This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
48-year-old Tessa’s marriage is in trouble. Her husband Pete thinks she devotes too much time fighting causes, but bringing awareness and justice to local causes is what drives Tessa. She has spent most of her adult life working for non-profit organisations and charities and is currently working hard to keep her own charity, Easy Green, afloat.
When Tessa’s friend organises a surprise TV makeover for her, Tessa’s past begins to resurface. She is taken back to when she was a young woman joining the protest camp at Greenham Common, embarking on an adventure that will shape the rest of her life.
It took a while for me to get into Love & Fallout and it wasn’t until Tessa had settled into the camp at Greenham Common, where she takes part in her first protest, that I found myself really connecting to the story. At Greenham Common, young Tessa meets a myriad of characters, from posh Rori, to ex-headmistress Jean and standoffish Angela. I liked seeing these relationships developing as the women survived the often difficult and harsh conditions of the camp. I didn’t know much about what happened at Greenham Common, so enjoyed reading about Tessa’s life there; the protests the women organised, the bonds formed, the hardships they faced. Tessa’s experiences at Greenham Common changes her outlook on life completely and I found it quite poignant as the events unfolded.
Kathryn Simmonds’ writing has a nice, easy flow to it but it really started to draw me in as the book moved along. I was interested in both what happened in Tessa’s past at Greenham Common and what was going to happen in her present. Her marriage to Pete is at a pretty low point and her relationship with daughter Pippa is deteriorating. I liked how the story dipped into both the past and the present, creating intrigue.8/10