Julianne McCullagh- The Narrow Gate

5/5

“You can’t live angry the rest of your life Rose, you’ll lose Dennis and the children as surely as your mother lost her family.”

Following the lives of three different generations of woman has never been captured more beautifully than in The Narrow Gate by Julianne McCullagh.

Between three generations of Banfry woman, you will be introduced to many characters whose lives have been turned upside down and they all have one thing in common: faith.

Thrown through hell and back, forgiveness is a virtue that these characters learn to live by and move on from their past mistakes.

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The meaningful dialogue gives the reader a captivating story that anyone can relate too. Through heartbreak, love, failure and revelations, you find yourself believing in Rose's potential and wanting to hold her hand along the way.

Although the novel is about Catholic women, its life lessons and mistakes reside in all of our lives.

The descriptions of loss, depression and loneliness really stuck with me and made me feel as if the characters were close friends. There are quite a few characters but I never felt overwhelmed or got confused while reading.

The loved how the characters weren't perfect which made the book more real and powerful in my mind. The dialogue was intricate and gave me chills as the writing was very well done as well as swiftly going into flashbacks that weren't confusing to handle.

The biggest lesson in this novel is forgiveness is key. Life is too short to hold grudges and lose people along the way because of their mistakes. Live and learn.