Destinations - Sheila O'Flanagan

...to Go'.

Destinations is a novel which revolves around the Dart train system in Ireland. There are 19 chapters in the book, each one has a title with a train station alongside it, such as 'Saturday at 12' - Killiney, or 'Charlie's Dress' - Dalkey. Each chapter revolves around a different character, or characters, such as Greg and Helena - they are the characters of the 'Saturday at Twelve' chapter. Greg has had a fling at his office ...
...has since thrown Greg out. THey have now had to come to an arrangement for Greg to see his daughter, Dana, each week. Another of the chapters, ' Connections', revolves around the aftermat of Greg's fling - both Helena and Kimberley, the girl he has had the fling with are involved in this chapter.

I found this book a really quick read. There are more than 300 pages in the book, but because each chapter revolves around different stories, ... more

Sheila O'Flanagan is a successful Irish writer, and before writing she had a very successful career in banking. She writes a column for the Irish Times and, prior to writing 'Destinations', she had also written 8 hugely successful novels, including 'Caroline's Sister', 'Isobel's Wedding', and 'He's Got to Go'.

Destinations is a novel which revolves around the Dart train system in Ireland. There are 19 chapters in the book, each one has a title with a train station alongside it, such as 'Saturday at 12' - Killiney, or 'Charlie's Dress' - Dalkey. Each chapter revolves around a different character, or characters, such as Greg and Helena - they are the characters of the 'Saturday at Twelve' chapter. Greg has had a fling at his office Christmas party which, inevitably, Helena has found out about and has since thrown Greg out. THey have now had to come to an arrangement for Greg to see his daughter, Dana, each week. Another of the chapters, ' Connections', revolves around the aftermat of Greg's fling - both Helena and Kimberley, the girl he has had the fling with are involved in this chapter.

I found this book a really quick read. There are more than 300 pages in the book, but because each chapter revolves around different stories, you can easily pick up the book and slip back into it without having to try to remember what has previously happened.

At the same time, because there were so many characters and stories in the book, I found it hard to keep up - it made it quite confusing in places. Because there were only a chapter dedicated to each story and character, it left a lot of unresolved issues - you were left wondering more about what happens to people.

I picked up a copy of this book cheaply at a coffee morning, but it is possible to get a copy from your local library, or cheaply from Amazon or ebay. 

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