May Reads

The Coordinates of Loss - Amanda Prowse 

When Rachel Croft wakes up on her family’s boat in Bermuda, it’s to sunshine and yet another perfect day…until she goes to wake her seven-year-old son, Oscar. Because the worst thing imaginable has happened. He isn’t there.

In the dark and desperate days that follow, Rachel struggles to navigate her grief. And while her husband, James, wants them to face the tragedy together, Rachel feels that the life they once shared is over. Convinced that their happy marriage is now a sham, and unable to remain in the place where she lost her son, she goes home to Bristol alone.

Only when she starts receiving letters from Cee-Cee, her housekeeper in Bermuda, does light begin to return to Rachel’s soul. She and James both want to learn to live again—but is it too late for them to find a way through together?

Thankfully not many of us will never experience the grief of loosing a child. Especially the loss of a child who disappears leaving all those uncertainties as to whether they could  still be a live and just not able to get back to you.   Amanda Prowse has yet again written a fabulous novel touching on the grief of a  mother and the impact it has on her relationship with her husband who is dealing with his own grief. Then there is CeeCee their housekeeper who in her seventies has seen many things happen in her own life.  When Rachel Croft decides to return to her hometown of Bristol to try and make sense of everything that has happened it is her letters from CeeCee that help her deal with her grief.

I have always been a fan of Amanda Prowse novels right from the very first Poppy Day in 2012.   As with all authors some novels are better than others and I suspect if you asked any fan of her writing they would tell you which is their personal favourite. The Coordinates of loss is definitely worth reading and I would highly recommend.

At six, she’s memorising the dictionary. At seven, she’s correcting her teachers. At eight, she spins the globe and picks her favourite country on the sound of its name: Burundi.

And now that she's an adult, Augusta has no interest in the goings-on of the small town where she lives with her parents and her beloved twin sister, Julia.

When an unspeakable tragedy upends everything in Augusta's life, she's propelled headfirst into the unknown. She's determined to find where she belongs – but what if her true home, and heart, are half a world away?

Augusta and her twin sister are like chalk and cheese. Augusta has a thirst for knowledge and wishes to explore places outside of her Herfordshire home, whilst Julia is a home maker and can't wait to marry her beloved Diego and have a family. .   Augusta leaves for University and the bright lights of Durham whilst her sister Julia stays at home and attends the local college. Augusta has plans of travelling and to visit the country of her childhood dreams of Burundi in Africa.  Whilst Julia plans her wedding and future family.   Tragedy strikes not once but twice and Augusta is left bereft and needing to get away. She leaves England for Spain to a place she knows well from childhood holidays with her sister.  Whilst there her life takes a bit of a U-turn but thankfully for the good.  

This book was recommended Jo Jo Through the keyhole blog. We discovered each other's blogs a number of years ago now and quickly came to realise we had very similar tastes in books.  As soon as I read Jo's review of Joanna Glens debut novel I decided I needed to read it and promptly downloaded a copy to my kindle.  It was a good recommendation Jo and I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others to read. 

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As a keyworker I have continued to work throughout lockdown and as you are all aware I have far too many hobbies but have found that reading still gives me the best relaxation before I go to sleep at night and certainly has helped on those sleepness nights when just a few pages at 2am can help send me  dtift back off to sleep. There are those rare occasions when I wake to find my glasses perched on the end of my nose with a book still in my hand.   

Take care and stay safe one and all. 

Mx