#BlogTour-‘The Unmaking Of Ellie Rook’ by Sandra Ireland

About the book…

A single phone call from halfway across the world is all it takes to bring her home . . . ‘Ellie, something bad has happened.’

Desperate to escape her ‘kid from the scrapyard’ reputation, Ellie Rook has forged a new life for herself abroad, but tragedy strikes when her mother, Imelda, falls from a notorious waterfall. Here, according to local legend, the warrior queen Finella jumped to her death after killing a king. In the wake of her mother’s disappearance, Ellie is forced to confront some disturbing truths about the family she left behind and the woman she has become.

Can a long-dead queen hold the key to Ellie’s survival? And how far will she go to right a wrong?

This is a truly magical novel that I would defy anyone reading it not to be moved by. How far can you run to get away from yourself?

No matter where in the world you go(and in Ellie’s case it’s Vietnam), something or someone will eventually pull you home-whether duty or a longing to reconnect, this happens to Ellie when her mother goes missing, and is presumed dead.

Her connection to a Pictish queen via her name, the location of her mother’s disappearance (the site of Finella, the Pictish Queen’s defiant last act) all conspire to bring Ellie head long into confrontation with the girl she used to be and the woman she is now.

Sandra Ireland creates a character study with real depth and warmth, it’s impossible not to ache for childhood Ellie and the longlasting effect that her father’s behaviour had. It feels like his phonecall bringing Ellie home is a reminder that no matter where she goes, and for how long, he will always have the power to try and reduce her again.

Was Ellie’s mum staging one last final act of defiance in the war against her father or has she truly escaped? And will Ellie ever reconcile herself with her past and finally move on?

Read ‘The Unmaking Of Ellie Rook’ and find out!

Many thanks to Kelly of Love Books Group for having me along on the blogtour and for my paperback review copy of ‘The Unmaking Of Ellie Rook’

About the author…

Sandra Ireland was born in Yorkshire, lived for many years in Éire, and is now based in Angus, Scotland. She began her writing career as a correspondent on a local newspaper, but quickly realised that fiction is much more intriguing than fact. In 2013 she was awarded a Carnegie-Cameron Scholarship to study for an Mlitt in Writing Practice and Study at the University of Dundee, graduating with a distinction in 2014.