Sunday 22 April 2012

Books Read: Elizabeth Noble - Between a Mother and her Child

Source - Received from publisher to review

For Maggie and Bill it was love at first sight ...

One impulsive wedding later, and with the arrival of three perfect children - Jake, Aly and Stan - the Barrett family seems to have it all.  Until the day their world stops turning.

When Jake dies suddenly, they're swept away on a tide of grief that fractures Maggie and Bill's marriage.  She and the children are left clinging to the wreckage of their family.  And they need help, because in her grief Maggie is in danger of losing Aly and Stan too.

Enter Kate: housekeeper, companion and shoulder to cry on.  She's here to pick up the pieces and fix what isn't completely broken.  But can Maggie trust Kate?  And why is Kate so keen to help

When Bill falls for another woman, Maggie realizes she will have to fight to put her family back together - but will they still want her? 


Although I'd read a couple of Elizabeth Noble's earlier novels, I have to confess that I haven't read her last 3 as for some reason they did not appeal to me.  However, this book was one that I did like the sound of, and was on my Amazon wishlist, so I was extremely fortunate to be sent a copy of the book to review.
 
When we first meet Maggie she is struggling with the grips of depression following the devastating death of her eldest son Jake in a tsunami whilst he was in Thailand during his gap year travels.   During the day she puts on a front of normality for her other children, Aly and Stan, but at night she struggles with sleeping due to her memories.  

Husband Bill had tried to get her to join his counselling group, that had helped him deal with the pain of Jake's loss, but Maggie did not want to talk to strangers and in the end their marriage suffered and Maggie asked Bill to leave.

When Maggie's sister Liv arrives from Australia she sees how close the family is to crumbling and wants to help but doesn't know where to start.  She sees and advert in the Sunday newspapers where someone is looking for room in a family house in exchange for some housework and companionship.  This gets Liv thinking that it might be the perfect solution for Maggie, a confidant for her, so she makes initial contact with Kate to find out more about her situation.

Kate had placed the advert as she was lonely following the death of her husband Philip three years earlier but there is more to her story than first meets the eye.  Liv thinks Kate would be a perfect fit for Maggie and the kids so contacts Bill, who has a new partner Carrie, for help as he still cares deeply for Maggie and wants to do whatever he can to help.  Between them they convince Maggie to give Kate a trial run and soon it's as though Kate has been a part of the family forever and the family begin to heal. 

I did find that it initially took me a few chapters to get into the storyline but after that I has hooked by the characters which made me want to keep reading to see how it all turned out for them in the end.  This is one book I would have no hesitation in recommending to other readers.

Thank you to The Penguin Group for sending me a copy of this book to review.

No comments:

Post a Comment