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Echoes in the Sand
Forty-two year old Helen returns one summer to Zakynthos, the Greek island where her life took a dramatic turn two years earlier.
She brings with her Chloe, her sixteen year old daughter, who is fighting demons of her own.
Relations between mother and daughter are strained, as they struggle to understand the different ways they are coping with their family’s tragedy.
The death of Helen’s husband Philip has left them shattered and seeking comfort at the hotel where they spent their final family holiday all together.
But has Helen come to Zakynthos to confront the ghosts of her past, or to revive the affair which nearly tore her family apart once already?
For the married hotel owner, Nikos, is the man she nearly left her family for two years before, lost in her all-consuming passion for him.
Seeing the love of her life again makes Helen question not only her future, but her past as well.
Should she resist her feelings for Nikos, or is he her last chance at happiness?
And what if her affair is not the only betrayal lurking in her family’s past?
‘Echoes in the Sand’ is a heart-breaking story of love and loss, and the war between the head and the heart.
'A wonderfully-told romantic story.' - Holly Kinsella, best-selling author of 'Uptown Girl'.
Gwyneth Williams works fulltime as a Scientific Officer in the University of Leicester’s medical school and writes in her lunch breaks, and any other time she can find. One day she dreams of owning a villa on a Greek island and writing all day by the pool. In the meantime she lives in Leicester with her husband and daughter when she’s home from university, and a stray cat who adopted them one cold Saturday in October.
Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent digital publisher.
She brings with her Chloe, her sixteen year old daughter, who is fighting demons of her own.
Relations between mother and daughter are strained, as they struggle to understand the different ways they are coping with their family’s tragedy.
The death of Helen’s husband Philip has left them shattered and seeking comfort at the hotel where they spent their final family holiday all together.
But has Helen come to Zakynthos to confront the ghosts of her past, or to revive the affair which nearly tore her family apart once already?
For the married hotel owner, Nikos, is the man she nearly left her family for two years before, lost in her all-consuming passion for him.
Seeing the love of her life again makes Helen question not only her future, but her past as well.
Should she resist her feelings for Nikos, or is he her last chance at happiness?
And what if her affair is not the only betrayal lurking in her family’s past?
‘Echoes in the Sand’ is a heart-breaking story of love and loss, and the war between the head and the heart.
'A wonderfully-told romantic story.' - Holly Kinsella, best-selling author of 'Uptown Girl'.
Gwyneth Williams works fulltime as a Scientific Officer in the University of Leicester’s medical school and writes in her lunch breaks, and any other time she can find. One day she dreams of owning a villa on a Greek island and writing all day by the pool. In the meantime she lives in Leicester with her husband and daughter when she’s home from university, and a stray cat who adopted them one cold Saturday in October.
Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent digital publisher.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 8, 2014
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55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 7, 2019
Klasicni ljubic...zabranjena ljubav,ostvarenje snova,porodicne veze...opustajuce
September 7, 2016
A great book that I have had on my kindle for ages. It makes for a great holiday read and covers love, betrayal, lies and disjointed families. Set in Zachynthos Greece you too will fall in love as its every summer beach holiday makers dream
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August 23, 2021Good book
Enjoyed this book very much. Will definitely read books by this author again. Would recommend this book. Did repeat itself a few times but still good read.
Enjoyed this book very much. Will definitely read books by this author again. Would recommend this book. Did repeat itself a few times but still good read.
February 9, 2015
This is a book about pain, loss, grief, love and infidelity. It also raises some important questions about death and our right to die with dignity. It is beautifully written and Gwyneth Williams writes to great effect about, what must be for her, a favourite place in the world – the Greek Islands.
The story begins almost at the end of the sequence of events that unfold throughout the book as the main character, Helen, travels back to the Greek Island where she met her lover. She returns with her daughter Chloe, after the death of her husband, and as she meets up with the Greek hotel owner she fell in love with two years earlier, the author gradually reveals the events leading up to that moment.
