Thursday 30 May 2013

Books Read: Catherine Dunne - The Things We Know Now

A golden child. A glittering future. And the darker truth that lies beneath.  
 
When Patrick Grant meets Ella, he seizes the opportunity of a new life with her. He imagines the future with his beautiful second wife by his side: the years ahead filled with all that is bright and promising. When Ella gives birth to Daniel, Patrick’s happiness is complete. A son at last. Patrick adores Daniel: a golden child, talented, artistic, loving.
 
And then, when Daniel is fourteen, tragedy strikes. Without warning, Patrick and Ella’s world is shattered beyond repair and Patrick is forced to re-evaluate everything: his own life, his role as husband and father, all his previous assumptions about family. Together with Ella, he is forced to embark on a voyage of discovery. He must confront uncomfortable truths about himself and about the privileged world he and his wife inhabit.

Catherine Dunne's The Things We Know Now is a touching story about a family seeking answers and their struggles to come to terms with the sudden death of fourteen year-old Daniel. 

Whilst out sailing with her husband Patrick, Ella gets a sudden premonition that they need to return home and fast as something is wrong but nothing could have prepared them from what they would discover... that their son Daniel is dead.  

Daniel had had everything to live for, he was a bright student and an accomplished musician and artist, so why had he become so withdrawn over the last year?  Struggling to come to terms with everything that has happened, Patrick and Ella set about to try and find answers.

The story is narrated from the perspective of several different characters, Rebecca, Patrick's oldest daughter from his first marriage, Edward and Sylvia, Daniel's friends, but the main narrator of events is Patrick.  As he looks back over events in his past, we discover why his relationship with Rebecca is so fractured, but we also get to see how sometimes parents are the last to know what is going on in their children's lives.

It's hard to go into any more detail without giving away any spoilers but it's fair to say that the reason behind this tragedy is a topic that is very prevalent in society these days affecting many teenagers.   

I'd like to thank Grainne at Killeen Communications for sending me a copy of this book to review.

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