Gwen is coasting through life. She’s in her mid-thirties, perpetually single, her friends are busy procreating in the countryside and conversations with her parents seem to revolve entirely around the council’s wheelie-bin timetable.
And she’s lonely. But then, isn’t everyone?
When she’s made redundant from a job she hardly cares about, she takes herself out for a fancy dinner. There she has the best sticky toffee pudding of her life and realises she has no one to tell. She vows to begin living her life fully, reconnect with her friends and family, and finally book that dentist’s appointment.
Gwen decides to start where all things get a second chance: her local charity shop. There, with the help of the weird and wonderful people and donated items bursting with untold stories, Gwen will find a way to move forward with bravery, tenacity, and more regular dental care.
I'd like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and Simon & Schuster for my proof copy of Preloved to review.
Having recently been made redundant Gwen is at a crossroads in her life not knowing which direction to go. Whilst having a solitary birthday dinner Gwen draws up a list for herself which included finding something to do, getting out more, go to the dentist, get rid of it which initially wasn't clear what 'it' was and the significance. But the final item on her list was to call her parents as she'd stubbornly not rung them to see how long it would be before they contacted her. This might seem an odd decision by Gwen but as we soon discover Gwen and her family have been deeply affected by a tragic event in their pasts that impacted them all.
Whilst having a sort out and in particular getting rid of something she'd held onto for far too long, Gwen decides to take these items to her local charity shop and soon finds herself volunteering in the shop which meant that she could cross off two actions from her list. We follow Gwen's journey as she comes to terms with the unexpected unemployment, even though she wasn't totally happy with her job it was like a comfort blanket, and her evaluation as to which direction she wants to take now with her life.
One of the aspects I particularly enjoyed was the format of the book, the main chapter telling Gwen's story then at the end there is a section about particular items that have been donated to the shop. I really enjoyed these snippets discovering a bit about the item's history, who bought/received the item and how it came to be donated to the charity shop and even recognised a name or two along the way which made which made me realise that these additions weren't so random after all.
Preloved is a heart-warming tale that is filled with humour throughout but also deals with issues such as love, loss and loneliness in such a sensitive manner.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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