This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Kate Appleton
Gina is a young woman growing up in the working class society of Glasgow. Armed with an alcoholic father and an absentee mother, its her friends that are her family. That is until a fumble in the back of a van lands her pregnant and life takes on a whole new meaning. Meanwhile in London, Christopher, a lonely widower with a mongrel, is learning how to enjoy life after living for so long in the shadows of his superior wife. A few years later their paths inexplicably cross when Christopher finds Gina living homeless on Waterloo Bridge and offers her a room in his house. Their futures are destined never to be the same again as they learn from and enrich each others lives with a happiness they had long since forgotten, that is until the dark shadows of the past re-emerge and threatens their fragile tranquility.
This multiple narrative effectively weaves together the lives of our two main characters Gina and Christopher. For the most part we’re given the view point of Christopher. He is a genuinely lovable character due to his overarching kindness towards Gina and also his late in life companionship with Felicity. Alternatively, I couldn’t really warm to the character of Gina, especially on reading about her unethical actions towards the end of the story, and although she doesn’t come from the most salubrious background I found her to be quite flat.
The synopsis on the back cover of the book promises a lot more substance than the story actually delivers. When it refers to their domestic bliss being shattered that’s not really the case at all – there is merely a blip in their idyl before the story trudges back on track. In addition, the main plot which relates to how Gina ended up homeless falls short. The chronology is hastily cobbled together with a bit of padding and convenient solutions without any real explanations or gritty depth which leaves the story unsatisfactory.
Peripheral characters in the guise of Vanessa and Gina’s best friend the lush Lolly add a refreshing and much needed entertainment to the story although I’m not one hundred percent sure that Lolly was supposed to come across so extremely ridiculous.
Overall this was an extremely disappointing read.
4/10