Source - Received from publisher to review
The images were vivid, the sensations powerful, and the more she tried to fight them, the more they drew her in.
Claire leads a busy, fulfilled and happy life, a life she wouldn't trade for anything...and one that is about to change.
When Claire fails to prevent a disturbed young woman's suicide, the incident seems to trigger something in her - forgotten images of a long-lost sister and a childhood she had always remembered as being close to perfection. Realising that this was not the case, Claire runs the risk of uncovering the dark secrets that are locked away in her memories.
Caught in a complex struggle between the present and the past, between the man who wants to help her and the husband who cannot, Claire must discover the terrible truth for herself.
The images were vivid, the sensations powerful, and the more she tried to fight them, the more they drew her in.
Claire leads a busy, fulfilled and happy life, a life she wouldn't trade for anything...and one that is about to change.
When Claire fails to prevent a disturbed young woman's suicide, the incident seems to trigger something in her - forgotten images of a long-lost sister and a childhood she had always remembered as being close to perfection. Realising that this was not the case, Claire runs the risk of uncovering the dark secrets that are locked away in her memories.
Caught in a complex struggle between the present and the past, between the man who wants to help her and the husband who cannot, Claire must discover the terrible truth for herself.
This is one of Diane Chamberlain's earlier books that has just been re-released in paperback here in the UK so as a fan of her books I was glad to receive a copy of this book to review. As with her other novels this book deals with complex issues such as suicide, sexual abuse and survivor guilt.
Whilst driving home from a conference Claire Harte-Mathias spots a woman standing on a bridge so she gets out of her car to try and talk to her but sadly fails to prevent the woman from jumping. She doesn't realise it at the time but this tragedy has a monumental effect on her life as it triggers flashbacks of repressed memories that she doesn't understand as she'd had the perfect childhood....hadn't she? She's trying to piece together the memories to see what they mean but the images just don't make sense to her.
Meanwhile Claire's sister Vanessa, who she hasn't seen since she was a child as she was taken by her father when her parent's split, has no such problem remembering what had happened to her and she's used this as a platform in her career to help other vulnerable children. When she's asked to approach a senator to ask him to sponsor their campaign she realises that he is infact the man who had abused her as a child.
It is interesting to see the story from both viewpoints and different memories of their childhood, Claire has always been the ever optimist who sees the positive in every situation which was the way she was brought up by her mother Mellie who tried to wipe the events from her memory, whereas Vanessa has fought hard to make a success of her life whilst dealing with the issues of her abuse and subsequent behaviour.
Meanwhile Claire's sister Vanessa, who she hasn't seen since she was a child as she was taken by her father when her parent's split, has no such problem remembering what had happened to her and she's used this as a platform in her career to help other vulnerable children. When she's asked to approach a senator to ask him to sponsor their campaign she realises that he is infact the man who had abused her as a child.
It is interesting to see the story from both viewpoints and different memories of their childhood, Claire has always been the ever optimist who sees the positive in every situation which was the way she was brought up by her mother Mellie who tried to wipe the events from her memory, whereas Vanessa has fought hard to make a success of her life whilst dealing with the issues of her abuse and subsequent behaviour.
Diane's next book to be released in the UK is The Good Father and the good news is that we've only got a couple of months to wait as it's due out in June.
Thank you to Little Brown Book Group for sending me a copy of this book to review.
This sounds brilliant. I love her books so will look out for this one.
ReplyDeleteIt is an enjoyable read. I've read all of her books that have been released here in the UK and am now working my way through her older books. Have recently bought a couple off Amazon so am just waiting for them to arrive from the US.
ReplyDelete