David M. Brown's Blog, page 79
November 28, 2012
Book Review: The Truth About Us – Dalene Flannigan
[image error] What happens when the past catches up to the present and the truth surfaces? Three women, roommates back in college, find their lives forever altered when one of them feels compelled to confess the secret sin of their past.
And whose truth is it?
‘The Truth About Us’ weaves the past and the present in a page-turner that explores the shifting quality of truth, and the cost of secrets.
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Review: The Truth About Us (2011)
I had The Truth About Us on my ereader for quite a while and started reading it before checking over the synopsis again so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found a story of three friends, both bound together and torn apart by a deep secret, which – as secrets inevitably seem to – threatened to come out and shatter all of their carefully built up lives. Grace is a successful film-maker, Erica is married (though not very happily) with children and both are floored when Jude announces with some zeal that she has found religion and intends to confess their act.
As the novel continues the story unfolds and the ‘act’ is revealed, as well as the reasons behind it. It’s hard not to sympathise with the position that Grace, Erica and Jude were in and I found it almost impossible not to despite Jude for what I considered to be her selfish weakness. Though she declared her reasons were selfless and based on her newly found love of Jesus, I felt this was rather an example of someone caught up in their own vision of religion. This is not to condemn religion but rather its abuse, which I think Flannigan touches on during the novel.
The Truth About Us is a novel of questions: what did they do, what will they do, what will be the consequences. The expectation that built during the novel seemed – for me – to outdo the final scenes in terms of drama and tension but overall this was a very good read with a great message: when you seek forgiveness, is it for someone else’s sake or in fact just to ease your own conscience.
Verdict: 4/5
(Book source: reviewer received a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review)
Book Review: The Truth About Us – Dalene Flannigan | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
November 27, 2012
Book Review: Matter – Iain M. Banks
[image error] In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one man it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one – maybe two – people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she’d thought abandoned forever.
Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture’s Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilizations throughout the greater galaxy.
Concealing her new identity – and her particular set of abilities – might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else’s war is never a simple matter.
MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.
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Review: Matter
I’m still very new to the work of Iain Banks and Iain M. Banks having only read The Wasp Factory (1984) and Consider Phlebas (1987). The latter was my first affiliation with Banks’ sci-fi work and indeed with the Culture, the vast, technological society that thrives and endures, while others fall by the wayside. I had heard mixed reviews about Matter but I had enjoyed Consider Phlebas so was hopeful of a repeat here.
The novel is set on the multi-layered Shellworld of Sursamen. On the eighth level is the royal household of Sarl, ruled by King Hausk, who is extending his territory into the ninth level through war. At the outset, his son and heir, Ferbin, witnesses his father’s victory in the latest battle only to oversee and overhear the king’s second-in-command, tyl Losep, murder the wounded Hausk. Believing Ferbin to have been killed, tyl Losep returns to the heart of Sarl where another son, Oramen, stands between him and the throne. While Ferbin and his trusted servant Holse make their escape, Oramen prepares for his future role as king but in the meantime, the scheming tyl Losep is regent. Ferbin and Holse flee and seek out Hausk’s other child – his daughter Djan Seriy Anaplian – who left Sarl fifteen years before to join the Culture as a Special Cirumstances (SC) agent. Can Ferbin find her in time and save Oramen? Or will tyl Losep seize the throne?
I found the opening to Matter to be very intriguing. Treachery amidst a royal household wouldn’t have been out of place in a fantasy world but it slots nicely into Banks’ sci-fi world too. Ferbin may be the heir to the throne of Sarl but he is weak when it comes to war and is more suited to diplomacy. Oramen is young and naive, content to allow tyl Losep to have the reins of government while he spends his hours drinking and sleeping with prostitutes. Then there is Dyan Seriy Anaplian who works for the Culture and benefits from many of their technological advancements including physical and mental enhancements. When Anaplian learns of her father’s death she initially sets out for Sarl to pay her respects but she is later asked to investigate events on the ninth level.
