The Shadow Year - Hannah Richell

'She just can't seem to shake the feeling that the old place is trying to tell her something.'

In this novel we meet Lila, an unhappy young woman who has suffered a devastating loss. She is struggling to cope with this; she suffers feelings of guilt, and her relationship with her husband Tom is under strain. She receives a mysterious, anonymous inheritance; a remote cottage in the Peak District. Intrigued, and looking for an escape, she decides to renovate the place, which is much in need of it. She finds traces of the previous occupants, and wonders about who they were, and why it seems like they left the cottage quite suddenly. Whilst there, she has a sense that she isn't alone, that someone may be watching her. 

Back in 1980, a group of five graduates spend a warm summer's day heading out to a remote spot in the countryside, where they discover a cottage by a lake in an idyllic spot. The place seems to be abandoned, and the seed of an idea is sown. They could spend a year here, before joining the rest of society, they could escape and live quietly and be as self reliant as possible. It seems like a dream and it starts well. But then as winter sets in and a visitor arrives, the realities become harsher and the strains being to show. 

The narrative switches back and forth between the two strands in alternate chapters, with the tale structured such that the writer has kept the months aligned, so that we read about December 1980 and then December in the present, which maintains the sense of the gradually passing year in each case, the changing seasons playing their part in the sights, smells and surroundings that form a backdrop to the story. 

What happens in the past is slowly revealed, and the repercussions on the present are also gradually shown. This writer gets to the heart of relationships and creates interesting characters representing both likeable and less pleasant aspects of human nature, and she places these creations in challenging situations. There's a strong sense of place and the cottage, lake and surrounds become almost like characters in themselves and it's easy to see how someone might become captivated by such a place.

Hannah Richell has weaved an involving tale that grows into an emotional, evocative read about secrets and about how people can be driven by motives of love, desire and jealousy, to act in a way that they think is for the best for others, whether that is the reality or not, and whatever the real, painful impact might be. I thought the plot was cleverly constructed and although I guessed at some of the mysteries within the story, I was certainly surprised by some as well. Though I would have preferred the story to have been a little shorter at times, overall I enjoyed escaping into this very readable story and discovering what would happen to the characters in this tangle of lives and how the two storylines would meet. 

Published by Orion

Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending a proof copy of this novel.

You can follow the author on twitter @HannahRichell and visit her website here.

The Aftermath - Rhidian Brook

The year is 1946, and the setting is a country that has been destroyed, where we are taken to a city that lies in ruins, and introduced to a people, many of whom have been displaced and are hungry. This is Hamburg, Germany and this is the scene of this remarkable novel. Colonel Lewis Morgan is entrusted with the role of overseeing the rebuilding of Hamburg in the British Occupied Zone of the newly carved up post World War II Germany, and with the de-Nazification of the people. His wife Rachael and son Edmund come over from England to join him. They lost their other son in the war and Rachael is still grieving very deeply. Lewis requisitions an elegant house on the banks of the river Elbe, but unlike others who force out the owners, he allows the resident German family, consisting of widower Lubert and his unhappy daughter Freda to remain in their home, living in the top floor apartment, whilst his family lives below. This unconventional arrangement forms the intriguing backdrop of the story.

We learn of brief moments in the lives of each of them, Lewis and Rachael, and the children Edmund and Freda. For all of them, for all of Germany too, it is the aftermath of something enormous. Also we meet some children reduced to living off whatever they can find, steal and barter with, the main character amongst these being the charismatic but vulnerable Ozi. The chapters move between all of them throughout the story, allowing the author to depict many sides to the situation, and give an adult's and a child's perspective. But the narrator didn't feel intrusive; rather the characters were allowed to speak for themselves. I think there were times when I wanted to be back with the scene or characters we had just left, which tells me that I was involved with the story.

Lewis is a kind man, showing understanding towards the Germans and comprehension of the realities of the situation the people are now facing; whatever they have done, whatever has gone before, he is trying to be practical in dealing with the present. His differing stance and approach is one of the main aspects of the story that stood out for me. Others are much more severe, perhaps understandably so. The contrasts in behaviour certainly challenge our preconceptions. Lewis is a fascinating man, professional in his work and a compassionate character, who has very much separated his home and working lives, his mind mirroring Germany itself, with its new occupiers. Rachael observes that her husband's thoughts are divided into different areas:

'She could see he was preoccupied. Preoccupied with the occupied. His mind was divided into two zones, the larger, and by far more interesting, being the zone of work, with its needy subdivisions. He was fine as long as the other zone - the domestic zone inhabited by her and Edmund, the Luberts, the staff - was able to take care of itself with minimal input from him...but just for now she wanted him to engage with her realm, however small.'

