by Carol Mason
Publisher: Lake Union
Date of Publication: 21st March 2019
Date of Review: 19th March 2019
Blurb
What is it about the coast that attracts people running from their past?
Maybe there’s something in a sea breeze that blows away your problems. Maybe when you look out at the ocean you can see the future; forget the secrets and pain holding you back.
Or at least you can forget them for a time.
When Olivia moves to Port Townsend, her marriage is floundering, and her life is in pieces. She doesn’t know if things with her husband Mark are truly over, or quite why the phone call she longs for on her daughter’s birthday will never come.
Joining a letter-writing club seems like a harmless decision. But when she meets Ned, an ex-soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan, this unlooked-for friendship revives unexpected emotions and memories she’d rather forget.
Can Olivia find the courage to confront what she’s hiding from and finally begin to heal the wounds that have torn her life apart? From the bestselling author of After You Left comes a story about finding hope in second chances.
My Review
A heartrending story with a shocking twist that will leave you feeling giddy and bewildered…
One of the things I like best in a good story is how seemingly inconsequential things scattered throughout the book all link together, resulting in a reeling final twist that is totally unexpected but so very plausible. Carol Mason has executed this to perfection.
The Shadow Between Us is quite different to the author’s usual genre: more Female Noir than Women’s Fiction. It is clear from the outset the protagonist is running away from something. Olivia is unstable and flawed but also kind and generous; and whilst true to genre the protagonist is an unreliable first-person narrator, these personality traits also make her identifiable and easy to empathise with.
Whilst The Shadow Between Us, is different in genre to Carol’s other books, her unique narrative voice and style still shines through. When people ask what the difference is between Women’s Fiction and Chick-Lit, I always tell them to read After You Left. That is my definition of Women’s Fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I am far from a Chick-Lit snob, quite the opposite in-fact, but I do believe there is a difference between Chick-Lit and Women’s Fiction and this is largely to do with the narrative voice. This same narrative voice is present in The Shadow Between Us but coupled with a darker plotline this places the genre closer to Female Noir.
As with all Carol’s novels, The Shadow Between Us is very character driven, giving almost a literary feel. The story is all about Olivia: she is the protagonist but her own fear of what happened in her past is also the antagonistic force. This makes for one hell of a read and I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Go reserve your copy NOW!!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley
for an Advance Review Copy of this book
in return for an honest and unbiased review.
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About the Author