Leaving Ocean Road

From coastal Australia to Santorini and Ireland, a slice of warm, character-driven fiction in the bestselling tradition of MAEVE BINCHY and MONICA MCINERNEY

God damn it, Gerry Clancy, couldn't you have left well enough alone and stayed in Cork?

Twenty years ago, Ellen O'Shea left her beloved Ireland to make a new life in Australia. Now a popular local in the small coastal town of Port Lincoln, but struggling to cope with the death of her much-loved Greek husband, Nick, Ellen finds her world turned upside down when an unexpected visitor lands on her doorstep. The arrival of Gerry Clancy, her first love from Ireland, may just be the catalyst that pulls Ellen out of her pit of grief, but it will also trigger a whole new set of complications for her and those she holds dear.

Home is where the heart is - but where exactly is home? Can Ellen and Gerry's rekindled romance withstand the passage of time, family, young adult children with their own lives, and the shock disclosure of a long-held secret that will put all their closest relationships at risk?

Set in Ireland, Greece and small-town coastal Australia, Leaving Ocean Road is a warm, poignant story about treasuring our memories while celebrating our new beginnings.

'Leaving Ocean Road is warm, wise and full of humour. Esther Campion is a wonderful new voice in Australian fiction' CATHY KELLY

'A warm, funny, intelligent novel. It's ultimately not about how romantic love can save you, but rather how finding new hope and purpose in family can give you what you need to pull yourself from grief. Esther Campion has woven a poignant story... about that journey everyone takes to find their own beloved place in the wide wide world' Better Reading

'This is a delightful tale, oozing with pathos and possibilities - perfect for when you want to forget about your own problems and slip inside Ellen's heart, one that was once terribly broken and is slowly rising from the ashes. A well-written novel with beautiful descriptions from this new Irish author.' Starts at Sixty

'join[s] the captivating Maeve Binchy in the pantheon of popular Irish novelists' Irish Scene