The novel soon switches to events on the ninth level where excavations are taking place at the Nameless City, which is mostly buried under sediment but is slowly being uncovered by the Hyeng-zhar waterfalls. Anaplian is told to investigate the Oct – another species in Sursamen – who have taken a keen interest in the excavations at the Nameless City. Oramen and tyl Losep also end up at the falls, the prince having survived some scheming and assassination attempts back home but still convinced that his father’s second in command is loyal and can be trusted! The novel builds towards a dramatic climax as tyl Losep makes final plans to kill Oramen, while Ferbin and Holse join forces with Anaplian and make with haste for the ninth level to save their brother.
Something worried me as I reached the end of Matter. It was that Ferbin and Anaplian are only reunited when it seems there isn’t a lot of the book to go. It had been an epic journey for Ferbin and Holse but the return would be very quick indeed! I had high hopes for the final conflict between the king’s children and tyl Losep but this proved to be the book’s undoing. Something is discovered during the excavation of the Nameless City and it takes the novel off in a completely new direction. It’s almost as if Banks wasn’t sure how to end the story so threw in this element at the last minute. It has the abruptness and devastation of Consider Phlebas, this being a brutal and uncompromising world, but the last few pages seemed rushed to me and I found myself very unsatisfied given how good the story had been up to that point. Banks’ sci-fi is incredibly detailed and though this book is often complicated, I didn’t find it off-putting until the ending. It was such a let-down that it has affected my overall rating of the novel. I fully intend to read more Culture novels but I hope they end better than Matter.
Matter is at times a brilliant sci-fi novel, the level of intricacy in Banks’ world is formidable but at the same time some readers may find it overwhelmingly complicated, just as I did in places. The overall story was a good one and I was really excited about seeing the king’s children get revenge against tyl Losep but the conclusion goes down a completely random path and it wasn’t a satisfying one for me sadly.
Verdict: 3/5
(Book source: reviewer’s own copy)
Book Review: Matter – Iain M. Banks | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
November 26, 2012
Book Review: The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge – Christine Nolfi
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A savage rape on hallowed ground. Secrets buried for decades by the town’s most influential family.
Now Ourania D’Andre will learn the Great Oak’s secrets as construction begins at the Fagan mansion. She can’t afford to turn down a job that promises to stir up the long-buried guilt—and the passion—she shares with powerful Troy Fagan.
She’s already juggling the most important job of her career with her new responsibilities as a foster mother for young Walt and Emma Korchek. And there’s a hard, older man on the construction crew with eyes void of emotion—cold and killing. The secrets of his brutal past will pose a grave threat to the children in her care. Will she find the courage to face him?
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Review: The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge
Ourania D’Andre is an electrical contractor who successfully bids for a job at the Fagan mansion. There she is brought into contact with Troy who she has a little history with. They also share grief: Troy’s brother Jason was killed years ago and both bear guilt and sadness over the loss.
At first I thought this was going to be a largely romantic novel that saw Ourania and Troy work to overcome their differences, with the added complication that Ourania had become a foster mother to two young children. And that would have been fine – it’s wonderfully written and the chemistry between the two characters was beautifully presented. However, there is so much more to this novel than that.
Christine Nolfi has weaved a wonderful plot covering more than one generation and tying up loose ends of the Korcheks (Walt, Emma and their father Buck), the D’Andres and the Fagans. There were hints of the ending before it was reached, so I won’t say it was a shocking conclusion to me but Nolfi made it a shocking conclusion to the characters that played out well.
The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge is full of tender moments but also heavy on drama, strong characters and intricate plot twists. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and it’s a very solid 4.5. As we round down, it seems almost mean to give it four but I console myself that I am simply leaving scope for what I know will be even more compelling writing from this author in future.
Verdict: 4/5
(Book source: reviewer received a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review)
Book Review: The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge – Christine Nolfi | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
November 25, 2012
Tweedlers’ Jukebox Song of the Week: Long Tall Sally
It’s the end of the eighties and although I’m not even ten I’m watching Predator (1987) on video. After a very brief briefing at the start Arnie and chums are on a mission into a jungle, two helicopters fly low over the treetops and blazing out of the speakers of a stereo is Little Richard’s Long Tall Sally. This was my earliest association with this song, most likely the same as millions of other kids in the eighties and it’s stayed with me ever since.
