“A gut-wrenching and absolutely brilliant read.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Romilly has the perfect life. Gorgeous husband who loves her madly, beautiful daughter, fantastic job that she has always wanted and a lovely home. Romilly has it all. But she also has another love: one that destroys, wreaks havoc and ruins. And it is this other love that is all-consuming, that she follows to the detriment of everything and everyone in her life.
We watch as she slowly falls under the power of this other love. As the fissures crack and break open. We silently scream as she falls at each trigger. and we are there with her when she finally crashes and burns.
It is heartbreaking.
But then we watch as she falteringly gets to her feet, like a new born foal, hoping against hope that she will walk again. but what hope is there when everything is lost?
This is a beautifully written book, with characters that you want to fight for. David, a more wonderful man you could not wish for. And the awful thing is, Romilly knows this and still can’t help herself.
Celeste; Romilly and David’s daughter, such a traumatic upbringing and yet still turns into a lovely intelligent young woman. Alternating chapters are told through Celeste’s eyes and these filled with sadness. No child should have to go through what she did.
Romilly, as much as you want to shake her and stop her, you can also see that nobody would willingly do this to themselves and just like her family you just want her to get well.
Amanda Prowse has an incredible gift for characters and storytelling. Within a few pages you are totally immersed in the lives of these people and at the end you really don’t want to let them go. This is a difficult subject and in lesser hands could easily have been trite, but Amanda Prowse handles it with compassion and you can tell she really cares about her characters. I do have to say that, unfortunately, I will never be able to forgive her for making me blub like a child on a crowded aeroplane.
Highly recommended.
****1/2
Reviewed by:
Sandra Foy
Added 6th March 2016