Helen is not a sympathetic character and at times I found her really annoying. I just couldn’t warm to her, not just because of her treatment of her husband, but also because she was so selfish. However, I can perhaps understand why the author wrote her this way as it was important that she wasn’t someone that the reader got to like too much because it made events later on in the book more in character and believable which probably makes her a more realistic woman as a result.
It is a romance in the same vein as Shirley Valentine which may appeal to a great many women, but it is about more than just a rather clichéd romance; it is about life and how we choose to live it. For me the section in the book which deals with the illness and subsequent death of Helen’s husband is the most interesting and is at times very poignant. It is told with much feeling and awareness of the huge responsibility that some families take on to care for loved ones with a terminal illness.
The troubled and defiant Chloe, Helen’s daughter, is a much more likeable character and the relationship between her and both her parents changes and evolves throughout the novel. I think many a reader will identify with something of her in themselves or in their own daughters.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers who don’t necessarily want to fall in love with every character in the book, and who can see past the clichéd romance to experience a fair amount of realism and drama. I would also recommend re-reading the prologue after finishing the book.
The story begins almost at the end of the sequence of events that unfold throughout the book as the main character, Helen, travels back to the Greek Island where she met her lover. She returns with her daughter Chloe, after the death of her husband, and as she meets up with the Greek hotel owner she fell in love with two years earlier, the author gradually reveals the events leading up to that moment.
Helen is not a sympathetic character and at times I found her really annoying. I just couldn’t warm to her, not just because of her treatment of her husband, but also because she was so selfish. However, I can perhaps understand why the author wrote her this way as it was important that she wasn’t someone that the reader got to like too much because it made events later on in the book more in character and believable which probably makes her a more realistic woman as a result.
It is a romance in the same vein as Shirley Valentine which may appeal to a great many women, but it is about more than just a rather clichéd romance; it is about life and how we choose to live it. For me the section in the book which deals with the illness and subsequent death of Helen’s husband is the most interesting and is at times very poignant. It is told with much feeling and awareness of the huge responsibility that some families take on to care for loved ones with a terminal illness.
The troubled and defiant Chloe, Helen’s daughter, is a much more likeable character and the relationship between her and both her parents changes and evolves throughout the novel. I think many a reader will identify with something of her in themselves or in their own daughters.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers who don’t necessarily want to fall in love with every character in the book, and who can see past the clichéd romance to experience a fair amount of realism and drama. I would also recommend re-reading the prologue after finishing the book.
February 11, 2016
Echoes in the Sand by Gwyneth Williams is a story of betrayal, loss, love and secrets. It’s a great holiday read, especially if you are on a Greek island’s beach.
It is beautifully written and the short chapters drive the story on. I’m afraid I didn’t like Helen at all, nor any of the main characters very much (apart from Jude), but this may have been the author’s intention as when the big reveal happens, the reader will know why Chloe has attitude.
The story swings back and forth in time, skilfully illuminating the journey for the reader. There are one or two ‘typos’ and Helen did have a lot of ‘bile rising in her throat’, but the reader is drawn in to Helen’s world of deceit, guilt and desperate love and will want to know how she overcomes the challenges she faces.
This is not a genre I would normally read (romantic fiction) and did enjoy revisiting Zakynthos through Gwyneth Williams’s accomplished narrative.
For lovers of romantic fiction, and the Greek islands, I would definitely recommend Echoes in the Sand.
June 14, 2015
Really enjoyed this! In many ways a sad book, but so much to think about, and it reflects what really happens in life after all - it's not all sunshine and roses, there are difficult decisions to make. I liked the way that Helen had to make a heart-breaking decision for the good of someone close; so much more interesting than stories where the protagonist is absorbed in self-interest. Although, I did feel frustrated with her for constantly back-tracking! At times I was screaming (inside!) at her!
November 20, 2015
review to follow
January 28, 2016
An enjoyable read, a good story that wants to make you keep reading
January 14, 2016
An emotional book going through the stages of grief and loss and love and pain. You could really feel every type of emotional as you read it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews