Amazon UK
Title: If Ever I Fall
Author: S. D. Robertson
Format reviewed: Paperback
Source: Publisher supplied review copy
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: 9th February 2017
Rating: 5 Stars
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| Amazon UK |
Is holding on harder than letting go?
Dan’s life has fallen apart at the seams. He’s lost his house, his job is on the line, and now he’s going to lose his family too. All he’s ever wanted is to keep them together, but is everything beyond repair?
Maria is drowning in grief. She spends her days writing letters that will never be answered. Nights are spent trying to hold terrible memories at bay, to escape the pain that threatens to engulf her.
Jack wakes up confused and alone. He doesn’t know who he is, how he got there, or why he finds himself on a deserted clifftop, but will piecing together the past leave him a broken man?
In the face of real tragedy, can these three people find a way to reconcile their past with a new future? And is love enough to carry them through?
Dan’s life has fallen apart at the seams. He’s lost his house, his job is on the line, and now he’s going to lose his family too. All he’s ever wanted is to keep them together, but is everything beyond repair?
Maria is drowning in grief. She spends her days writing letters that will never be answered. Nights are spent trying to hold terrible memories at bay, to escape the pain that threatens to engulf her.
Jack wakes up confused and alone. He doesn’t know who he is, how he got there, or why he finds himself on a deserted clifftop, but will piecing together the past leave him a broken man?
In the face of real tragedy, can these three people find a way to reconcile their past with a new future? And is love enough to carry them through?
I have no idea what I expecting before I read this book, apart from the need for some tissues...well I didn't find the book that emotional at all, but I did think it was a beautifully written story that was incredibly easy to follow and that I was absorbed in completely from the first few pages.
There are three very distinct story threads in this book, and it took a while for me to see just how they were completely connected.
We have Maria who is writing letters to Sam, mainly streams of conscious as to what is happening in her families life, and takes place in the now, and time moves forward each time we get to a new letter. Maria is also amongst other things in the grip of OCD and it gave me a new way to think about how OCD sufferers behave and just how compulsive the behaviour really is.
Then there is Dan, each time we meet him, time is going backwards leading up to a very specific event that happened a couple of years ago. Maria and Dan are married, and both coping with the same thing in very different ways.
Also we have a man, who is suffering from amnesia, and only knows what the retired Dr. Miles who he is staying with tells him. He does get flashes of memory, but on the whole it shows just how scary full blown amnesia can be when you don't know yourself, why you are where you are, and just have to trust what a complete stranger is telling you.
This is a very well written story by a clearly talented storyteller, I read the book pretty much in one go in a five hour sitting, with very few real life distractions. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon on te sofa, wrapped up in other people's lives.
I just found myself absorbed in just how Maria and Dan were coping in the aftermath of a tragedy, and how they are trying to get on with the rest of their lives. Daughter Ruby is portrayed realistically for her age, and there was a scene where her childhood beliefs are shattered that really affected me, a lot more than the high emotion feel of the rest of the book.
If Ever I Fall is a book that I'm very glad that I have had the pleasure of reading, and I think it may be a book that will stay with me for a while.
Thank you Avon for supplying me with this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
There are three very distinct story threads in this book, and it took a while for me to see just how they were completely connected.
We have Maria who is writing letters to Sam, mainly streams of conscious as to what is happening in her families life, and takes place in the now, and time moves forward each time we get to a new letter. Maria is also amongst other things in the grip of OCD and it gave me a new way to think about how OCD sufferers behave and just how compulsive the behaviour really is.
Then there is Dan, each time we meet him, time is going backwards leading up to a very specific event that happened a couple of years ago. Maria and Dan are married, and both coping with the same thing in very different ways.
Also we have a man, who is suffering from amnesia, and only knows what the retired Dr. Miles who he is staying with tells him. He does get flashes of memory, but on the whole it shows just how scary full blown amnesia can be when you don't know yourself, why you are where you are, and just have to trust what a complete stranger is telling you.
This is a very well written story by a clearly talented storyteller, I read the book pretty much in one go in a five hour sitting, with very few real life distractions. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon on te sofa, wrapped up in other people's lives.
I just found myself absorbed in just how Maria and Dan were coping in the aftermath of a tragedy, and how they are trying to get on with the rest of their lives. Daughter Ruby is portrayed realistically for her age, and there was a scene where her childhood beliefs are shattered that really affected me, a lot more than the high emotion feel of the rest of the book.
If Ever I Fall is a book that I'm very glad that I have had the pleasure of reading, and I think it may be a book that will stay with me for a while.
Thank you Avon for supplying me with this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Hey, I've just seen your review on Amazon for this book. I think you accidentally copied in the review for A Song for Tomorrow instead of this review. Hope this helps =)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for letting me know. I have tried again with the correct review. So many great books out today, there was bound to be an error with copying them all over to Amazon.
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