What it lacks in literary prowess the author makes up for with blatant honesty and core emotions. It is very he said, she said and doesn’t flow very well.
It gives a no holds barred look at what it is really like when a family falls apart.
When it comes to the daily struggle of dealing with the breakdown of a relationship and consequently also a family. No one sees the anxiety, the fear, the distress, the feeling of helplessness and the anger the children go through in these situations. When parents separate the children tend to suffer, whether the separation is amicable or not.
When it came to the relationship between Philip and Rachel isn’t what I would call appropriate. Rachel crosses the line between being a carer and being emotionally attached far too often. His needs become a focus in a house full of patients/clients. Rachel also lets him interact with her children, enter her home and calls him my darling.
All of that speaks for a person who has a big heart and cares with instinct instead of common sense or rather with caution. She doesn’t maintain the professional distance she should between herself and the clients.
A poignant moment and one that rings true is her acknowledgement of the fact that hating her ex would make a mockery of their past together.
The best part of book was the letter. It was just so right in so many ways. Written from the very bottom of her heart and with a brutal perspective and image of the future. A reflection that most people in these kind of situations never manage to acquire.
I received a copy of this book via Netgalley.
Cheryl M-M's Book Blog 