Indeed it is his working life that is the sphere he feels more at ease in; comprehending how to renew his relationship with his wife and surviving son after the war seems much more of a battle than the other one he faces; after one all too brief intimate moment 'his mind had already returned to the zone where he felt safest and more effective: to the less complicated needs of a thousand faceless Germans and the rehabilitation of a country.' The fact that this mammoth task facing him seems less difficult than rebuilding his familial relationships shows just how hard this latter task feels for him. He is out of practice with regard to this side of life, and now, being back on intimate terms together 'suddenly required an ability to interpret and understand the nuances of a dialect Lewis had not spoken for over a year.'

Rhidian Brook tackles the subject of guilt and innocence, as the British assess Germans to try and determine the extent of their wartime activities and involvement with the Nazis. People were assessed using a Fragebogen - a questionnaire - 'to determine the degree of a German citizen's collaboration with the regime.' He demonstrates how easy it is to view the situation as black and white, but suggests that we need to look deeper. When he himself is questioned, Lubert realises that, despite his explanations, the man questioning him sees elements of his past as all being part of, or linked to, the Nazi regime. 'How simple this mathematics was: an equation that always ended 'equals guilty'. The numbers and fractions that got you there were unimportant.'

Music is important to Rachael, and it is a connection between her and Herr Lubert. She is determined at first to keep herself distant from him and Freda, or as much as possible given that they are, after all, still under the same roof, but it doesn't take long before 'the careful lines she had planned to lay down - had started to lay down - were already being crossed.' We wonder if this is a sign of things to come. Meanwhile Edmund forms his own bonds amongst the displaced children scavenging and hiding in nearby properties, and demonstrates his own kindness, as well as a touching innocence at times. He has missed his father and has 'a whole war's worth' of questions for him.

There are some well-observed moments even of the minutiae of life in those strange times; witness the 'three officer's wives, comparing household inventories', about which Brook wittily writes that 'it was testament to the miracle of British bureaucracy that even in these bankrupt times it could find within its broken and bust self the wherewithal to decide that a captain's wife did not need a four-place tea set, that a major's needed a full dinner service, and that only the commanding officers' wives should have a port decanter.'

There is some stunning imagery and poetry to the prose that I loved and which made this novel a joy to read for me; Rhidian Brook has a lovely way with words. This description of the weather struck me: 'pregnant grey-black snowclouds loomed, ready to dress the village in fairy-tale clothes.' 

And I loved this striking and very poignant image of a ruined church: 'The facade of a church stood on one side of the road, with only sky for stained glass and the wind for a congregation.'

Later, there is a suggestion that the house itself is judging Rachael; 'It looked to Rachael as if the house were narrowing its eyes at her. The dusk made a grimacing smile of the slats on the balcony.'

I thought this description of a fire was wonderful, too; 'A fire was a theatre in its own right and this one was loud and lively, full of intriguing plots and sub-plots.'

I really, really liked this book. It was surprising, shocking and thrilling at times, and engaging throughout. It deals with some big themes; love, passion and separation, loss, lies and a nation's guilt, and asks difficult questions that can make you feel uneasy or make you reconsider how you had viewed people; it certainly makes you think. I am always interested in fiction that deals with Germany in this period and I think this is a very readable, compelling new novel to add to that field. After hearing about this story I was excited about reading it and I wasn't disappointed. I feel like I could write and write about it, both in terms of language and storylines, so I think it would be a fabulous novel for bookgroups as there are so many fascinating issues arising that could be discussed and debated. It is also going to be made into a film I believe. One of my favourite reads so far in 2013. 

Published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Books

review copy from the amazon vine program

Dangerous Waters - Anne Allen

‘Was it a real memory or was her mind playing tricks on her?’

