Rating: 
Summary: Boring and Unrealistic
Review: There was nothing to the book's characters that seemed real to me. I felt the writing was poorly done (sentences seemed overly simple, not very complex or deep), the characters' points of view were lacking and unrealistic. The characters were truly shallow, and all that most of them seemed to talk about was sex. Boring. And they just didn't act like people would normally act. I know a fictional book is not "real life" but at least it could mirror it a bit so that it feels real, and so you could relate to the characters' lives. I could not. This book does NOT compare with Angela's Ashes...sorry, ain't happenin'. Not an accurate reflection on Ireland, in my opinion. This book just didn't move me, and I don't know what all the excitment is about.
Rating: 
Summary: Lingering effect on my soul
Review: I read this book the summer of 1999. I didn't want it to end and went thur "with drawls" after I finished it. I have kept checking to find out when Lisa Carey was writing a new book. Finally and I can read her latest one. I have passed this book to many of my girl friends and we have all enjoyed talking about the characters, they too didn't want to book to end, we were hopeful there would be a sequel or perhaps a made for TV movie. My heart broke for Grainne. Just as my heart was broken just 2 months upon the completion of reading this book by the sudden death of my sister. If Lisa Carey ever reads this I thank-you for giving me a truely beautiful summer of '99.
Rating: 
Summary: mothers and daughters....ah!
Review: This was quite an interesting story. I was moved by the mother, Grace, who was dying and how she communicated to her daughter, Grainne. I didn't really understand the grandmother Clione, and her relationship with Grace, and the two of them as young women, sometimes their stories sounded so alike that I had trouble distinguishing who was who.I thought the real talent of the story was the story of Grainne, misplaced and orphaned by her mother's death. I was touched by her feelings of loneliness and her attempts to reach out to her mother's boyfriend. After her mother's death she is surprised to hear that she does indeed have a family in Ireland, a grandmother, relatives and even a father. A father who is scared to see her. The scene in which they finally meet up is wonderful and probably the best part of the story. The descriptions of Ireland and the little island all sound wonderful and you can almost hear the lilt of the voices. I look forward to reading more of this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Fluff
Review: The generational story of Cliona, Grace and Grainne is intertwined with Irish lore and mother-daughter strife. The character development is poor, save Cliona. We never really discover Grace and Grainne's motivations. The story pushes us too fast. The book ends when it just really gets started. Overall, it's a good story in an excellent setting. This is an excellent beach book. It just could have been more.
Rating:
Summary: This book is very emotional!
Review: I've read this book nearly two years ago and it's one that has really affected me. It's sad and depressing, but you feel like you actually know the characters and what they are feeling. I like how the points-of-view of each of the women are shown.
Rating:
Summary: Lisa Carey
Review: Lisa Carey is a fantasic author! Both "The Mermaids Singing" and her second novel "In The Country Of The Young" are excellent. I highly recomend them.
Rating:
Summary: exceptional
Review: this book wasreally great. The characters were all original and were real. They spoke and felt what everyday people in society do. i was an exceptional story and i can not wait to read another novel by lisa carey...
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting!!!
Review: Give me a book set in Ireland and I'm a happy woman. Give me a book set in Ireland that's this beautifully written and I'm ecstatic! This book was recommended to me by a friend of mine who is an American who is married to an Irishman and lives in Ireland. Knowing her high literary standards, I grabbed this one right away. I was not disappointed in the least. My 19-year-old daughter also loved the book, proving this story is meaningful to readers of all ages. I can hardly wait to see what Ms. Carey comes up with for her next release!
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing at best
Review: Wow! I am really surprised that so many people gave this book more than two stars. I found the three main characters, Cliona, Grace and Grianne extremely selfish and disturbing. They all three had huge chips on their shoulders,completely unable to think about anything but themselves and their sick and twisted selfish needs. Grace especially left me with a sick and sour taste in my mouth---her twisted promiscuity, her nastiness to her mother and everybody else,the sick way she raised her daughter. I had to keep looking at the innocent looking picture of the author Lisa Carey at the back of the book and wonder in amazement at how she created such nasty characters. I did not want to even finish the book for how disturbing I found it. I truly did not come out with anything resemebling Irish lore or lyrical whatever----I came away with a much nastier picture of Ireland than I wanted to---nasty, stinky, boring gossips---which I am sure is not true but that is the picture I was filled with after this read. This book will truly go into the trash--I wouldn't foist rubbish like this on even my worst enemy!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining in a Shallow Kind of Way
Review: The Mermaids Singing takes the point of view of three generations of Irish women who have spent a large part of their lives in Boston and its surrounds. Each woman is given the chance to tell her story. Cliona is the grandmother, who took a job in Boston to save money for nursing school. Grace is her daughter, whose inopportune birth changes Cliona's future. Grace rejects everything about her mother and eventually her husband, Seamus. Grace's death changes everything for the family, and the truth of Grace's life comes tumbling out, causing a great deal of difficulty for Grainne, who did not even remember she was Irish. Grainne was a "typical" teenager, with a big chip on her shoulder, angry at Grace for dyig and angry at Cliona and Seamus for letting her mother hide her so successfully from them. She decides at one point to starve herself until she meets the father she can hardly remember. Upon meeting her father, she miraculously agrees to eat again. The novel is a pleasant read, but is as substantial as cottong candy. Irish legends are pleasantly instilled throughout the novel, but not in the mystical ways as the movie The Secrets of Roan Inish. Cliona and Grainne are somewhat understandable, but the character of Grace I found to be so unpleasant, selfish, and self serving, that only my extreme dislike of her remained with me when finished with the book. I failed to see how the way Cliona raised Grace caused her to make the decisions she finally did. Instead, I found myself pitying Cliona and Seamus for the losses Grace's selfishness caused. Enjoy the novel though. It is well written and mostly enjoyable. Just don't expect great literature.
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