Briony and her young daughter Katie are helping her mother Valerie settle into her new home in Spain. Valerie has moved there to try and find peace in her ageing years after suffering much heartache as a young woman. While sorting through things Briony uncovers an old photo album and a letter falls out addressed to her, it is from her paternal grandmother Tessa begging her to get in touch when she is an adult. She has fond memories of her grandmother and is devastated to discover Valerie has denied her a vital part of her childhood. Briony in anger vows never to speak to her mother again and begins to source flights home.
Valerie wants to explain to her daughter what led to this bitter separation and begins to question her judgement all those years ago. But will Briony listen or even understand? This is a novel that deals with the complex relationships often found in families.
The book is written in a way that draws you in making you feel like you are right there with them, in fact while memories were being explored and when we are brought back to the present I found myself shocked at how deeply I felt involved . The chapters dealing with the present are short and to the point whilst those delving into the past are more descriptive and explain each of the cleverly woven together characters and their impact on each other.The characters that stood out for me were in fact not the central ones but Lorcan (Tessa's husband) and Lizzie (Valerie's best friend) who both remained the voice of reason throughout the story.
There were scenes that I personally could identify with and the emotion the words carried actually brought a tear to my eye at times showing how well researched these parts were.
I found the fact that the prologue covered an event from the middle of the book a refreshing change and the epilogue left me feeling warm and reiterating my personal beliefs.
This is a novel to take your time with and to savour every single word and moment. Another hit from this author!
Reviewed by Fiona Keegan - guest reviewer
Many thanks to Fiona for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library. Fiona is a nurse, mum and grandma who enjoys reading when she has a spare moment !
Published by Simon and Schuster
Thanks to the publisher for kindly offering a proof copy of this novel at their blogger event.
A huge thanks Lindsay for allowing me the opportunity to review it!
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