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The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

Jul6

Chasing The Moon

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston is the most beautiful contemporary novel that I absolutely loved. I savored every word.

This is a novel about love – but it is not your conventional tale. Ashley Poston has created a unique story that is so very beautiful and will warm your heart.

Love happens in very different circumstances. We see a variety of love within the novel – between couples, family members and friendships. Love unites and binds down the years. There are some truly heartwarming moments as dialogue bounces between the characters.

When love leaves, it hurts. Sometimes love is torn apart through circumstances and sometimes through death. “Sometimes the people you love don’t leave you with goodbyes – they just leave.” There is raw grief on display within the novel.

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Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst

Jul6

A Marvellous Debut

Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst is a marvellous contemporary debut novel that consumed me from the start.

The novel is written from the point of view of Mickey, a young black woman, who is searching for her place in society. Life is unfair as Mickey finds she has to work twice as hard to receive half as much, as the white women in her workplace. Life is not at all fair when the scales are already tipped against you.

As Mickey’s world tips on its axis, she returns to her grandmother’s house. Here, she feels loved, and starts to heal bit by bit.

Mickey’s hometown is full of memories which she re-visits both physically and mentally.

In New York Mickey felt invisible. In her hometown she is seen.

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This Child Of Mine by Emma-Claire Wilson

Jul6

A Work Of Great Beauty

This Child Of Mine by Emma-Claire Wilson is a simply beautiful contemporary tale that will tug at your heart. Tissues will be needed.

The story is told in the first person from the point of view of the leading lady. We can ‘feel’ her pain and her fears. We understand her tears.

Receiving the best and the worst of news on the same day, is enough to tear anyone apart. We see a rift appearing as a character decides to take control of the only thing she can – her choices. Life moves from ‘our’ to ‘my’, and as it does, journeys of isolation begin.

On our hardest days, we need not travel alone, as those who love us will journey beside us, if we let them. “Grief is a path best walked in company.” We can never take away the pain but we can hold hands and walk together.

There has been much loss in the lives of both leading characters. “We were falling apart, in separate places.” In our hurt and pain, we sometimes pull away. The hurt and pain that we are pushing down, never goes away, it is just hidden. Those who know us, offer tea, sympathy and “the I get it hugs and the it gets easier smiles” – except it doesn’t get easier, we just learn to cope – or not.

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The Red House by Roz Watkins

Jun22

Wow! Just Wow!

The Red House by Roz Watkins is an absolutely gripping contemporary psychological suspense that I just could not put down. My attention was grabbed from the start.

Roz Watkins has spun a marvellous tale. Her plotline is well thought out and executed. I, wrongly, believed I had worked out the conclusion – nope! How wrong was I? I followed where Roz Watkins pen led, ending up in a dead end as Roz Watkins constructed her fabulous tale.

The conclusion was superb. My heart rate rose and my jaw dropped in an ‘oh wow!’ moment.

All the characters were well drawn and realistic, eliciting a variety of emotional responses from me. I loved the leading lady as she tenaciously searched for the truth from that traumatic night when she was just five years old.

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