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What Matters Most

Dianne Maguire

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Mar 30, 2015 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aussie-authors, 2015-release, net-galley, read-on-kindle, contemporary-fiction, own-read, arc

When Jack Carmichael arrived at the party, siren blaring, he was shocked at what met his eyes. As he and his partner rushed to get Rachel Hooper into the ambulance for the trip to hospital, he wondered if she would survive. And when Emergency department paediatrician Mia Sandhurst saw Rachel she swiftly swung into action – after suffering a cardiac arrest in the ambulance Rachel was now unconscious; they needed to work quickly if she was to survive.

Tim, Rachel’s older brother was desperate to fi When Jack Carmichael arrived at the party, siren blaring, he was shocked at what met his eyes. As he and his partner rushed to get Rachel Hooper into the ambulance for the trip to hospital, he wondered if she would survive. And when Emergency department paediatrician Mia Sandhurst saw Rachel she swiftly swung into action – after suffering a cardiac arrest in the ambulance Rachel was now unconscious; they needed to work quickly if she was to survive.

Tim, Rachel’s older brother was desperate to find who had supplied his fifteen year old sister with alcohol and possibly drugs at the party; and after the nursing staff had found injuries to Rachel that were suspicious, Child Welfare and the police became involved. But Rachel was surly and silent – she wouldn’t tell anyone anything, insisting she was fine; nothing was wrong. But Mia knew differently…

When Mia discovered Eric, her husband of twenty five years was having an affair she was devastated; the complete betrayal shattered her self-confidence and she retreated to her little holiday shack on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The hospital in Adelaide had given her a few days leave – picking up the pieces in the area she had grown up in felt right to Mia. It was also the area that Rachel and her family lived and the close proximity meant Mia was on hand for Rachel if necessary.

But there were secrets and lies that were surfacing around the Hooper family and Rachel was deeply entrenched in the horror. As Tim and Mia worked at discovering the reason behind Rachel’s trauma the shocking truths kept coming. Could the shattered family survive?

What an amazing and confronting debut by Aussie author Dianne Maguire! What Matters Most is an in-depth look at two different subjects – the shattering break up of a marriage which had felt secure; and the horrors of child abuse. As the author is a social worker with over twenty years’ experience in child welfare she was well equipped in the writing of this novel. Written with compassion, nevertheless it is gut-wrenching and sad, yet it didn’t drag me down. There is hope and an abundance of love from the people who care as well. I will be looking at more from this author, and have no hesitation in recommending What Matters Most very highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
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Oct 07, 2015 Vicki Tyley marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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