Is this song fairly simple or is it full of euphemisms? Hard to be certain. Little Richard’s delightful vocals hit you at a fast pace and he sings of Long Tall Sally who is pursued by Uncle John but they have to make a quick getaway down an alley when Aunt Mary makes an appearance. It’s either a simple tale of an affair or if you want to delve into the euphemisms there may be even more of a sexual undercurrent especially with the term Uncle John.
Whatever the truth Long Tall Sally is packed full of rock n roll energy and is sung majestically by Little Richard. The song, like many back then, is sadly too short and perhaps there could have been some more lyrics but what’s there is wonderful. I’ve seen Predator many times in my life but gladly hit YouTube regularly to listen to this song in its own right. Legendary stuff from Little Richard.
Tweedlers’ Jukebox Song of the Week: Long Tall Sally | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
Book Review: Bluff – Lenore Skomal
[image error] “To the medical world, I was a host body, surviving only to bring a new life into the world. And while I wanted to die more than anything in the world, I never wanted this. No, I never wanted to cease to exist. This was the worst death of all.”
Jude Black lives in that in-between, twilight place teetering on death but clinging to life in order to bring her baby into this world. Only she knows the circumstances surrounding her mysterious fall off the bluff that landed her in the hospital being kept alive by medical intervention. Only she knows who the father of her baby is. In this poignantly crafted literary novel, the mystery unfolds and the suspense builds as the consequences of Jude’s decisions threaten to reveal everyone’s deceptions, even her own. Bluff offers a sensitive look at essential questions such as the value of human life, the consciousness of those in a coma and the morality of terminating life support. At the core is the story of a tragically misunderstood woman who finds peace, acceptance, understanding and even love on her deathbed.
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Review: Bluff (2012)
Jude Black is in hospital with severe injuries having been found on the beach after a fall – or a push? – from the bluff near her home. As the doctors try to save her life, it becomes apparent that they are striving to save two lives, not one. Jude is pregnant and the identity of the father is as much of a mystery as many things in Jude’s life. As Jude lies in her comatose state, aware of all around her, she begins to sort through some of the things in her life, in an almost subconscious effort to reach some kind of peace. As Jude moves closer to this, the turmoil in everyone else’s lives becomes achingly apparent.
Bluff is very much a ‘things are never quite as they seem’ novel, with a lot more below the surface than is originally suggested. Characters who seem perfectly together, warm, friendly, kind, confident or focused have major flaws revealed over the course of the novel. Though Jude begins as the messed up disaster of the community, it becomes clear during the book that there are those with much darker secrets.
Like many novels with a ‘difficult’ main character, I found Bluff to be very thought-provoking. Jude is flawed – the memories and flashbacks suggest she can be miserable and anti-social – but she does display real vulnerability and tenderness at times.
The novel raises some big issues (some of which I can’t reveal without giving key plot points away), including organ donation, the church and drug abuse. I felt these complex areas were dealt with sensitively and in a thought-provoking manner.
Bluff was a very enjoyable read that kept me hooked. Touching, poignant and very sad at times, I found it well written and interesting.
Verdict: 4/5
(Book source: reviewer received a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review)
Book Review: Bluff – Lenore Skomal | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
November 24, 2012
Film Review: The Man Who Fell to Earth
[image error] The Man Who Fell to Earth is a daring exploration of science fiction as an art form. The story of an alien on an elaborate rescue mission provides the launching pad for Nicolas Roeg’s visual tour de force, a formally adventurous examination of alienation in contemporary life. Rock legend David Bowie completely embodies the title role, while Candy Clark, Buck Henry, and Rip Torn turn in pitch-perfect supporting performances. The film’s hallucinatory vision was obscured in the American theatrical release, which deleted nearly twenty minutes of crucial scenes and details. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Roeg’s full, uncut version, in this exclusive new director-approved high-definition widescreen transfer.
Starring: David Bowie, Rip Torn, Candy Clark, Buck Henry, Bernie Casey
Directed by: Nicolas Roeg
Runtime: 139 minutes
Studio: Criterion
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Review: The Man Who Fell to Earth
Humans always seem to end up fighting aliens in the movies. If they attack us we naturally fight back. If they come in peace we want to imprison them and in some cases take them apart to learn more. In Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, we have an alien that comes to Earth not to meet us or bring war upon us but simply for our water.
Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) appears in New Mexico out of nowhere at the start of the film. He sells his ring and heads for the city to meet with Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry), an attorney with knowledge of patents. Newton hands him a cluster of patents which the attorney is stunned with and assures Newton they are worth millions. Newton soon forms World Enterprises Corporation, a leading company in technological innovations, with Farnsworth running things while Newton remains reclusive. What no one knows is that Newton is an alien in disguise, his business dealings all part of an elaborate plan to build a spaceship and transport water back to his home planet, Anthea, which is in the midst of a severe drought and where Newton’s wife and children wait for him. In the years it takes to realise his dream, Newton is exposed and destroyed by the many temptations that Earth has to offer.
I’m a big fan of David Bowie and remember watching him in Labyrinth when I was growing up in the eighties. Bowie’s legendary album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars has one or two echoes of The Man Who Fell to Earth. Ziggy Stardust was an alien that came to earth and became a rock star only to be destroyed by his own fans. Newton is a seemingly harmless alien, raising the capital for an impressive empire within weeks of his arrival. He is quiet, cautious and drinks a lot of water, a luxury on Earth that he and his family no longer enjoy in their own world. Having set up his business Newton returns to New Mexico where he meets Mary-Lou (Candy Clark) in a hotel. She becomes a close companion and introduces him to religion, television, alcohol and sex. Alcohol and television in particular gradually eat away at Newton.
The other principal character is Dr Nathan Bryce (Rip Torn), a former college professor who comes to work for Newton and the two become friends. Bryce used to spend more time sleeping with his students than working but once he has met Newton he is focused though suspects not all is as it seems with his employer. With money building all the time Newton turns his attention to a space program to facilitate his return home to save his family and their planet from ruin. The question is can Newton break free of the many vices that are threatening to keep him on Earth?
I enjoyed The Man Who Fell to Earth. Bowie is great in the lead as Newton and he is supported by a good cast. When knowledge of what Newton is comes to the fore we bear witness to mankind’s ability to destroy things they do not understand. Newton’s personal and professional relationships are severely tested and he is encouraged to lose himself in the embrace of alcohol. All the time the clock is ticking and we see images of Newton and the family he left behind, the wife and two children slowly dying on their desert of a planet. There are some striking effects and imagery throughout the film, almost psychedelic moments, but it all adds well to the overall story.
The Man Who Fell to Earth is like an anti-E.T. movie. Newton’s rise and fall is tragic and cruel, a misunderstood alien being trying to help his family and turning to Earth as a last resort only to find many temptations waiting for him here.
Verdict: 4/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
Film Review: The Man Who Fell to Earth | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
Book Review: Everblossom – Larissa Hinton
[image error] An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.
Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts. It changes.
From the author who brought you Iwishacana/Acanawishi, she now brings you a dash of everything from dark fantasy to the paranormal to even romance. So prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed, you’ll go through them all with a whole new perspective on what it all truly means.
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Review: Everblossom (2011)
Everblossom is an anthology of poetry and very short stories, ranging from the pleasantly touching to the dark and unnerving. It’s hard to review an anthology (for me, anyway). I don’t want to summarise every poem or story or break down what I thought of each. So allow me to give you my overall summary.
Everblossom provides an interesting mix of writing. All of the pieces are very short, making this an easy-to-pick-up/easy-to-put-down read. I got through it in two sittings and enjoyed both. Hinton writes well, conveying ideas and emotions very effectively in just a few words.
I find poetry to be a very difficult review. It can mean so much to so many people, or it can mean nothing at all. All I can say is that I identified with Hinton’s work. Not all of it but much of it and certainly enough to be sure I’ll try more of her work in future.
Verdict: 4/5
(Book source: reviewer received a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review)
Book Review: Everblossom – Larissa Hinton | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
November 23, 2012
Book Review: Abdication – Juliet Nicolson
[image error] England, 1936. The year began with the death of a beloved king and the ascension of a charismatic young monarch, sympathetic to the needs of the working class, glamorous and single. By year’s end, the world would be stunned as it witnessed that new leader give up his throne in the name of love, just as the unrest and violence that would result in a Second World War were becoming impossible to ignore.
