year as Mimi, the middle of 10 children, 7 of them girls. She has never talked about her childhood and steered us away when we tried to ask. She had no missing sisters and her parents lived to ripe old age, but there is something about that era that keeps many people from discussing - or even remembering - it; whether the reasons be deep family secrets or the hardship of growing up on a farm during the depression. Hurrah for Mimi and the women in her family who, however, unwillingly, face the past so they can face the future.

This is not one of those "delightful" stories by any means. Mimi had a sad life as a child and it followed her into adulthood. How much sadness, especially beginning in childhood, can one person endure. The death of her mother and the appearance of the "UGLY stepmother" put it all into motion. Then trying to remember as an adult what happened in her childhood, I felt Mimi's memory was blocked due to her experience. Then to top it off, loosing her husband to another woman after have six children was another devastating blow.

In the story of Cinderella, Cinderella got away from her stepmother and found her prince charming. Has Mimi now found her prince charming after all the heartaches she has been through. I felt the author did a great job telling the story in Mimi's voice and leading us on through her story to the tragic outcome. This story was mesmerizing and I could not put the book down once I started reading it.