BOOK DESCRIPTION
Your mother. The one person you trust. What if you're wrong?
Widowed Nan is on her way to her beloved son's wedding. She should be excited, but she is dreading her return to Paradise Place - a small area of Notting Hill that she hasn't dared set foot on for decades. Nan had arrived there as a young girl in the late seventies, desperate for freedom and a career as an artist. But, drawn into a dark obsession that spun out of control, Nan was forced to flee.
And while the only thing seemingly connecting her son's wedding and her old secret life is Paradise Place, Nan quickly gets the impression that someone is watching her every move . . . someone she thought was dead.
Set in the late 1970s and the present day this emotional tale of human fallibility is told from the perspectives of Nan and another character called Hugo in chapters that flip back and forth between now and then. Both characters narratives were unreliable and neither of them were very likeable for various reasons. They were both complex characters who allowed obsessions to take control of their lives with disastrous consequences for both of them. There wasn't a large number of characters in this story but the ones that did appear were a mixed bag of likeable and not so likeable individuals. Nan's son Ben was one of the characters I really felt sympathy towards as well as his lovely fiance, his future father in law and poor, loyal Chris. What secrets was Nan keeping from Ben? What Happened on that fateful night in the past? What was Hugo's endgame? What fate did the Author have in store for the various characters?
This is not a fast paced story, it's a slow burner that builds in intensity as the story unfolds,the layers unfurling like the petals of a flower until the hidden truths within are unveiled. It's a enthralling tale of obsession, misconceptions, secrets, deception and revenge. This was one of those books that kept me captivated, I couldn't put it down but I honestly couldn't tell you why. I found it very enjoyable read and I would happily read more of this author's books in the future.
AUTHOR BIO
Kate McQuaile’s debut novel, What She Never Told Me, was published by Quercus in March 2016. Her second novel, Without A Word, was released in October 2017. Broken Flowers was published, also by Quercus, in April 2020.
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