While our book club agreed that this book was not a very uplifting book, we also agreed that it is worth the time. Our book club was lucky enough to be able to speak with Patricia Falvey about the book, which gave us all a new light. She explained her background and her inspiration for the book. Many of the stories in the book are stories told to her by friends and family. This is Ms. Falvey's second book based in Northern Ireland, with a third in the works. She wanted to create stories around large events in Northern Ireland (such as WWII in this book), that centered around strong female characters. I must agree that she accomplished this with the Linen Queen.