What is the title of your latest release?
A SECRET DAUGHTER FROM IRELAND. This is the Book One of the three book Orchid Bay series published by Bookouture.
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A story about families, secrets and finding your way home. We meet Manhattan designer Becky White who has to move to Ireland after her mother dies leaving a mountain of debt. Everything in the US had to be sold off, and Becky and her teenage daughter are left with a house overlooking Orchid Bay in Coolnamona village on the east coast of Ireland. Becky never knew anything about this house and is desperate to know why her mother owned it. She settles into life in the village, but finds a letter behind an old painting in the house which makes her delve deeper and unearth deep buried secrets.
This is a story all about belonging, families and how the secrets of the past shape our lives.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I live on the east coast of Ireland. My writing room overlooks the Irish Sea, and I can hear the waves crash on the shore. The novel revolves around the lives of those who live in the village of Coolnamona which overlooks Orchid Bay on the East coast of Ireland. I can’t imagine writing a book where the sea didn’t feature.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes, Becky is such a lovely person. She had to deal with a lot in her life and was left with huge debts when her mother died. She has to leave her Manhattan home with her daughter, and goes to live in Ireland and start a new life. She ends up in a big old house overlooking Orchid Bay and is thrown into the thick of it, having to earn a living and at the same time trying to figure out why her mother left her the tumbledown old house overlooking Orchid bay to her when she died.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Resilient; compassionate and kind.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That life is short and grab all the happiness that comes your way and any opportunities with both hands.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit as I go along, so that when the first draft is finished it is the best I can do at that particular time. It also means I can print it out, and read it before starting edits and rewriting the second draft, which is the draft I send to my editor. What follows are a series of edits under the direction of my editor. I have to say this is my favorite part of the process when the novel is fully formed.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I love to bake, and I love to make a lemon tart. It takes time, making the pastry and the lemon curd filling, but the lemon tart is divine. It is a recipe from my favorite restaurant in the west of Ireland, and when I bake it, it feels so special.
Describe your writing space/office!
I used to write in the kitchen, but I have a writing room of my own now which overlooks the garden and the sea. I have a lovely big desk and a couch, where my Labrador and Labrador Retriever come in to sleep, and beg when I am having a sneaky biscuit. There is a wildflower meadow patch outside my window, and it is fascinating a little distracting (in a lovely way) to watch the birds and the bees as they drop down to the flowers.
Who is an author you admire?
I have always admired author, Maeve Binchy. When I was growing up in the west of Ireland, Maeve Binchy was publishing her books and working as a journalist at the same time. She showed me that women’s fiction is relevant, and that writing and journalism complement each other. I work as a journalist and write women’s fiction too!
Is there a book that changed your life?
It would have to be Light a Penny Candle which was Maeve Binchy’s first novel which followed the friendship of two women through the decades. Maeve Binchy showed me that the lives of women matter. She was an expert at writing about ordinary people who had extraordinary lives, and this had a profound effect on me at the time, and later when I sat down to write my first novel ten years ago.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be
published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
A SECRET DAUGHTER FROM IRELAND is actually my tenth book but I remember as clear as if it were yesterday, when I got my first publishing deal. I had been trying to get an agent for so long, and when I finally got my agent, it took so long to sell the novel. That novel was an overnight bestseller and translated into twelve languages. I count myself as very lucky that my first novel was such a hit.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I think because I write Women’s Fiction, when I am reading for leisure, I turn to crime thrillers. I love anything written by Harlan Coben. I love the fast pace; it’s like being pushed in a whirlwind to the finish line.
What’s your favorite movie?
When it comes to movies I either go for the completely romantic such as Downton Abbey or a good courtroom drama such as Runaway Jury.
What is your favorite season?
I love Autumn. I am a keen gardener, and I love to tidy my garden as the Autumn months press in. It is such a joy seeing pops of colour in the garden as some flowers try to hang in there. In Ireland, usually have a few roses that bloom into late October, and I have one that blooms again in January!
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I love to celebrate with my family. We have a tradition in our house of getting up very early to for the present giving and the birthday cake and then have breakfast together. When the kids were young, we used to have another birthday time later in the day, and now that they are adults, we all meet up for dinner.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I am a Downton Abbey fan and I loved the recent movie. There is something about Downton Abbey, you just feel drawn into a wonderful different world, and it is such fun.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I lived in India for a year in the 90s and Indian food is my favourite. In India, the best gossip is in the kitchen. It’s where I learned to cook, and where I learned about spices and the foods from different parts of India.
What do you do when you have free time?
I love my garden, and I spend a lot of time with my dogs working in it. I live near the sea so gardening can be a challenge but a good one! I also like to walk my dogs, and a perfect day ends when I curl up with a book.
What can readers expect from you next?
This book is the first in the Orchid Bay series. I am busy writing the second book in the series now, and it is wonderful to go back to Orchid Bay at Coolnamona village on the east coast of Ireland and tell more stories involving the people there and a host of new characters.
A SECRET DAUGHTER FROM IRELAND by Ann O’Loughlin
Orchid Bay #1
The young woman gazes at the Irish sea for the final time, a careful hand on her stomach. She will do anything to keep her unborn daughter safe, even if it means leaving this gorgeous house forever…
Becky gazes at the name of the village in her mother’s will: Orchid Bay, Ireland. It sounds like a magical place, so why did she never mention she owned a house there? Desperate to feel close to her mother again, Becky decides to escape her life in New York and travel to the wild Irish coast with her teenage daughter, Jen.
When she arrives, she finds peeling paint and a garden overgrown with wildflowers. Becky knows her mother would have wanted her to breathe new life into this house by the sea. And when local chef Ben,with his warm grey eyes, lilting Irish accent and kind smile, volunteers to help, they begin to renovate the house. And as they work together, Becky feels her heart slowly mending…
But before she can imagine a new life in the place that has captured her heart, Becky finds an old envelope lodged behind a painting. In the crinkled pages, she learns about doomed romances by the Irish sea and a pregnant daughter who was driven from the town in shame. Becky’s heart breaks as she thinks of her own daughter. But could this tragic love story explain why her mother kept this house a secret?
When Becky finally uncovers the connection between the letter and her family, it devastates her. Will the truth tear apart the happiness she has found? Or will she and her daughter finally be able to make a home with a new community here in this beautiful place?
Women’s Fiction [Bookouture, On Sale: October 2, 2025, e-Book, / ]
Buy A SECRET DAUGHTER FROM IRELAND:Kindle Unlimited| Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Ann O’Loughlin
Ann is the Irish author of five novels and has been translated into eleven languages. Her first novel The Ballroom Cafe was also an ebook bestseller and in the top 20 bestselling books of 2015 on Amazon UK. Ann loves to write and often gets up at 5am to get the words down, before starting her other job of writing as a news reporter. A leading journalist in Ireland, Ann has covered all major news events in a long career with Independent Newspapers, Ireland. She is now a senior journalist with the Irish Examiner specialising in legal issues. Ann has also lived in India. Originally from the west of Ireland she now lives on the east coast with her husband and family.
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