BLOG TOUR, BOOK REVIEW - The Five Things by Beth Merwood

 

                                                                  BOOK DESCRIPTION

For nine-year-old Wendy, the summer of 1969 will never be forgotten.

Local kids have always told stories about the eerie wood on the outskirts of the village, and Wendy knows for sure that some of them are true. Now the school holidays have started and she's going to the wood again with Anna and Sam, but they soon become convinced that someone is trying to frighten them off.

When a terrible event rocks the coastal community, the young friends can't help thinking there must be a connection between the incident, the tales they’ve heard, and the strange happenings they’ve begun to witness. As glimpses of a darker world threaten their carefree existence, they feel compelled to search out the underlying truth.

The story which you could say is written in the form of a journal starts in the summer of 1969 when our narrator and main character Wendy was nine years old. School is out for the summer and she is looking forward to hanging out with her two best friends Anna and Sam. Days riding their bikes,going to the beach and playing in the fields and woods near the small village of Charlton where they all lived. The summer when their innocent lives were changed forever started like all the other summer's that had proceeded it for Wendy, her two friends and the other children who lived in the village but that year a shocking event would occur, something that would haunt the children for the rest of their lives. The three friends are certain that they know who was behind the tragedy that had hit their small village so they form their own little detective club and start their own investigation. They try to meet once a week so they can discuss if any of them has uncovered anything new in connection with the five things list that Sam had compiled. 

The children were a really likeable,polite group of individuals and reading about how they spent their days brought back memories of my own youth. Back in the 60s and 70s we didn't have such things as computers and mobile phones,we had to think up ways to entertain ourselves. Spending hours outside from the minute that we finished breakfast until the streetlights started coming on once night started to fall. I also remember playing jacks and having to adjust to changing classrooms every lesson when I went to secondary school instead of spending the whole of the school day in one classroom.

Eventually, as in reality, time moved on, the friends grew up and went their separate ways but they still remained friends and remained in contact with each other. Despite the passing of time, the events of that summer all those years ago still occasionally crept into Wendy's thoughts and after she discovers her old diary, she finds herself compelled to start digging into the past but this time from the perspective of an adult. Her quest will result in her uncovering some sad truths and cause her to rethink her perspectives of some of the people from her past.

This is a beautifully written debut drama, a captivating, coming of age story about how one event can cause shock waves that can continue to ripple through time and still be felt many years later. The settings and scenes were so vividly described that you could sit back,close your eyes and picture yourself rolling downhill on your bike with the wind blowing through your hair and the breeze cooling your burning cheeks. The characters were a fantastic cast of realistic individuals and the epilogue was so sad that it caused me to feel emotional and have a lump in my throat. I thought this was a very enjoyable read and look forward to reading more of this author's books in the future.

                                                                        Author Bio – 

Beth Merwood is from the south of England. The Five Things is her debut novel. 

Social Media Links – 

https://www.instagram.com/bethmerwood

https://twitter.com/lizcity77

https://bethmerwood.wixsite.com/write 

https://www.facebook.com/bethmwriting 

Purchase Links 

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Things-Beth-Merwood-ebook/dp/B08ZMN5PC5

US - https://www.amazon.com/Five-Things-Beth-Merwood-ebook/dp/B08ZMN5PC5 

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