BOOKS, CHOCOLATE AND WINE 

 

Seventeen year old Abi comes home from school one day and discovers her mother and two year old sisters are missing. They've apparently left without her and Abi, has no idea why.Fourteen years later, she still doesn't understand it. Over the course of the novel, through letters Abi writes to her husband, flashbacks from her mother Kathryn, and her now sixteen year old sister Hannah's current life, the reader starts to piece together what actually precipitated Abi being abandoned.

 

This was not necessarily a "psychological thriller", but there were certainly elements of mystery woven throughout. The secrets that were being hidden were not so far- fetched that someone who reads a lot of similar novels wouldn't guess. This book was more about relationships and how mother and daughter relationships in early life can ultimately shape a person, good or bad. I found the psychological profiles of most the characters incredibly rich and the characters themselves quite fleshed out. Kathryn was childlike, unable to make any decisions without her mother's approval, Abigail was a headstrong teenager hellbent on making mistakes, and Eleanor was a deliciously corrupt individual. Hannah was a lot like Abigail, too, but I did wish Lauren's personality had shone through a little more.

 

The ending was perfect. Not a complete happy ending, but a hopeful one. There was a glimmer of hope that their lives would one day be better, their relationships salvaged. I highly recommend this novel as long as you are not expecting a thriller and you have your tissues handy.

 

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