Dec “016, Hodder & Stoughton, 13 hours & 7 minutes, Audiobook,
Review copy from Audible,
Summary from Audible
Caitlin's life is a mess. Her marriage to a man everyone else thinks
is perfect has collapsed, along with her self-esteem, and breaking free
seems the only option.
Nancy, her four-year-old daughter, used to
talk all the time; in the car, at nursery, to her brother Joel. Then
her parents split up. Her daddy moves out. And Nancy stops speaking.
Nancy's
Auntie Eva, recently widowed and feeling alone, apart from the
companionship of two bewildered pugs, is facing a future without her
husband or the dreams she gave up for him.
But when Eva agrees to
host her niece and nephew once a fortnight, Caitlin and Eva are made to
face the different truths about their marriages - and about what they
both really want....
Nayu's thoughts
My interest was piqued by Caitlin's daughter losing
her voice, and the twists that follow kept me captivated until the
end. I can't say much about the prologue without giving spoilers but
it really set up the story, and I was on tenderhooks throughout most
of the book waiting for Caitlin to somehow figure out why Nancy
stopped talking. She is such a sweet girl, very expressive even
without a voice. She has a deep link with her brother Joel, who takes
her not talking in his stride, somehow knowing what she wants and
protecting her as much as he can from people misunderstanding her
silence, which was heartwaarming.
I felt so sorry for Caitlin,
because she's going through several major issues (child not talking,
separation). Occasionally I was surprised she didn't take further
action with Nancy's silence, but she was doing her best. Separation
(and divorce) is far from simple, and with support from an unexpected
ally Caitlin battles through it, almost always putting her children
first. I hated when others criticized Caitlin because they weren't
the ones in the situation (or if they were they were on the other
side of the fence so had a skewed view of Caitlin from the onset).
Caitlin's not perfect but she's not a terrible mother either. She
does struggle with seeing Eva who appears to be perfect, but having
chapters with Eva's point of view helped me understand her further,
and made me want to tell Caitlin to give Eva a chance. Eva ends up
being the key to unlocking Nancy's voice again in a sweet way which
made me tear up when it happened. Although Caitlin doesn't realise it
Eva becomes a form of stability within her chaotic life which she
sorely needs, and so do the children. I'm looking forward to
relistening to this family centred read which gives a lot to think
about.
Find out more on Lucy's website.
Suggested read
For another gripping single parent story check out Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks (Contemporay, Romance, Audiobook, 10/10E)
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