Today I’m delighted to revisit my Five on Friday interview with Faith Hogan which was first posted in November 2018. It’s been brought up to date to reflect Faith’s latest publications. Faith writes women’s fiction which is unashamedly uplifting, feel good and inspiring – something I’m particularly partial to. I’m happy to say that I have made inroads into my tbr mountain, so I did finally read several of Faith’s books.

Faith Hogan is an award-winning and bestselling author of four novels. Her books have featured as Book Club Favourites, Net Galley Hot Reads and Summer Must Reads.

Faith was born in Ireland. She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway.

She lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, four children and a very busy Labrador named Penny. She’s a writer, reader, enthusiastic dog walker and reluctant jogger – except of course when it is raining!

Over to Faith:

Which five pieces of music/songs would you include in the soundtrack to your life and why?

This is a tough one… but here we go…

Waterloo – ABBA. This is probably one of the first songs I remember singing loudly at the top of my voice in the back garden when we were kids. In my memory (maybe coloured by imagination) those days were all long and sunny and we wore cotton dresses and sand shoes and ate penny sweets. Our back garden (tiny now) was the place where every kid on our street hung out and we had wonderful adventures with home made tents and a goose that put manners on us if we dared to lose the run of ourselves – ah, yes, happy days indeed!

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Love Cats – The Cure. Being young, being in love and believing that you’re invincible and… soul mates!

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Nothing Compares 2U – Sinead O’Connor. Because everyone has their heart broken once and this was the song that made it all seem so much more poignant.

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Can’t Take My Eyes off You –  Andy Williams. Getting my mojo back and all the wonderful things life seemed to stack up for me to mend that broken heart.

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Cinema Paradiso – Ennio Morricone. Because when I really did fall in love – it felt like this and everything just fell into place around me like a perfect orchestra with each instrument filling up their sounds perfectly – this is a piece of music that even now makes us (Mr H and I) stop and smile at each other.

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What five things (apart from family and friends) would you find it hard to live without.

Penny – our Labrador.

Coffee

Moisturiser / Sunblock!

Reading Glasses for all the books I couldn’t leave behind!

My Lap Top

Give five pieces of advice to your younger self?

The Big one:  Don’t Stress!

The next one… No-one else is really watching, so do it anyway!

Number 3 – You’re better than you think at EVERYTHING!

Four: Go for it!

And Finally, Five – Take the time to say hello and goodbye, because you never know…

Tell us five things that most people don’t know about you

I started out writing crime and still take out those old manuscripts now and again and have a little tinker with them, just for fun!

I’m Irish and I don’t drink (alcohol) but I make up for it with vast amounts of coffee.

I usually have three or more books on the go at a time (reading) and one is always a self help book of some sort!

My favourite colour is green – although I’ve tried to talk myself out of it and choose something that doesn’t have forty variations!

I’m a total a sucker for a good face cream!

Tell us five things you’d still like to do or achieve.

I’d like to see Kenya (perhaps more as it was, than as it is!)

Talk Mr H into a second dog, a pony and two large fat cats all at the same time!

I would like to go back, one day… (when all the kids are finished school!) and do my Phd, but that looks like a long, long way off at this point.

I’d love to have a vintage, smallish motor one day when I don’t need to be carting seven seats about the place and paying road tax that runs to a king’s ransom! I like the idea of setting off on lazy afternoon spins in the country with the hood down and the dog in the back and stopping off at country pubs for afternoon lunches and walks by the sea! (well it is a bucket list!)

Finally, it may be cheating but, I’d like to see a world of equality – where there was no great disparity between rich and poor, men and women and everyone got a fair shot at their life’s dream – that’s the kind of world I’d like to see my kids grow up in!

Faith’s Books

(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)

The Gin Sisters’ Promise

When Georgie, Iris and Nola’s mother died and their father disappeared into his grief, the sisters made a pact: they would always be there for one another, no matter what.

Now, decades later, they haven’t spoken for years and can barely stand to be in the same room. As his health declines, their father comes up with a plan to bring them back to one another. In his will, he states that before they can claim their inheritance, they must spend six months living together in their childhood home in the village of Ballycove, Ireland, and try to repair their broken relationships.

As the months progress, old resentments boil over, new secrets threaten to come out and each sister must decide what matters more: their pride, or their family. Can they overcome their past and find a way to love each other once more?

The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club

When Elizabeth’s husband dies, leaving her with crippling debt, the only person she can turn to is her friend, Jo. Soon Jo has called in her daughter, Lucy, to help save Elizabeth from bankruptcy. Leaving her old life behind, Lucy is determined to make the most of her fresh start.

