05 Nov Susan McGuirk Dear Missing Friend @cathiedunn

FEATURED AUTHOR: SUSAN MCGUIRK

I’m delighted to host Susan McGuirk as the featured author in the The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog being held between November 2nd – 13th, 2026. Susan McGuirk is the author of the Women’s Historical Fiction, Epistolary, Dear Missing Friend (A Storied Sisters Society Novel), published by Sea Crow Press on May 19, 2026 (248 pages). 

Below are highlights of Dear Missing Friend, Susan McGuirk’s author bio, and an excerpt from the book.

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2026/09/blog-tour-dear-missing-friend-by-susan-mcguirk.html

HIGHLIGHTS: DEAR MISSING FRIEND

Dear Missing Friend
(A Storied Sisters Society Novel)
by Susan McGuirk.

Blurb:

Recommended for readers who enjoy An American Beauty by Shana Abé and When the World Fell Silent by Donna Jones Alward.

Three hearts.  Lost love.  One impossible choice.

A character-driven historical saga featuring the love triangle of a seaman, a governess and a wealthy speculator. Told through letters, the sweep of 19th century events like the gold rush, whaling voyages, and the streets of Manhattan unfold.

At the height of the 1840s whaling era, Catherine McGuirk arrives in Sag Harbor, New York. She has already spurned a marriage proposal from Patrick Lynch on her passage from Ireland and is confident she will find work as a governess, or at least a teacher. The local schoolmaster dismisses her with a smirk. Settling for hotel work has its upside when Cath meets a handsome seaman, Michael Heffernan. Just as she falls in love, he is off on a whaling voyage.

Spending her romance alone spurs Cath to continue her correspondence with Patrick. His ascent as a successful businessman in New York is swift, while Michael promises to give up the sea for marriage to Cath. Yet, when the Gold rush calls, he cannot resist.

A brokenhearted Cath moves to New York to revive her dream of becoming a governess. Once in Manhattan, she continues to be torn between her own ambition, her missing husband, and her former beau.

Praise for Dear Missing Friend:

“If you’re into historical fiction with a strong emotional core, Dear Missing Friend is a genuinely compelling pick. It’s the kind of book that stays with you—not because of grand plot twists, but because of the quiet, deeply human moments that shape Catherine’s path.” ~ The Gloss Book Club

“This captivating epistolary novel illustrates the hopes and hardships of 19th-century Irish immigrants starting over in America. The book is historically rich and emotionally riveting.” ~ The Christian Science Monitor

“Fans of historical novels will find much to like in McGuirk’s debut. An ambitious work of historical fiction.” ~ Kirkus Review

Any Triggers: Grief event.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/4DLPMD

This title is available to read on #Kindle+.

AUTHOR BIO: SUSAN MCGUIRK

Susan McGuirk posts about heroines of historical fiction books on her blog “The Storied Sisters Society” on Bluesky and Substack.

While working at HBO, she honed her writing skills composing hundreds of in-house film reviews. She also worked at Anthology Film Archives, a historical film museum.

Susan lives with her husband in New York City.

Author Links:

Website     Instagram     Threads     Bluesky     Book Bub

Amazon Author Page     Goodreads     Substack

EXCERPT: DEAR MISSING FRIEND

Prologue

Letter from Catherine

129 Cedar Street
New York City

September 7, 1864

Dear Jane,

He found me. Michael sent a message that landed right in my lap, literally. It came in this morning’s newspaper. He placed an advertisement in the Missing Friends notices. Most people probably skip them, but we Irish always read them in the unlikely event we will see someone we know trying to find a lost relative.

After my name leaped off the page, I was so startled that I jumped up and paced around the kitchen. Thinking I must have imagined it, I ran to fetch my seldom-used pair of spectacles, to prove my eyes were not deceiving me. Once they were on, I screwed up my courage to look again. I held the newspaper close to my face. There was no denying what was before me. I copied the notice for you because it may take months for it to be reprinted in the Sag Harbor Corrector.

OF Catherine McGUIRK, who when last heard from was in Long Island; she lived in Sack Harbor about twenty years ago. Any information concerning the whereabouts or fate of the above person will be thankfully received by Rev Joseph F Gallagher, Worcester, Wayne county, Ohio.

My heart was thumping so hard I could barely breathe. I ran to my room, as I did not want my employers to be alarmed by the shaking hands of their governess. After I calmed myself, I was still afraid to come out and face them.

I did not tell a soul what I saw. I waited days for a response or an acknowledgment from anyone seeing my name, but none have come. Once the notice gets to your newspaper, my name might be recognized. People in Manhattan only know me as Mrs. Heffernan.

Days have gone by, but I cannot stop reading the advertisement. It took fifteen years since Michael left, but I finally stopped thinking about him. I cannot understand why he would contact me after so long. How strange that he used my maiden name instead of his in the notice. I wonder what including a priest’s name means and why he is in the state of Ohio.

Jane, you, of all people, know my aim remains to be free of Michael. It has been more than enough time to be forgotten. My long-sought peace and stability feel threatened, and the last thing I want is a ghost to return to haunt me. When he sailed away the first time, the beginning was almost the end. At this late date, there is no going back. I just want to be left alone. Please advise me, Jane.

Your friend,
Catherine

Letter from Michael Heffernan

Pittsburgh Avenue
Wooster, Ohio

February 17, 1871

Dear Cathy,

At first, we were separate, on either side of a divide. Your head was always in a book, and I was a man of action. You said I was the dreamer, eyes on the horizon, looking for a vessel to board. Yet we both had dreams. My wandering was your rival, but you never stayed in one place long. Your quest was ceaseless, but my journey was waylaid. It was cast aside for the fate we both professed to loathe, while your aspiration was achieved. Our paths overlapped, ran parallel, and then diverged at cross-purposes. You kept your promise, and I broke mine. Like the whales I chased as a young man, you were just out of reach.

They can sing, you know. I could hear the tunes on their breath a nautical mile away. The specter of their agonizing deaths plagues my dreams. In them, the green hand in the crow’s nest bellows the sighting of the blowhole, and the vessel gives chase. The boat is lowered, and the harpooner attacks. The first mate inhales the creature’s primal pant while hurling the lance. It fastens. The whale gives a “sleigh ride,” dragging the boat violently for hours. The “chimney afire” declares death as torrents of blood spout from the head.

I wake up shaking with regret for the whales and myself. When a vessel summoned me, I could not refuse. I should have been punished on the seas, the islands of the Pacific, the mines of California, the battlefields of the war, or in the towns of northeast Ohio. Instead, contentment became my burden. It is my penance and why I must wait for redemption.

Your loving husband,
Michael

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