Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    When Light Breaks
    When Light Breaks
    When Light Breaks
    Audiobook8 hours

    When Light Breaks

    Written by Patti Callahan Henry

    Narrated by Emily Durante

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry delivers a novel that explores the power of lasting love through the connected stories of two women from opposite sides of the sea.

    Twenty-seven-year-old Kara Larson is bogged down in the stress of planning her elaborate wedding to a professional golfer. Still, to fulfill the requirements of the Palmetto Pointe Junior Society, she makes time in her busy schedule to visit an elderly woman at a nursing home facility. Soon she finds herself mesmerized by the singsong Irish lilt of ninety-six-year-old Maeve Mahoney as Maeve recounts the rambling story of her first love back in Ireland. Or, Kara begins to wonder, is she really retelling an ancient tale of myth and legend? Waiting for the story to unfold in bits and pieces, and trying to discern the underlying truth, Kara is drawn in—and driven to remember her own first love: childhood neighbor Jack Sullivan. Gradually she realizes that before she embarks on her new life, she must find out how her own story—with Jack—will end.

    "About all the things that make us worthy as human beings—integrity, honesty, and living the life you are meant to live....A triumph!"—Dorothea Benton Frank

    "A passionate, unforgettable novel of self-discovery, regret, and the illuminating power of love."—Mary Alice Monroe

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 7, 2010
    ISBN9781441862082
    When Light Breaks
    Author

    Patti Callahan Henry

    Patti Callahan Henry is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of several novels, including Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the recipient of the Christy Award, the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year Award, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year. She is the cohost and cocreator of the popular weekly online live web show and podcast Friends and Fiction. A full-time author and mother of three, she lives in Alabama and South Carolina with her family. Find out more at PattiCallahanHenry.com.

    More audiobooks from Patti Callahan Henry

    Related to When Light Breaks

    Related audiobooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Top 10 Books

      Jun 16, 2023

      Top 10 Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Silence of Witches

      Dec 10, 2019

      The Silence of Witches
      6 min read

    • Article

      Summer Beach Reads

      Jan 10, 2021

      Summer Beach Reads
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Change

      Aug 8, 2019

      The Change
      10 min read

    • Article

      Snowing In Deptford

      May 5, 2022

      Snowing In Deptford
      3 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      That Particular Sunday

      Jul 6, 2023

      That Particular Sunday
      26 min read

    • Article

      Tomorrows

      Mar 15, 2022

      The night, as most nights, was like a dream. At ten, once I’d fed the dog the last scraps off the stove. Once I’d cursed the cat for scratching up my mama’s antique furniture, then welcomed him back into my arms. Once I’d slicked my hair into a ponyt

      26 min read

    • Article

      Into Our World

      Jan 21, 2019

      Into Our World
      7 min read

    • Article

      Local Life

      May 7, 2020

      Local Life
      8 min read

    • Article

      After “The End”

      Oct 10, 2022

      I walked down the road with a hunched back and a wet cigarette in my mouth—the fire had died a while back. My hands were tucked into the pockets of my jacket, and my hair fell over my face, limiting my sight. But I wasn’t really seeing where I was go

      10 min read

    • Article

      Let The Daisies Grow

      Feb 2, 2021

      Let The Daisies Grow
      7 min read

    • Article

      Swisher Sweets

      May 1, 2022

      Swisher Sweets
      17 min read

    • Article

      The Denial Of Death

      Sep 15, 2018

      I had left my passport at an inn we stayed at for a night or so whose name I couldn’t remember. This is how it began. The next hotel would not receive me. A beautiful hotel, in an orange grove, with a view of the sea. How casually you accepted the ro

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Periodic Stranger

      Mar 2, 2017

      My roots are in a hilltop village west of Matera, where rabbit and boar run riot in the fields. Figs, apricots, and pears hang in heavy clusters, at eye-level and within easy reach. There, the local girls are famous for their calves, made firm and st

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Periodic Stranger: When exile becomes home.

      Dec 12, 2013

      My roots are in a hilltop village west of Matera, where rabbit and boar run riot in the fields. Figs, apricots, and pears hang in heavy clusters, at eye-level and within easy reach. There, the local girls are famous for their calves, made firm and st

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Family Plot

      May 7, 2020

      The Family Plot
      10 min read

    • Article

      Cricket Ceague

      Apr 1, 2019

      Penelope Berkeley, age 9 Mars Hill, NC Night had fallen, and Luna awoke from where she had been sleeping in a cornfield. She moved steadily through the stalks with barely a sound, keeping her eyes on the glittering glass rooftop of the greenhouse in

      7 min read

    • Article

      Penny

      Jul 2, 2020

      Penny
      6 min read

    • Article

      Orange You Glad

      Jun 1, 2021

      Orange You Glad
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Face I’ll Never Forget

      Jun 25, 2022

      The Face I’ll Never Forget
      3 min read

    • Article

      Uncontrollable, Irrelevant

      Dec 6, 2022

      My sister called me the other day. She wanted to let me know that I had once more been merciless and cruel in my relations with our parents. “They say there’s a lot of anger in you,” she said. “It makes them mad. It hurts their feelings. They think y

      14 min read

    • Article

      Averted Vision

      Sep 1, 2022

      Averted Vision
      25 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      Your Poetry

      Jun 25, 2021

      The music labeled from A to ZI can’t get those sounds out of my headThose 45s are from our lifeSometimes the memories cut like a knife Jukebox Nights have been the bestAll my problems to get off my chestSpent with people I love and have sharedA good

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for When Light Breaks

    4/5

    54 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Brilliantly sentimented about finding one's true self in life and love

