It took just 2 days to read this debut novel written by a friend from uni. And I was going to save it for my holiday but thought, I'll read a couple of pages to get an idea of it. Then I couldn't stop reading!! I'd have read the whole thing in one if I'd had the time!!
The book is written in 2 parts. The first part is from the point point of view of a mother, Alice, who is writing to her daughter, Grace. One day, while her father and twin sister, Hope, were shopping, Grace was left outside in her pushchair sleeping. When they left the shop, Grace was gone. Alice writes to Grace telling her all that has happened in the 10years since she disappeared and all the efforts that have been made to find her and bring her home. She is determined that the daughter who was taken from her is still alive and will not stop looking until she is found.
The second part of the story is written from the points of view of a number of other characters who all had a role in Grace's life after she had disappeared. It's hard to write without giving away what happens, but we hear from a PI who has been employed to look for Grace, we hear more from Alice, and from others who play a role in this case.
I loved this book (and I'm not just saying that because I know the author!). I will openly admit I cried at various points! I particularly liked reading the point of view of Edd and learning about his story and his motivations for doing what he does. I thought at several points as I was reading that to name the remaining twin Hope was a stroke of genius as hope is the emotion that keeps the characters going through the challenging times. I loved that the story was written from the point of view of each character. It helped to fill in any gaps that might be emerging and to understand why each acted in the way they did.
I really enjoy stories like this, as I find I can really engage the characters and love a good page turner. I hope this isn't the first and last book from Brooke...I'd definitely buy another by her!!
Not sure what's up next, it may be a Michael Morpurgo book just to get me through to holiday as they're fairly quick reads on my shelf.
Wednesday 21 August 2013
Determined to read!
I love books, I really do. Unfortunately due to work and other commitments reading sometimes has to take a back seat and I don't think the books I read to the kids at school can really count. This year so far I've read 22 books which isn't bad but it's not as many as I'd hope to read! A book a week if not more would be my ideal target, particularly with the hundreds of books I want to read in my lifetime already and more to add each year! I would like to make my way through both adults' and children's books whether best sellers or winners of awards, or merely from one of the many lists that someone somewhere has compiled as books we should all read in our lifetimes.
As a kind of incentive, and a record, I'm aiming to keep a blog (along with my Goodreads account) to remind myself of what I've read, what I've enjoyed and if there's anything else I might read.
If I do any writing myself (I keep toying with the idea) I'll try and make a record of that too.
On top of reading, I teach Reception and make cards for family and friends so I'm pretty busy. Just hoping that I'll manage to keep going with this reading plan and get through all the books I hope to!!
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