During the tumultuous intervening months, amidst the whirl of social and political upheaval, wise-beyond-her-nineteen-years May Thomas will take the first, faltering steps toward creating a new life for herself. Just disembarked at Liverpool after a long journey from her home on a struggling sugar plantation in Barbados, she secures a position as secretary and driver to Sir Philip Blunt, a job that will open her eyes to the activities of the uppermost echelons of British society, and her heart to a man seemingly beyond her reach.
Outwardly affable spinster Evangeline Nettlefold is a girlhood friend to the American socialite Wallis Simpson, a goddaughter to Lady Joan Blunt and a new arrival to London from Baltimore. She will be generously welcomed into society’s most glittering circles, where one’s daily worth is determined by one’s proximity to a certain H.R.H. and his married mistress. But as the resentment she feels toward Wallis grows in magnitude, so too does the likelihood of disastrous consequences.
Young, idealistic Julian Richardson’s Oxford degree and his close friendship with Rupert Blunt have catapulted him from excruciating hours in his mother’s middle-class parlor to long holidays spent at stately homes and luxurious dinners in the company of a king. But even as he enjoys his time in this privileged world, his head cannot forget the struggles of those who live outside its gilded gates, and his uneasy heart cannot put aside his undeclared affection for May.
May, Evangeline and Julian will all become embroiled in the hidden truths, undeclared loves, unspoken sympathies and covert complicities that define the year chronicled in Abdication. In pitch-perfect prose, Juliet Nicolson has captured an era in which duty and pleasure, tradition and novelty, and order and chaos all battled for supremacy in the hearts and minds of king and commoner alike. As addictive as Downton Abbey,as poignant as The Remains of the Day, Abdication is a breathtaking story inspired by a love affair that shook the world at a time when the world was on the brink of war.
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Review: Abdication (2012)
I quite enjoy historical fiction, especially when it’s centred around a period of history I know a little about. When I received Abdication out of the blue I was definitely interested. This still remains one of the scandals of 20th century England, the abdication of a monarch to enable him to be with his beloved, an American divorcee. Should duty override love or is love worth sacrificing anything for?
Although Wallis Simpson and King Edward play a significant – a crucial – role in the book, the main character is actually a young chauffeur, May Thomas. May secures a job as driver and secretary to Sir Philip Blunt, whose wife is Godmother to a long-time friend of Wallis Simpson, Evangeline Nettlefold. Thus, May crosses paths with the scandal and we see it through her eyes, the eyes of Evangeline and finally through the eyes of Julian, a family friend of the Blunts who takes a shine to May.
This is a wonderful mix of scandal and intrigue, combined with romance and even humour, all against the backdrop of very real events. Wallis is not portrayed in particularly flattering terms but this seems quite authentic, given that the British people didn’t take too well to the loss of a king. That said, Evangeline doesn’t come across very well either, so I’d like to assure my American friends that we’re not that hostile to all visiting Americans! Seriously, though, for a book that manages to cover some considerable cultural and historical issues, it does so in a remarkably upbeat way that keeps the book light and easy to read at the same time as providing a thoroughly good read.
Abdication is well written with the fictional plot playing out beautifully alongside real events. This is a love story of two parts: a rather touching, fictional one and a somewhat more sallacious and controversial true life one. Certainly worth a read for history lovers, romance lovers and literary fiction lovers.
Verdict: 4/5
(Book source: reviewer received a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review)
Book Review: Abdication – Juliet Nicolson | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
November 22, 2012
#FlashFiveFriday – Justice
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This month Mr B and I are taking part in #FlashFiveFriday run by The Indie Exchange.
#FlashFiveFriday is a weekly flash fiction / flash blogging prompt.
