01 June 2023

This is a fantastic debut novel that every woman out there should read. I was not sure what to expect from this book, but as soon as I opened this one, I was hooked. This book is a thought-provoking, gripping read about shame, coercion and the seductive power of first love. The author explores memories and how we choose to remember events in a way that makes us more comfortable with dealing with them.

This book combines “HEADY NOSTALGIA WITH UNCOMFORTABLE REALISATION AS A WOMAN COMES TO TERMS WITH A SUMMER AFFAIR FROM HER TEENS…”

Katy Bishop transports you to an island the moment you open this book. Her writing is descriptive drawing all your senses into her story. As you lose yourself into the stunning scenery you experience the emotions of first love. I loved how vividly Rachel’s emotions were. I found myself falling in love with her.  Then just as quickly you are brought back to reality and you start to understand that there is more to this story as you join Rachel on a painful path of discovery. I loved the seamless way in which the author moved between a fantasy romance and the painful truth about coercion and shame.

Rachel fell in love with Alistair when she was seventeen years old. He was her world and the reason she is the person she is now. Even after not seeing Alistair for sixteen years, and despite having married someone else, Rachel has never stopped loving Alistair. She has never given up on the dream of them ending up together. When Rachel unexpectedly runs into Helena, a girl she knew while living on the island she finds herself re-looking at the past and is forced to expect that things might not have been as she remembers them.

The emotions running through this book had me hooked from start to end. As this dark story unfolds you know that the relationship between Rachel and Alistair is not ‘right’ but you understand Rachel’s feelings. You share in her emotions while you know how wrong the situation is.

Rachel steals your heart. This naïve seventeen-year-old girl so badly wants to grow up and be accepted by her peers. Alistair’s attention leaves her standing out in the group and for the first time she is left feeling special. Adult Rachel, while still deeply in love with Alistair is forced to re-look at her memories and accept that she may have been selective in what she chose to remember. This woman, despite now being an adult had me seeing her as a little girl whose world comes crashing down around. I was proud of her for making the right decisions in the end.

This book is a brilliant read with a lesson hidden among the emotions that drip off the pages. I will be giving both of my daughters a copy of this one. This story is dark and heartbreaking with an ending that leaves you feeling that the characters managed to obtain closure.

I loved every minute of this story and cannot recommend this one highly enough. If you are looking for a mystery that explores shame, coercion and what women are often forced to accept as normal behaviour – then this is the book for you. Be warned though – it’s a dark, gripping read you will not want to close until you reach the very last page.