Carmen Cullen Knihy

This beautifully illustrated collection will introduce your children to the magic and mystery of a world beyond their imagination and to the joy to be found in poetry.

Four-year old Jacqueline Clancy leads a carefree existence in the friendly town of Toorandulla until one day her mother disappears. Filled with unanswered questions, Jacqueline must adjust to life with her formidable Auntie Mina and the possibility of a new step-mother, all while continuing a desperate search to retrieve her lost mother. Almost forty years later, Jacqueline's husband has left her for a younger woman. Despite the number of men who come knocking at her door, Jacqueline resolves to stay faithful to her estranged husband. However, when Auntie Mina returns, Jacqueline must decide whether she will allow her inability to say goodbye to an old love to rule her life. Complex and emotionally driven, Hello Love seamlessly weaves together the voice and viewpoint of a young child with that of a woman well into adulthood. Bursting with vivid descriptions and detailed dialogue, Carmen Cullen's second novel centres around the thought-provoking question: can a person trust in love, when it has been taken away from her before?

Surrounded by the beauty of her native Mayo, eighteen-year-old Lily dreams of being a famous singer, but her parents have other plans for her - pursuing a college degree. However, that means leaving a passionate romance with a handsome, American named Theo. Once in Dublin, secrets and betrayal abound when Lily's sister Moyra begins a relationship with Theo and Lily's Aunt Terry appears to be harboring a hidden past. As Moyra's relationship with Theo turns grim, she desperately needs her sister's support to keep tragedy at bay. But, still longing to perform, Lily finds herself at a crossroads in life. Disturbing yet heart-warming, critical yet nostalgic, Carmen Cullen delivers a convincing portrayal of both the warmth and the wrath of 1940s Ireland.