As life slowly begins to return to normal, these three women, thrown together by circumstance, become fast friends. But then Jo’s world is turned upside down when she receives some shocking news.

In search of solace, Jo and Elizabeth find themselves enjoying midnight dips in the freezing Irish Sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. As well as conjure a fundraising plan for the local hospice that will bring the whole community together…

The Place We Call Home

Welcome to Ballycove, the home of Corrigan Mills…

Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Irish countryside the famed Corrigan Mills are run by the seemingly perfect Corrigan family, but every family has its secrets, and they don’t always stay hidden.

Ada has forever lived her life in her sister’s shadow. Wanting only to please her mother and take over the family business, now Ada has to take a look at what her heart really wants.

Callie has a flourishing international career and a man who loves her dearly, she appears to have it all. But when she’s unceremoniously turfed out of the design world, Callie might just get what she’s been yearning for. The chance to go home.

Simon has always wanted more. More money, more fame, more notoriety. The problem child. Simon has more enemies than friends, and when one of his latest schemes falls foul he’ll have to return to the people who always believe in him.

Ballycove isn’t just a small Irish town. It’s a place to call home.

What Happened To Us?

Sometimes the end is only the beginning…

After ten years together, Dubliner Carrie Nolan is devastated when she’s dumped by Kevin Mulvey without even a backwards glance. But on reflection, she had been sacrificing her own long-term happiness by pandering to his excessive ego – well, not anymore!

While Kevin is ‘living the dream’ with his beautiful new Brazilian girlfriend, Carrie seeks solace from a circle of mismatched strangers who need her as much as she needs them.

Then suddenly a catastrophic sequence of events leaves Carrie unsure if there’s anyone she can trust.

How far do you need to fall before you realise it’s never too late to start again?

The Girl I Used to Know

Two women. Two very different lives. One unexpected friendship.

Amanda King and Tess Cuffe are strangers who share the same Georgian house, but their lives couldn’t be more different.

Amanda seems to have the perfect life. But the reality is a soulless home, an unfaithful husband and a very lonely heart.

While Tess has spent a lifetime hiding and shutting her heart to love.

But if they can open up to one another, these two women may just learn that sometimes letting go is the first step to moving forward and new friendships can come from the most unlikely situations.

Secrets We Keep

Some people are good at keeping secrets but some secrets are never meant to be kept…

Two distant relatives are drawn together and forced to confront their pasts.

The beautiful old Bath House in Ballytokeep has lain empty and abandoned for decades. For devoted pensioners Archie and Iris, it holds too many conflicting memories of their adolescent dalliances and tragic consequences – sometimes it’s better to leave the past where it belongs.

For highflying, top London divorce lawyer Kate Hunt, it’s a fresh start – maybe even her future. On a winter visit to see her estranged Aunt Iris she falls in love with the Bath House. Inspired, she moves to Ballytokeep leaving her past heartache 600 miles away – but can you ever escape your past or your destiny?

My Husband’s Wives

Is it better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved?

Paul Starr, Ireland’s leading cardiologist, dies in a car crash with a pregnant young woman by his side.

United in their grief and the love of one man, four women are thrown together in an attempt to come to terms with life after Paul. They soon realise they never really knew him at all.

As they begin to form unlikely friendships, Paul’s death proves to be the catalyst that enables them to become the people they always wanted to be.

Forthcoming Titles

On the First Day of Christmas (due Oct 2022)

When Liv Latimer says goodbye to her colleagues and finishes work for the holidays, she’s looking forward to a Christmas to remember with her boyfriend Eddie.

But before she makes it home, her phone rings, calling her back into work. And Liv is faced with a choice. Does she do as she’s always done, and put herself second? Or, will she say no, so she can finally begin the life she’s dreamed of?

Liv’s decision will turn her world upside down in ways she could never have imagined.

Because whatever choice she makes, Liv is about to discover, fate finds a way…

The Guest House (due June 2023)

People come to the guest house for fresh air and views across the Atlantic. But if they’re lucky, they might just leave with the second chance they didn’t know they needed…

Esme has run the guest house for as long as anyone in Ballycove can remember. But in her declining years, her sight is failing, and when she has a fall on the eve of the summer season, she is forced to take a back seat for the first time in her life.

From her chair in the entry hall, not much passes Esme by. There’s Cora, the wife visiting indefinitely… without her husband; Niamh, the city professional with a life-changing decision to make; and Phyllie, the grandmother whose family is slipping away from her.

Esme’s guests provide the colour that helps her keep her grip on the world. All of them have something they want to escape – or to hold on to. But can Esme can help them find their way before the summer is over?