Now & Then

By: Jacqueline Sheehan

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Anna O’Shea has failed at marriage, shed her job at a law firm, and she’s trying to re-create herself when she and her recalcitrant nephew are summoned to the past in a manner that nearly destroys them. Her 21st-century skills pale as she struggles to find her nephew in 19th-century Ireland. For one of them, the past is brutally difficult, filled with hunger and struggle. For the other, the past is filled with privilege, status, and a reprieve from the crushing pain of present-day life. For both Anna and her nephew, the past offers them a chance at love. Will every choice they make reverberate down through time? And do Irish Wolfhounds carry the soul of the ancient celts? The past and present wrap around finely wrought characters who reveal the road home.

Mystical, charming, and fantastic, New York Times best-selling author Jacqueline Sheehan’s Now & Then is a poignant and beautiful tale of a remarkable journey. It is a miraculous evocation of a breathtaking place in a volatile age filled with rich, unforgettable, deeply human characters and one unforgettable dog named Madigan.

©2009 Jacqueline Sheehan (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The best book I’ve read in a long time.” (Susan Elizabeth Phillips)

Now and Then is a fun story with a great narrator

An interesting time travel story which depicts the history of certain families in Ireland just before the potato famine. A woman and her nephew are transported back, each fall in love, each must leave their love....

Loved This Book

This audiobook combined one of my favorite narrators, a intriguing and a believable story (emotionally speaking). This was my first acquaintance with Jacqueline Sheehan and I'm eager to explore more of her work.

Susan Ericksen does a beautiful narration of the book. The pacing is excellent. I'm not Irish, but her accents worked for me. And I had an aural vision of each character distinct from others.

Days after completing the book, I'm still thinking about it--the sign of a good book, in my opinion. Yes, Ms. Sheehan uses the tool of time travel, but IMHOP it works. While the primary characters have a 'what the heck?' Moment about time travel, they eventually have to jump in and just live in the moment, even if that moment is apparently more than a hundred years ago. Clearly Ms. Sheehan did her historical research, but she uses her knowledge wisely, to move the story forward. I, like some other reviewers, was mislead by the book's 'cover' which implies more dog presence than there is. The cover is misleading, however, I was completely charmed by the book. In fact I think the cover does the book a disservice. The book is deep and juicy and really well written. The cover implies something much pretty light.

The ending is bitter sweet, as someone else mentioned, but at the same time completely satisfying.

This book made me feel like I found a new restaurant that looked like a little 'hole in the wall' and to my happy surprise, I had the best meal I've ever eaten.

Great Fantasy of Time Travel

In honesty it took me a couple other books before I went back to the beginning of this one. It was a hard decision to see if it peaked my interest (since the first round failed). To my amazement I got hooked...really hooked. This story is definitely an interesting take on "Time Travel". Absolutely a must read to the end.

Surprise and Intrigue

This was the first time I read a Jacqueline Sheehan novel; the book was great. I guess I read to fast what the book was about, but I was pleasantly surprised of the storyline. It had a little of everything, love, suspense, danger, magical, a curse, dogs and more. Susan Eriksen, as usual did a great job with narrating. I love her Irish accents.