Mary Lavelle

Mary Lavelle, a beautiful young Irish woman, travels to Spain to see some of the world before marrying her steadfast fiance John. But despite the enchanting surroundings and her three charming charges, life as governess to the wealthy Areavaga family is lonely and she is homesick.

Then comes the arrival of the family's handsome, passionate - and married - son Juanito and Mary's loyalties and beliefs are challenged. Falling in love with Juanito and with Spain, Mary finds herself at the heart of a family and a nation divided.

“She writes with almost poetic intensity of the ecstasy and anguish of love-- Val Hennessy”

'A superior type of romantic novel...quasi-intelligent and discursive, colourful and unorthodox' TLS *'She writes with almost poetic intensity of the ecstasy and anguish of love' Val Hennessy

Kate O'Brien (1897-1974), one of Ireland's greatest and best-loved writers, was born in Limerick. As well as writing plays, travel and biography, she published nine wonderful novels.

Mary Lavelle, a young and beautiful Irish woman, travels to Spain to work as a governess and see a little of life before returning to Mellick to marry her fiance, John. Despite the impressive surroundings and her three charming charges, she finds life as a governess to the Areavaga family lonely. But with the arrival of the family's brilliant but married son, Juanito, Mary finds her loyalties and beliefs challenged by his fiery politics and passion. With characteristic elegance and subtlety, Kate O'Brien, one of Ireland's most beloved writers, illuminates the anguish and ecstasies of a young woman at the heart of a family and a nation divided.

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