It was with much excitement that I fired up the Kindle app and launched the proof of In Her Wake by my friend Amanda Jennings. The fact she is a friend could make a review hard to write if I hated it but (thankfully for both of us) I didn't hate it one bit, I enjoyed it, as I knew I would do as I had thoroughly enjoyed The Judas Scar and Sworn Secret.
Amanda - I have read it and to be honest I am disappointed. Oh no, what I actually mean is my family are disappointed with me! I picked it up and couldn't put it down, they got a meal last night but no coherent conversation and when they went to bed I said "yeah alright then bye" without lifting my eyes from the page. I finished it this morning at 0526 precisely. Blinkingly brillYANT! Well done you! xx
Anyone who knows the love of grandmother will connect with the dedication to Amanda's grandmother "To my gran who sadly passed away while I was writing this book. Cornwall was your home for nearly one hundred years. It was your true love, your passion, and this love lives on in the hearts of your famliy. Thank you for inspiring me". Amanda's gran, to you I raise a glass.
A tragic family event reveals devastating news that rips apart Bella’s comfortable existence. Embarking on a personal journey to uncover the truth, she faces a series of traumatic discoveries that take her to the ruggedly beautiful Cornish coast, where hidden truths, past betrayals and a 25-year-old mystery threaten not just her identity, but also her life.
With an opener like that how could I not be inspired to read it. I said to Amanda this very morning "blimey it's like you've read a scene from every BBC Drama and cleverly weaved it into one book, which I devoured like a 3 course meal". Again she has written a book that will stay with you long after the last page has turned. No one knows what happens in a person's heart and nothing is rarely as it seems on the outside. Nothing.
When I read In Her Wake I was catapulted through every emotion, gasping at the body blows Bella was dealt. To lose your parents and find your life was built on a web of deceit, peppered with fragile mental health and a father so desperate to protect all that he held and loved so dear was just the start of it. As the story unfolded my heart went out to all of the characters, some of them victims, some of them flawed. Whilst it would have been easy to hate any number of them you can see that their best intentions, though misplaced, ate away at them, those who sought to keep the secrets were so tormented by their actions that their behaviours and the consequences that followed were painful. The dreams and the memories made me weep for what had been lost. But ultimately gained.
She's done it again. That high priestess of weaving in twisty turns and stings in tails has done it again.
Thank you to Karen at Orenda Books for helping me fire up my Kindle App to you I will raise a glass and pretend not to be me at the Book Launch, to Broo Doherty strange as it may seem I don't know what to say apart from "wow and see you in a few weeks" and to you Amanda brillYANT author and friend - thank you.
