This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Zoe Lea
Tessa Parker runs a successful guest house in a busy seaside town. Separated from her husband, she lives there with her two teenage children. Her life is predicable and safe and overall Tessa feels she is somewhat contented, but when an unexpected visitor arrives from Australia, Tessa's world spins away from her and everything that she believed about her life is suddenly not what she thought. A hidden family secret is revealed that pushes Tessa to explore her past and question everything about her life and what kind of person she really is.
With Tessa's attention diverted, her two teenage children are left to cope with what is a trying time in their lives. With their parents newly separated, her son, Mitch finds things particularly hard and his growing relationship with his girlfriend takes a serious turn that he didn't anticipate, whilst her daughter, Lauren struggles with her eating habits. But Tessa is on her own journey of self discovery and the family unit starts to disperse until Tessa realizes where her true priorities lie.
This was a intriguing story and I enjoyed the tension that was threaded through each plot line. Tessa's journey of self discovery is page turning and as you see the impact it has on the family, it makes, in places, a surprising and enthralling read. I enjoyed how Grey established the theme of buried family secrets being revealed for future generations to deal with and thought the characters interactions were particularly good. However, I did struggle with some of the plot lines and thought there were too many for some characters to become fully established. Because of the interweaving narrative, I felt that not all of the points raised came to a satisfactory conclusion and I seemed to have too many questions left unanswered at the end.
6/10
Isabelle Grey's Website