My review

Amanda Prowse has always been the ‘Queen of Emotions’ for me. Her books have always made me run for tissues, a big box load of them. I generally read her books with tears down my cheeks along with a smile on my lips.

This book too had its moments when my eyes would film over, but it didn’t wrench my heart, overloading it with emotions. The premise of the story was soul shuddering, just imagining the scene when Rachel and James get up one morning on their boat and finding their 7 year old Oscar missing. The worst thing that could happen to parents.

The story followed Rachel’s pain with James and housekeeper CeeCee feeling their own loss. Oscar’s death affected everyone. The book was basically Rachel’s point of view with CeeCee sending her letters telling her own story of loss. But they didn’t gel together for me.

The book had its moments where I too was sadder than sad, but they were seen occasionally, especially scenes and conversations of Rachel with her father. I loved him. His love for her and his pain at her suffering came through so beautifully in a few lines that I couldn’t help crying.

I love books which have a whirlpool of emotions, but this book didn’t pull me in. I coasted its emotional surface, both thankful and sorry for not crying like a baby!!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating : 3 stars

About the Author

Amanda Prowse likens her own life story to those she writes about in her books. After self-publishing her debut novel, Poppy Day, in 2011, she has gone on to author nineteen novels and six novellas. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages and she regularly tops bestseller charts all over the world. Remaining true to her ethos, Amanda writes stories of ordinary women and their families who find their strength, courage and love tested in ways they never imagined.

Book blurb

When Rachel Croft wakes up on her family’s boat in Bermuda, it’s to sunshine and yet another perfect day…until she goes to wake her seven-year-old son, Oscar. Because the worst thing imaginable has happened. He isn’t there.

In the dark and desperate days that follow, Rachel struggles to navigate her grief. And while her husband, James, wants them to face the tragedy together, Rachel feels that the life they once shared is over. Convinced that their happy marriage is now a sham, and unable to remain in the place where she lost her son, she goes home to Bristol alone.

Only when she starts receiving letters from Cee-Cee, her housekeeper in Bermuda, does light begin to return to Rachel’s soul. She and James both want to learn to live again—but is it too late for them to find a way through together?

Product Details

Publication date : 25th September 2018

Publisher : Amazon Publishing UK