It’s a great honour today to be sharing my review of Mother by S.E. Lynes as part of the blog tour and published by Bookouture. Many thanks go to Bookouture for the copy and the opportunity.
How far would you go for the perfect family?
When Christopher Harris climbs into his family’s dusty attic, he finds a battered old suitcase containing a letter. Inside the letter is a secret; a secret about his mother that changes everything.
Every mother loves their child. Every child deserves to be loved. But Christopher has grown up so lonely it hurts.
Finally, Christopher thinks he has a chance at happiness. A happiness he will do anything to protect, whatever the cost…
An unputdownable thriller about the lies we tell and the secrets we keep, Mother will hold you breathless until the very last page and leave you reeling. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, The Sister and Apple Tree Yard.
Available to purchase from the following retailers – Amazon UK | Amazon US
MY REVIEW
Valentina by S.E. Lynes was one of my top reads for last year so when I heard that the author had signed with Bookouture, one of my favourite publishers I have to admit I was a wee bit excited.
Christopher Harris has never felt like he really fitted in with his family, of course they love him but he’s knows there is something different about him and he can’t quite figure out what that is. Heading off to university at the age of eighteen, Christopher comes across an old suitcase in his parents attic and what he finds inside changes everything and sets Christopher on the path to find some answers.
I have to be completely honest here and say that I was a little confused for a good bit of the first half of the book. We’re told Christopher’s story from an unknown narrator and could I heck figure out who the narrator could be. Baffled is what I was, but I was also totally intrigued.
As we get to follow Christopher’s story I couldn’t help feel a bit sorry for him. He’s a bit of a geek and all he wants is to feel like he belongs some where, but we know from the narrator that things aren’t quite what they seem and you know it’s definitely not going to be a plain sailing journey.
It took me a couple of nights to get to the half way mark in the book due to family life and while I wasn’t reading I was thinking about Christopher and where his journey would take him. I then sat down to continue and it was like a real light bulb moment, I figured out the narrator and I was desperate to get to the end to see if I was right. And boy what an ending this book has.
This is a really difficult book to review, not because I didn’t enjoy it, because I thoroughly did but because I really don’t want to give anything away. This is a story where you need to be able to sit with no distractions and take in every detail. It’s not a fast-paced psychological thriller but it’s very unsettling and certainly keeps you on your toes. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time, it really got under my skin. It’s heart-breaking and chilling and definitely one I’ll be recommending.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After graduating from Leeds University, S E Lynes lived in London before moving to Aberdeen to be with her husband. In Aberdeen, she worked as a producer at BBC Radio Scotland before moving with her husband and two young children to Rome. There, she began to write while her children attended nursery. After the birth of her third child and upon her return to the UK, she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University. She now combines writing with lecturing at Richmond Adult Community College and bringing up her three children. She lives in Teddington. Her first novel, Valentina, published by Blackbird Digital Books, came out in July 2016. Her follow up novel, Mother, will be published by Bookouture in November 2017.
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