When Gabby first met Elliott she knew he was the man for her. In twenty years of marriage she has never doubted her love for him - even when he refused to give her the one thing she still wants most of all. But now their two daughters are growing up Gabby feels that time and her youth are slipping away. For the first time in her life she is restless. And then she meets Matt . . .
Intoxicated by the way this young, handsome and successful man makes her feel, Gabby is momentarily blind to what she stands to lose on this dangerous path. And in one reckless moment she destroys all that she holds dear.
Consumed by regret, Gabby does everything she can to repair the home she has broken. But are some betrayals too great to forgive?
Review: I was quite excited to start this new novel by Jane Green, the blurb sounded great and, unsurprisingly, I was drawn in as soon as I began to read. Now I have a bit of a mixed relationship when it comes to Jane Green novels. She deals with some tough issues in her novels and she deals with them so well and so realistically, that I have been known in the past to really struggle to continue reading a book, or have had to overcome part of it to get to the end. This is no exception and I did find parts of this book making me cry, making me feel tense and reminding me of parts of my own life. This shows, however, just how well she writes. She can make things seem so real, and draw the reader in so much, that emotion and pain is evoked just through her words and her characters.
I really liked the main character, Gabby. She was a mom of two, she felt slightly guilty for not working, was struggling to get on with her elder teenage daughter and has to overcome an awful lot in this novel. But all of this meant that she came across as extremely real. You could genuinely picture her talking things through with herself, she could be that mum you see in the playground, the woman doing her Christmas shopping at the next till. I thought that she had integrity and courage and I really liked her. Her family are all gorgeous, even her slightly eccentric mother and I found myself liking all of them too. There appears in the book, a rift between her and her best friend Clare and I found myself disliking Clare immensely because of this, but again, all of this was very real and very believable.
As I have already mentioned, this book deals with some tough issues. I don't want to give anything away so I won't go into it, but the storyline did have me shedding a few tears at various points along the way. There were also some genuinely heartwarming moments that made me go aww, and all of it seemed like it could have actually happened which was great! Gabby is an English woman who moved to the states and most of the story is set in Connecticut. I loved the setting and the descriptions of Main Street and of the various houses and other settings in the book were written beautifully so you could really picture yourself there.
Despite the book dealing with some tough issues it still kept a good pace. I read this novel in a couple of days and found it to be a real page turner, I wanted to know how Gabby was going to deal with the next issue she faced, and I did really enjoy it. If you are a fan of Jane Greens style and her other novels then this is very much in the same vein and you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for something overly sexual or something very lighthearted then you're probably best not to start with this novel. This is definitely one that should be enjoyed with a big cup of tea or coffee on a crisp autumn day and will definitely keep you warm against the British winter!
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