    • 3/5
      Inhaltsangabe:Kara Larson stammt aus einer alteingesessenen Familie in Palmetto Pointe. Und sie steht kurz vor der Hochzeit mit dem Profi-Golfer Payton Ellers, als sie die hochbetagte Maeve Mahoney in einem Altenheim kennenlernt. Eigentlich hat sie gar keine Zeit, neben der Organisation für ihre Hochzeit und dem ersten Golf-Turnier in Palmetto Pointe noch die Dame zu besuchen.Maeve stammt ursprünglich aus Irland und beginnt ziemlich unverblümt von ihrer großen Liebe Richard zu erzählen. Das erinnert Kara daran, dass sie ebenfalls vor langer Zeit einen unbeschwerten Sommer erlebt hatte, mit Jack Sullivan. Doch nach einem tragischen Vorfall verließ er mit seiner Familie fluchtartig die Stadt.Maeves Erzählungen bringen Kara ins Grübeln und stellt ihr Leben mehr und mehr auf Kopf.Mein Fazit:Als ich vor ein paar Wochen durch die Bibliothek streifte und dieses Buch entdeckte, dachte ich, wäre es ja mal eine schöne Geschichte für zwischendurch. Das Cover ist denen der Nicholas Sparks-Büchern doch recht ähnlich und die Handlung spielt ebenfalls in den Südstaaten der USA. Ich dachte, da könnte man ja nichts Falsch machen. Leider wurde ich enttäuscht.Kara erzählt ihr Leben aus ihrer Sicht, wie sie einen anstrengenden Job als Managerin des Golfclubs hat, sich um den häuslichen Frieden im Elternhaus bemüht und nebenbei noch eine Hochzeit organisiert. Eigentlich hat sie gar keine Zeit für die Besuche bei Maeve Mahoney, doch sie fühlt sich den Verpflichtungen, die ihr Familienname mitsich bringt, verbunden. Ihre Familie ist schon lange in Palmetto Pointe verwurzelt und sehr angesehen. Tief in ihrem Innern trauert sie noch um die Mutter, die verstarb, als Kara neun Jahre alt war. Auch wenn sie es schwer zugibt, trauert sie ebenfalls um ihre erste Liebe Jack Sullivan, der Palmetto Pointe verließ, als sie 14 war.Maeve Mahoney erzählt von ihrer ersten großen Liebe Richard, den sie noch in einem kleinen Fischerdorf in Irland kannte. Doch sie hat nie erfahren, was aus ihm geworden ist. Kara berührt die Geschichte sehr und beginnt langsam, ihr eigenes Leben zu hinterfragen. Auch ihr Verlobter Payton Ellers bemerkt die Veränderungen.Nun, wie soll ich beginnen? Das positive möchte ich gleich vorweg nehmen: Die Autorin hat eine wirklich schöne bildliche Sprache und Erzählweise. Die Beschreibungen von Palmetto Pointe und dem Meer haben mir ausgesprochen gut gefallen. Der Südstaaten-Charme kam sehr gut bei mir an.Doch das war es auch schon. Mich konnten die Protagonisten kaum berühren. Kara war für mich nicht immer greifbar und ihre Handlungen kamen zuweilen völlig unerwartet und auch nicht immer nachvollziehbar! Da fehlte einfach die Tiefe, um die Veränderungen in ihr spüren zu können. Der Verlobte war mir von Anfang an ziemlich unsympathisch und die Zeit, die Kara mit Maeve verbrachte, kam mir eindeutig zu kurz vor, um so tiefgründige Gespräche zu führen. Es fehlte einfach eine gewisse Tiefgründigkeit der Personen, sonst hätte mich die Geschichte wirklich packen können. Und ziemlich bald weiß man als Leserin dann auch, wohin es führt. Die Vorhersehbarkeit hat mir leider dann den letzten Rest Lese-Vergnügen genommen, so dass ich mich zum Schluss wirklich durchquälte und froh war, es geschafft zu haben.Nein, dieses Buch ist mir einfach zu oberflächlich und die Figuren nicht wirklich greifbar gewesen. Trotz der wunderschönen Beschreibung der Landschaft kann ich dem nur drei Sterne geben.
    • 5/5
      I fell in love with Patti Callahan Henry earlier this summer and I am slowly making my way through her wonderful books. This one did not disappoint and I think this might be my favorite so far.

      The story of young love interrupted and the sudden re-appearance was not an original storyline, but Henry definitively made it her own and added some unique aspects to the story. While this book was not set in the low-country as many of her books are ( and one of my favorite parts) she still uses the imagery of the low-country.
      Overall a wonderful story- highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      When light breaks by Patti Callahan HenryHave enjoyed the author's other works and know I will enjoy this one.Story starts out with Kara and her teen years when she first touches his face. Years later she is still grieving for the death of her mother and meets Payton the local golf PGA player.They date a few times til he asks her to marry him. She's now volunteering at the nursing home where an Irish woman quotes her phrases that make her think of her first love, Jack.She is also the tour manager that handles every tiny detail of making sure things go smoothly for the golf tournaments.Like this book because it's two stories in one book. Kara's life and Mae's life/Irish legend.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 4/5
      "Powerful stories between women of different generations - inspiring - as our hearts communicate thru stories...first love, romance, Irish angels - great author and storyteller - making the characters come alive! "
    • 2/5
      I'm sorry to say that I did not love "When Light Breaks." I thought I would, since "The Art of Keeping Secrets" by Patti Callahan Henry hit my list of favorites when I read it a few years ago. This book front-loaded the back story (which I know is tough to avoid in a book about regrets and coming to grips with the past, granted) and even though I usually love contemporaries with historical threads, this one left me cold. I think it was the way the elderly character Maeve Mahoney told her story as if it was happening in the moment. The first-person present tense dialogue felt unnatural to me. Oh well. I wanted to like this. Maybe next time.