This is definitely one of the books I just did not want to
put down. I started reading it as we waited to board a high-speed ferry from
Dublin to Holyhead. I carried on reading
it during the crossing and finished it just a couple of days later. It’s the type
of book that stays with you until you’ve finished it.
I’d bought it as a young adult book and many of the scenes
do depict protagonist Olivia – Liv – as a young adult. However, it’s arguably
more “new adult”.
The story starts at the funeral of her husband Luca. He has
been tragically killed in a nasty car accident.
She has been widowed at a very young age. The framework for the story is
that the hurt has become very bad and she is now staying with her sister who,
now that the time is right, has given her a laptop on which to write her story.
The story soon settles into a rhythm of a scene from the past,
taking us to the time of the accident and a scene after the funeral, bringing us
forward to the present crisis.
I admire this book for its richly drawn characters and though
Liv is no angel and her in-laws do some despicable things it isn’t hard to feel
empathy for all of them.
Louise Douglas has also created an effective plot. It is all
very believable but totally unpredictable. This, and the conveniently short
chapters, make you keep on reading.
Go, on treat yourself. It’s that time of the year when we
need a lot of stories.
