BOOK DESCRIPTION
Some secrets won’t stay buried…
There are things I want to tell my husband, Guy, about my past. I want to tell him how I bounced from foster home to foster home. I want to tell him that living with him is the first time I’ve ever felt safe and loved. Most of all, I want to tell him about my little sister, who vanished a few years ago.
But even though I can’t stop thinking about her, about everything that happened leading up to her disappearance, I can’t tell him about her. Not yet.
Because I don’t know if I can trust Guy - I’m not the only one in this marriage with a past and a complicated family. And I don’t know if I can trust myself - people keep questioning my memories of the past, and I have to wonder whether I’m losing my mind.
As I search for answers, only one thing is clear. When all of our secrets are on the table, the truth will burn through our lives and our families, leaving some of us in ashes.
A completely addictive novel about what people hide behind closed doors. Perfect for fans of Megan Miranda and Shari Lapena.
How often have you seen a report on the news or in a newspaper or magazine about the tragic death of a child at the hands of one or more of their so called parents and thought to yourself, why wasn't something done to protect that child? Surely they would have been better off if they had been taken away and placed in care? The problem is,how much safer are children that are removed from their homes? Yes, they might still be alive but the shocking truth is that the care system isn't always the safe haven for vulnerable children that it's supposed to be. There are social workers and foster parents who genuinely care about the children who end up in their care. But,as our main character Anna and her twin sister Birdie learned in this hard hitting story, there is also people within and outside the care system who mistreat, manipulate and exploit misplaced children and many people who are prepared to turn a blind eye to the activities of the elite members of society.
This story is told entirely from the perspective of Anna, a teacher at a school for underprivileged children, a school that gives them a last change opportunity to get a education and make something of their lives. Anna is a complex, mixed bag of issues,the reasons for which become apparent as the story,which slips back and forth in time unfolds. At the beginning of the story, Anna is living in a grotty flat and struggling to pay her rent,a situation that changes when she meets and after a whirlwind romance, moves in with and marries rich, handsome Guy. Suddenly, Anna has the means to indulge in the one thing that keeps her sane, shopping at the mall, and oh boy, did Anna love spending money. There was quite a few moments when I wandered if Anna actually loved Guy or had she married him for his money and the elite lifestyle that came with it. Was that truth or can I been cleverly manipulated by the author into passing unfair judgment on Anna's character? The mall had also played a integral part in the story of Anna's past, it was one of the places that where she spent time with her twin sister Birdie before their relationship went wrong and Birdie mysteriously disappeared. As with many sibling relationships,the interactions between the twins very often had toxic undertones but despite what had happened in the past,Anna felt that she couldn't move on with her life until she discovered what happened to her sister. Despite admiring Anna's dedication to her quest for answers and feeling a lot of sympathy towards her due to her shocking past, she also had some character traits that made it difficult to like her at times. Guy came across as a lovely,caring individual who genuinely loved Anna but deception wears many faces.As with many characters in this book,was Guy hiding his true character and twisted nature behind a mask of perfection.
This is a very well written,character driven story that has a plot which covers a wide range of realistic issues. The story is very topical when you take into consideration some of the horrific trials that have taken place in the past and are unfortunately highly likely to take place again some time in the future. It's a hard hitting,dark, realistic story that causes the reader to experience a wide range of emotions. Due to some of the subject matter,there was parts of this story that I enjoyed more than others but I would happily read more of this author's books in the future.
About M.M. DeLuca:
M. M. DeLuca spent her childhood in Durham City, England. After studying Psychology at the University of London, Goldsmiths College, she moved to Winnipeg, Canada where she worked as a teacher then as a freelance writer. She studied Advanced Creative writing with Pulitzer prizewinning author, Carol Shields and has received several local arts council grants for her work. Her first novel, The Pitman’s Daughter was shortlisted for the Chapters Robertson Davies first novel in Canada award in 2001. She went on to self-publish it on Amazon in 2013 where it reached the Amazon Top 20 in the literary bestseller chart. Her novel The Savage Instinct was shortlisted for the Launchpad Manuscript Contest (USA) in 2017 where it was picked up by independent publisher, Inkshares.
Social Media:
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Blog: http://marjoriedeluca.blogspot.com/
Publishing Information:
Published by Canelo on 25th March 2021
Purchase Links:
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2PeL9oB
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