We meet writer Jeanne Le Page as she is on the ferry returning to her home on the island of Guernsey for the first time in many years. After the mysterious death of her parents, a riddle that has still never been solved, she is revisiting the place to sort out affairs after the death of her Grandmother who has left her old cottage to Jeanne. Having experienced a difficult, unhappy time in her life recently, Jeanne might be glad of the escape from England. However there are so many ghosts and traumatic memories for her on Guernsey that it is certain to be a difficult return; ‘the ghosts of the past were not going to lie down quietly.’

Jeanne initially intends to simply sell her inheritance and leave, however she makes a discover in the cottage relating back to the time of the German Occupation, and that makes her want to find out more and then she has to determine whether there is any future for her on Guernsey, whether she can come to terms with the events of her past there, and find some peace and a new life:

‘Would Guernsey be able to offer her the healing she so badly needed? She had loved it once. Perhaps the spark was still there.’

We follow Jeanne as she sets about the updating and renovation of the home left to her by her Gran, meeting up with old friends who are a great support to her, in particular Molly and Peter, and rekindling old acquaintances from school days. As she begins to establish herself on the island, the intriguing discovery she made will set in course a new and exciting writing project for her, and Jeanne wonders if she can finally lay the past to rest. But there is one thing that remains unsolved, namely the mystery surrounding her parents’ death, and the disturbing flashbacks that Jeanne experiences from time to time. And whilst this is unanswered, there seems to be an element of danger for Jeanne herself, too, in knowing who to trust. Molly offers to use her experience with hypnotism to help Jeanne revisit her memories and try and unearth the truth.

This is an enjoyable and intriguing read by Anne Allen, full of romance and mystery, and the setting of Guernsey is well evoked. Jeanne is a likeable main character; she is talented, brave and resourceful but also apprehensive and unsettled by recent and past events, and seeks to create some stability and normality in her life. She has suffered much pain and at times it overwhelms her.

I liked the author’s inclusion of historical aspects alongside and within the modern day story, which added to the intrigue and revealed more about Jeanne’s family heritage, as well as adding colour to the island’s past during the German Occupation. I also liked the mystery of the room in Jeanne’s Gran’s cottage which always held a chill for Jeanne whenever she entered. I wondered what it was that she sensed there. I was drawn into Jeanne’s life and her friendships on the island, and I found the story regarding her Gran interesting and moving. I enjoyed reading this atmospheric novel with its combination of love story and mystery. 

Published by Matador, an imprint of Troubador Publishing

Thanks to the author for kindly sending a copy of this novel to read and review.

You can find the author on twitter @AnneAllen21  and visit her website here.

The Night Rainbow - Claire King

‘I fly up into my head to play with my thoughts.’

Pea (Peony, or Pivoine), spends her days playing with her little sister Margot in the sprawling countryside around her home in the south of France. It is summertime when we meet her, and we learn that her Maman is heavily pregnant. Sadly she lost her previous baby, as Pea explains, telling us ‘she didn’t bring back a baby like she promised. She left it at the hospital, along with her happiness.’ Pea wonders at the sadness inside her Maman, so deep that she cannot reach in and bring her back to them no matter how she tries.

Pea tells the story throughout and she captivates the reader. Her five year old voice is completely honest; at times so delightful in her observations, yet at other times so fearful and sad, and prone to moments of darkness. Her imagination is her strength and the key to a part of this story.

She is insightful in her observations; on one occasion, seeing the swallows, she recalls when she saw them in their nest, and now they are out in the world, no longer fed by their mother but having to fend for themselves. I felt that Pea and Margot were like these little swallows, having to do things for themselves, as the mother bird was no longer able to always be there for them at the moment. In this way, Pea is strongly bound up in the life and nature around her.

The sense of place is strongly evoked and provides an important backdrop to Pea’s adventures and exploring. I felt I could picture the meadows and trees, the little village market, and the family home.

Pea and Margot befriend Claude and his dog Merlin, who are both an integral part of their countryside surroundings. They find companionship and wisdom; Claude advises Pea that ‘you can’t mend everything that gets broken.’ Claude is an intriguing character; I wondered at his past and his life now.

Claire King has crafted a very special tale and told it beautifully. It is a tale of sadness, grief and loss, and of friendship, belief and hope. Surely an author to watch. 

I must add, I absolutely love the cover of this book, so beautiful and attractive and fitting.

Published by Bloomsbury

Thanks to the author and the publisher for a copy of this novel to read and review.