The rules are very simple if you’d like to take part:
1) Write for no longer than five minutes
2) No upper or lower word limits
3) You must write something new
4) You can prepare your post ahead of time but the 5 minute limit still applies
5) If you add your blog post to the weekly linky you must visit five other blogs that week too to show your support
This week’s #FlashFiveFriday post
#FlashFiveFriday – Justice
Dave
I find justice to be very flawed in the UK. Call me controversial but I believe that the bulk of prisoners in this country are not punished harshly enough for their crimes. The life sentence is always a puzzling one. Life should be life but here it translates as a life sentence with a minimum of so many years to be served. Notorious killers, Reggie Kray and Myra Hindley, both served their minimum terms in prison and there was pressure for them to be released them before Hindley died in prison, while Kray was released but only because he was terminally ill.
I hear many stories of justice gone wrong. The infamous case of John Christie who murdered a mother and her child but allowed the husband to be arrested instead and hanged is one of the worst ones. One of the crimes I am sensitive about is burglaries. In my mind you should be able to use whatever force necessary to protect your home but justice may rule against you in these cases and you, the victim, might be accused of assault.
Nations across the world are divided on how to hand out justice to our criminals. Speaking for the UK, I just can’t see how a prison that gives its inmates access to television, games consoles etc can be deemed as a place of reform. Justice is a difficult one as none of us can truly agree on how to administer it without being cruel and criminal ourselves. It just concerns me that so many criminals can be out of prison in less than ten years and so many reoffend. For now, we have a flawed system but it is a system. Perhaps one day it will improve.
Donna
Justice is a funny thing. Sometimes something happens that really makes you ask the question: ‘Where’s the justice in the world?’ Of course, we don’t really mean justice. We mean fairness. Balance. Karma.
I have recently watched a good friend deal with this lack of balance with admirable poise and grace, so much so it has left me staggered. You hear stories every day of people who have faced a lack of fairness, balance or karma and still remain good, decent, caring. They support others, never letting the wind leave their sales.
What we may lack in conventional justice in the world, I still very much believe we can make up for in terms of our own moral decency. I have often said that something doesn’t need to be illegal or banned to be wrong. We shouldn’t need a bible or a legal code to tell us what it means to be decent. The law should be there to punish when things go wrong but not to define our sense of morality. Justice lies in people being inherently good, despite lack of balance, JUST BECAUSE.
Related articles (external)
#FlashFiveFriday: #15 – Strength
#FlashFiveFriday on The Indie Exchange: Strength
#FlashFiveFriday Strength
#FlashFiveFriday – Justice | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
Book Review: Afterwards – Rosamund Lupton
[image error] There is a fire and they are in there. They are in there…
Black smoke stains a summer blue sky. A school is on fire. And one mother, Grace, sees the smoke and rush. She knows her teenage daughter Jenny is inside. She runs into the burning building to rescue her.
Afterwards Grace must find the identity of the arsonist and protect her children from the person who’s still intent on destroying them. Afterwards, she must fight the limits of her physical strength and discover the limitlessness of love.
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Review: Afterwards (2011)
It’s going to be difficult to review Afterwards without giving too much away, so excuse me if I’m deliberately vague. Afterwards is one of those stories that evolves bit by bit and if you rush it, you run the risk of spoiling the whole thing. There is a fire and a mother, Grace, tries to rescue her daughter. Having saved her daughter from death (for now at least) she wants desperately to uncover who started the fire that nearly deprived her of a child.
Thus begins an incredibly compelling mystery with some very strange twists and turns. I’ll won’t go into the reasons Grace is restricted in her investigations – I’ll allow you to discover those for yourself – but they certainly add a very surreal dimension to this tale.
Lupton proved with Sister that she’s capable of writing great suspense and developing a good plot. More than that, she has a real knack for writing about family relationships and not just cosy, ‘everybody’s happy’ relationships but instead gritty, fraught and difficult ones. In Sister we saw the relationship between two sisters laid bare. In Afterwards the mother-daughter relationship receives the same thorough examination.
Afterwards is a story of jealousy, anger, fear, loss, hope, love and protection all rolled into one. If you can get all the way through this book without a tear in your eye or a lump in your throat at any point, you’re made of sterner stuff than me!
Verdict: 4/5
(Book source: reviewer received a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review)
Book Review: Afterwards – Rosamund Lupton | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
