‘I’m perfectly happy lying to myself…If it means getting to stay with you.’
Jasper is ready to surprise his brother; Holly is ready to celebrate their engagement.
Anne tags along for fear of missing out, and John might just be going for another drink.
But Edmund and Ovidia had other plans for their Saturday.
This book was nothing at all like I was expecting- which was excellent and makes me want to go into more novels a bit blind to their content.
The Pretenders is a subtle, intricate character drama, a thought provoking narrative through one day in the lives of a family disconnected, who unexpectedly for some, come together to celebrate an engagement.
The author manages each delicate layer of this plot magnificently, as secrets come to light and every single character has things they have to come to terms with. It is a balancing act, a literary delight of a story forever on a knife edge of distressing revelations.
The group dynamic is real, vivid and addictive, it is a story you fall into and emerge breathless the other side, questioning everything you have read. Why each individual acted as they did may keep you up at night and it is a melancholy, intense reading experience that will stay with you long after you turn that final page.
I’ll give nothing away, the moral dilemma at the heart of The Pretenders is something every reader will come to individually and I don’t want to give a preconceived idea of what you’ll find here.
Truly wonderful, sad, clever and with some beautiful writing. Highly recommended.
You can purchase The Pretenders (Agora) Here.
Happy reading!