You can follow the author on twitter @ckingwriter  and visit her website here

Waterline - Ross Raisin

Mick Little used to work as a shipbuilder, but had to turn to driving a mini cab when Glasgow's shipping yards closed. Now he has lost his wife, Cathy, to mesothelioma and is gradually overwhelmed by grief and guilt over her death.  Afraid of the pity of his friends and family, he descends into paranoia and depression and eventually runs away to London in an attempt to find a new life for himself. However, he finds he cannot escape his feelings of shame and finds his life instead continues to spiral downwards.

Waterline is a very convincing portrait of one man's decline amid despair.  Mick Little is metaphorically holed below the waterline by his wife's death and sinks rapidly, shunning the efforts of those around him to shore him up. In a few telling and beautifully observed scenes Raisin captures perfectly the lethargy and shame of depression, Mick's inability to take decisions or focus on even the simplest task ("Best not to think about the big picture right now, because it's just too bloody big."), his loss of appetite for both food and life, his increasing reluctance to have even the briefest of contact with other people.

Where all this leads Mick to is a place below the waterline of modern society, a place on the very margins of life that is peopled by exploited immigrant workers, by the unemployed and by vagrants, all people who are by and large overlooked by all but those who deliberately seek them out to offer help.  Although most of the book's events are seen through Mick's eyes, Raisin gives us occasional glimpses of him from the point of view of passers by, a device that not only highlights Mick's physical decline, but also reveals the often dismissive and callous attitude of the casual observer, indeed of most of us who would walk hurriedly by rather than stop to investigate the huddled shape lying in a doorway or on a park bench.

This is in many ways a depressing and grim portrait of modern life and of how easily individuals can fall out of society and out of sight.  However, Raisin leavens this with moments of wry humour throughout the book, and even in the darkest moments the redemptive power of human contact and friendship saves both Mick Little and the reader from absolute despair.  Nevertheless, even though the ending appears to promise hope and redemption, the tone of the final scene is one of quiet sadness.

This is a very different book from Raisin's first novel, God's Own Country.  Even though both could be said to be about people who are marginalised in society, in Waterline this theme is explored in much greater depth and with much more compassion.  Mick Little is a living, breathing character, the depiction of his grief and his decline is completely convincing, and it is impossible for the reader not to empathise and sympathise with him. In terms of subject matter this isn't a light book by any means, and the fact that Mick's thoughts and words are conveyed in Glaswegian dialect slows the reader down, but this has the benefit of forcing the reader to dwell on what's happening to Mick rather than passing hurriedly on, of shaking us out of our comfort zones to contemplate this twilight world on the underbelly of society that most of us would rather turn a blind eye to.  Waterline isn't always an easy read, but overall I found it an extremely thought-provoking and rewarding one.

Reviewed by Penny Tattersall

Guest reviewer Penny Tattersall has kindly reviewed this novel for The Little Reader Library - many thanks to Penny for this lovely, perceptive review. Penny is another very keen reader whose thoughts I trust when choosing a book.

Published by Penguin

Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy of this novel to read and review.

The Underside of Joy - Sere Prince Halverson

'I know now that the most genuine happiness is kept afloat by an underlying sorrow.'

Ella has a wonderful husband in Joe, and a happy family with children Annie and Zach, as well as the extended family offered by Joe's large Italian family, all settled in rural Elbow, in northern California. After her previous, unhappy marriage ended, she left and chanced upon this new, fulfilling life, living happily with her new family and seemingly having little to worry about. Then tragedy strikes them from nowhere, as Joe passes away after a tragic accident. Ella must pick up the pieces, but she has more to contend with than just the immense grief and loss at Joe's death. The childrens' birthmother Paige, whom Ella has always understood had left Joe and the children to fend for themselves, now appears at Joe's funeral, and seems to now want to once again become involved in Annie and Zach's lives. Additionally, Joe's grocery store, which is steeped in family history, is in much more trouble than he had ever let on to Ella, and she has to try and contend with the bills and demands of the failing business as well as everything else. 

This is an emotional read with depth. It immediately involves the reader in the situation and the many new, unexpected challenges facing Ella. She shows great determination and strength of character to carry on. It's an intriguing situation to form the basis of the story; a birth mother who has ostensibly given up all rights to her children, and admitted in the past she doesn't want to be with them as she couldn't cope, but now returns saying she wants to be their mother, and then a stepmother who loves the children and has been their Mummy every day for the past three years. Who are the children better off with, if it comes to a custody battle? How can they all do the right thing by the two children, whilst trying not to cause anyone else heartbreak?

