My review
Having read Susan Lewis for a few years now, I expected this book too, to follow the same premise. Emotions and suspense. This book too has them but at a slightly lower flame. There are no intense moments of emotions or suspense. This book surfs gently on all the waves.
Leanne comes to stay with her mother, Wilkie with her daughter Abby, after her husband’s suicide. They are the inner core of the characters in this book. Soon surrounding them, there are others who join in as the story continues. Leanne then decides to take up fostering, and Daniel, whose father is in prison, comes to stay with them. The story then revolves on proving Daniel’s father innocent of the crime, dealing with the consequences of Brexit, trying to smoothen out her relationship with her daughter Abby, Leanne finds herself in the centre of all this.
I generally love Susan Lewis books, and I have bought quite a number of them over the years. But this book fell short for me. There were too many characters, though it was nice to see the friends rallying around Leanne, I found that emotions got diluted. There are few scenes in the book, where Susan weaves her magic, and emotions emerge suddenly. But sadly, this brilliance is seen rarely in the book.
Susan has never been the one to shy away from difficult topics, heart rendering ones. In this book too, she writes them with a sensitivity that pulls the threads of the heart. But this was seen only in a few places.
The book was an entertaining family saga, I found the plot lacking, and the book was at a slightly slower pace. I found it dragging most times. There was no suspense at all.
The only part where I found that the book shone was in all the scenes involving Daniel, there was something so heartbreakingly sad about his sorrow and something so heartbreakingly joyful about his reunion with his father. Also Susan Lewis’s worldbuilding in describing Ash Morley was fabulous, I could just imagine it as it was.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Random House UK Cornerstone, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating : 3 stars
About the Author
Susan Lewis is the bestselling author of thirty-eight novels. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol. She lives in Gloucestershire.
Book blurb
Leanne and her family have many issues, but they all believe in second chances. Their crazy, but idyllic home in the rural hamlet of Ash Morley is somewhere friends drop in at will, and outsiders whose lives have broken can find a safe place.
When the opportunity arises to foster a child, Leanne is quick to open her doors. But her generosity is about to be put to the ultimate test. Daniel Marks is a ten year old boy whose father is in prison for a gruesome murder.
Everyone deserves a place to call home, and a family to care for them, but will Ash Morley still be safe once Daniel enters their lives?
Product Details
Publication date : 25th January, 2018
Publisher : Random House UK, Cornerstome
Language : English
Available on Amazon
A heart twister
4 Responses
I’ve had the ‘too many characters’ issue with books too. It’s hard to get a really in depth story when there are so many people to focus on.
I agree.. Totally… And too many characters meant I had to concentrate really hard to remember who’s who…
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
Thank you