Author: Charlotte Duckworth
Publisher: Quercus
Pages: 400
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Esther’s husband Robin is the perfect father to their
two-year-old daughter, Riley.
After she was born, Robin took a break from work as a
standup comic to look after her, while Esther went back to the career she
loved. It was a sensible arrangement. Robin’s career had tanked and Esther had
been promoted to PR Director, so it was the right thing to do. But gradually
Esther becomes aware of Robin’s passive aggression, how he deliberately seemed
to cast Esther in a bad light in front of their very impressionable daughter.
To make matters worse, Esther can’t trust Robin
because he has once cheated on her with a small-time actress called Kim.
It is an unconventional arrangement, but it has worked
for them so far. And now it is off.
Esther gets a text from Robin, a single word, Sorry. She
rushes home, frantic, only to find that Riley has been taken away by Robin. She
is still wondering where they might have gone when the doorbell rings and the
police come in to tell her that Robin has met with an accident, and that he is
in hospital.
When police question Esther as to why Robin might have
taken Riley away and sought to disappear, she has no answer. Not for them anyway.
But there are many secrets she is not prepared to tell them.
Not about the truth of what happened to her during her
pregnancy, nor the truth about Kim.
What is that secret? And will Esther ever find Riley
again?
Beginning in the Now, the story goes back to Three
Years Earlier and is written in the first-person present tense points of view
of both Robin and Esther in both timelines. There are no chapters but accounts
of the two mail characters. Slowly we come to know of somebody called Sarah
that Robin is obsessed with.
At first, it’s all good. She loves him. He loves her. Then
the chinks become clear to us. There’s a woman he can’t stop thinking of, and
she has her secrets too.
About Vivienne, Esther says, Sometimes our friendship
feels like an elastic band that’s worn too thin and might snap any minute. At
another point, Vivienne admits to Esther that they haven’t been that close, and
some time later, Esther calls Vivienne her best friend.
Robin’s stay-at-home status is unconventional, but it
might also be something sinister masquerading as a new age man.
What would have made the book better was a few more
glimpses into the reality of their marriage. The big reveal didn’t appear so
convincing to me.
The women in this book were all strong. Even when they
erred, they couldn’t be faulted for their intentions. Vivienne stood out for
the quiet strength she imparted to Esther.
The author successfully manages to highlight a condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum, which Esther suffers from during her pregnancy. It is a condition where pregnant women suffer extreme morning sickness and cannot retain any food or water, retching to the point of exhaustion. The book also raises awareness about diabetes which claims thousands of lives each year.
(I read this book through NetGalley. Thank you, NetGalley, the author and the publisher.)
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