At times the story was very sad, so much grief to be endured, so much loss. Ella has to deal with so much, and just when you think she has got to the hardest part, another challenge comes along which forces her to consider very deeply what is the right thing to do, morally. It's an incredibly hard decision and she comes under pressure from those around her. I think she takes the only path that could offer her a future free of guilt and anxiety. Then there is Paige. Was it post-natal depression that led her to struggle so much with her children? We discover more as the story unfolds. There were moments where I don't think I could have been as strong as Ella manages to be.

The author also deals with issues such as painful, buried history, one of them touching on the past of this Italian family in the wider context of America in the twentieth century, and weaving issues that affected previous generations of their family into having a significance, a lesson almost, with regard to the main storyline about Ella. The story depicts the dangers of people not opening up to each other, but instead keeping their mouths shut and hoping things will go away, leaving truths to be uncovered that have long been hidden.

Nature is represented strongly here, something close to Ella's heart. I felt the giant redwood trees of California were a vivid, ever-present backdrop to the story, and very symbolic at times for Ella and her situation:

'I loved the way redwoods grow in circular groves, reproducing through 'suckers' - shoots that root in the ground and form new trees - which draw nourishment from the mother tree, even from its roots after the tree is long gone...hundreds, even thousands of years. And yet, if you were to take the younger shoots away from the mother tree and attempt to replant them, they would most likely wither and die.'

The Underside of Joy is a well-written, accomplished book for a debut. It kept me turning the pages throughout. I enjoyed the wider cast of characters as well as the main ones. The author is herself a stepmum and so has evidently been able to draw on her own experience in creating this work of fiction.

I enjoyed this book and I would certainly read more by this author. 

Published by HarperCollins

Reviewed for Amazon Vine

Goodbye For Now - Laurie Frankel

'It wasn't a miracle. It was computer science.'

Sam Elling is a genius but lonely software engineer working, ironically, at an online dating company creating wondrous algorithms that will find you your soulmate. 'He cracked the code to your heart.' He runs the programme on himself and finds his match within the same company, Meredith Maxwell. His invention is so successful he is fired because it works too well! His next invention will change his life. Meredith suffers a loss and Sam has a computerised answer for it. Does his genius mean that people will no longer have to say goodbye for ever, even when someone dies?

'Forget really good internet dating. Without even trying, without even deciding to really, somehow Sam had invented eternal life. Immortality.

Not for you, but you wouldn't care because you'd be dead. As far as your loved ones were concerned, however, Sam could keep you alive and with them forever. How was that not immortality?'

His invention, which harnesses the modern day social networking and electronic communications methods we seem to prioritise, such as facebook, email, texting, twitter, video chat, means that someone's thoughts and opinions and their love may still be there, still be available to us even after their physical presence is no longer with us. We could still share things with them, tell them what we wish we'd said, talk with them and receive their advice. Can it help those who are bereaved to deal with loss? Or does it merely prolong forever the ache of missing them?

The premise for this story intrigued me straight away. Then, when I started reading, the imaginative storyline grabbed me and kept me reading until the end. The two primary characters, Sam and Meredith, came across as warm, caring human beings. Sam is a geek who is sweet, likeable and romantic, Meredith is a lovely lady and they suit one another so well. Their relationship is touching and believable.

Sam's incredible technological invention, the responsibility for what they have made possible, comes to dominate their lives. It is viewed variously as wondrous, destructive, healing yet pain-inducing, troubling yet miraculous. As it evolves, it could be said to destroy human contact with the living and yet it helps others find it anew. 

At the heart of the matter is the stark loss felt when a loved one dies and that connection is lost: 'You think you'll have all the time in the world. You think there will always be a later. Sometimes, suddenly, horribly, there's not.'

What would we give to have another chance to see and speak to that loved one? There are moral issues. Readers may react differently depending on their own personal views regarding death. It is rich with topics to discuss and debate. 

I don't want to reveal too much about how the story, and the invention, progresses, because this is best discovered as you read the novel. 

I really enjoyed this author's style of writing and her use of language throughout. From the start Laurie Frankel's writing is witty and heartfelt, her words offer us ideas and truths, and the story is both incredibly modern in terms of relationships and technology, and yet completely timeless in its' themes of love, loss, memories and death. 

Goodbye For Now is an insightful, imaginative novel, at times funny, at times heartbreaking, and definitely thought-provoking. 

Published by Headline Review on 16th August 2012

Thank you to the publisher for very kindly sending a copy of this novel to read and review.

You can follow the author on twitter @Laurie_Frankel and also visit her website here.

Missing Persons - Nicci Gerrard

'You can't tell with people - you think you know them and then you discover you don't. We're all mysteries, to each other and to ourselves...'

Isabel Hopkins takes her son Johnny off to start his course at University. She is very sad to leave him, and feels lost when she arrives home having left him there. He is a sensitive, kind and loving son. They keep in touch as he settles in. Then she stops hearing from him, she can't get hold of him on the telephone, and he isn't replying to letters. Johnny's father Felix discovers that the University doesn't know where Johnny is either, and that he hasn't been attending his lectures or submitting his work. Frantic, his parents visit the University, talk to his tutor, his flatmates, but no one can tell them where he is. Then they contact Will and Baxter, friends from school, anyone who may have some idea where Johnny has gone.

The cover copy, or synopsis, for this novel clearly tells us that this is not Johnny's story, although I have heard the author describe the novel as being haunted by Johnny. Instead, it is the story of the impact of his disappearance on Isabel and Felix, his parents, of his sisters, Tamsin, and in particular Mia, and his friends. Everyone who cares about him, and who care about his family. It is a frightening, frustrating situation for them all. The author portrays in depth the struggle to cope with Johnny's disappearance. How can someone they love, who is such a fundamental part of their lives and of the family, just vanish, and no longer be in contact with them. There has been no incident, no upset they can think of that has triggered this; they seemed a loving family, as Mia explains: 'It was like a bad dream, the kind of thing that happens to other people, not to a family like us: middle class, comfortably off, apparently happy.'

The novel offers a detailed portrait of how Johnny's disappearance affects those he was close to, primarily Isabel, Felix and Mia in different ways. Mia is his younger sister and to her, Johnny was something of an idol and a hero, she was close to him and feels his absence deeply. As the story progresses, we learn how her life is weighed down and shaped by her loss, and by her experience of seeing how her parents changed as people due to their anguish. 

For Isabel, and for Felix, live is utterly changed, and their marriage is tested to the absolute limits, as they each react and attempt to cope in their own separate ways. Isabel loses weight, can't eat, can't sleep or think straight. She holds on to a blind optimism and denial, buying Christmas presents and keeping Johnny's room ready as if he will walk back in very soon. It's intensely sad reading how she changes and withers as the days pass by, she is desperate, suffering, agonising about the fact that she feels her son must have felt that he couldn't turn to her. She blames herself, not recognising that perhaps Johnny chose to go away, not because of something his parents did or didn't do, but because he needed something different himself. She has the support of close female friends Jenny and Leah doing what they can to help. No matter how severe the strain that Isabel feels under, Felix believes:

'that she was stronger than him, because she could bend and therefore would not break. She was like those sea grasses that would lie flat against the earth in a storm but gradually straighten when the wind died down. She was crushed and broken, but she endured and she would never give up. She had absorbed grief and fear into her body and made it part of her flesh and blood, but he had held it at arms length...'

Felix's way of coping and wanting to feel useful initially is to plunge himself into researching every aspect of Johnny's life in a vain attempt to discover anything that might suggest why he has gone. His study at home, formerly for his academic work, becomes a place dedicated to this research, and he goes beyond Johnny and starts to collate information on other missing people. He becomes 'a lonely detective, embroiled in his investigation. There was masses of information but not a single clue.' Through Felix the author offers us a glimpse of the practical ways and means of trying to find a missing person, but to me the novel is always ultimately about the human story, the emotional turmoil and agony.

I found this a very emotional and insightful book, not a quick read, and due to the nature of the story, very bleak at times, with so much despair, self-destruction, sadness and guilt felt and experienced by these characters. I had to read and digest a little at a time, and then come back to the book. I felt compelled to finish reading and discover the ultimate outcome to the events. I have enjoyed novels written by this author as part of the Nicci French collaboration with Sean French, and this individual work is an interesting contrast to those novels, with a slower pace, more contemplative, examining human emotions in depth. 

Published by Penguin

4/5


Below is a video of the author talking about his novel.