This book by the New Zealand writer, Charity Norman, is quite simply a superb read. Emily has come home to New Zealand from England to spend some time with her father who has Alzheimer’s disease. From that point on an utterly engrossing story evolves of the different relationships within families; between friends and neighbours, and the feeling of belonging to a childhood home.
Emily has always seen her father as remote and vaguely disinterested in his children but in helping him cope with the onset of dementia she discovers his softer, more loving side. She has also returned to the ongoing mystery of the disappearance twenty-five years ago of Leah, the brilliant, beautiful daughter of neighbour and close friend, Raewyn. Despite years of searching there is still no trace of Leah and no clues about what happened to her.
It’s a wonderfully intriguing, atmospheric story with the Ruahine mountains always as a backdrop, the setting the stunning Hawkes Bay area of New Zealand; the characters are very real and knowable; the tension surrounding the mystery of Leah’s disappearance is always there, always ready to break.
Charity Norman grabs the reader’s attention and holds it, in the manner of a Jane Harper, a Liane Moriarty or a Madeleine Eskedahl. I loved this book from the first page. A 5 star read absolutely!
Published by Allen & Unwin
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