I recently downloaded The Half Life of Hannah onto my wonderful Kindle and then was lucky enough to receive Other Halves as a review copy so I spent some of my recent holiday reading them back to back – if you have not yet read either of these novels I highly recommend that you do the same. For the purposes of review though, I shall split the difference. You may want to do the same reading this article as obviously the review for Other Halves may give certain things away….
The Half Life of Hannah
Hannah is thirty-eight and the happily married mother of eleven-year-old Luke, the diamond in her world. Her marriage is reassuringly stable, and after fifteen years she has managed to push the wild dreams of youth from her mind and concentrate on the everyday satisfactions of here and now. The first half of her life hasn’t been as exciting as she had hoped, but then, she reckons, whose has?
When she succeeds in convincing husband Cliff to rent a villa in the south of France for a summer vacation with her sister Jill, and gay friend Tristan, she’s expecting little more than a pleasant few weeks with her family.
But they each have their own baggage – their own secrets – ready to explode on this not-so-relaxing holiday in France.
Starting off as a gentle yet intriguing family story, we follow Hannah and co on holiday in France where tension lies just beneath the surface..
I wasnt expecting such a wonderful emotive tale but that is what I got. Cleverly using the past and present to build a picture in its entirety, I loved the fact that this was unpredictable. Character driven all the way with a terrific ending that both completes the story and leaves room for more (luckily for me the “more” was readily available) it is a slow burner that will hold your attention throughout.
It is a page turner and beautifully written. I found myself reading way into the night as I wanted to find out what would happen next – there are a few twists and turns along the way and you were not always sure where it was going.
A tale of family secrets this was compelling and emotional and is highly recommended for fans of family drama with heart.
DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ THE HALF LIFE OF HANNAH.
Other Halves
Hannah and Cliff’s marriage is over. After a traumatic family holiday, Cliff’s lies have been exposed and Hannah has been reunited with her lost love, Cliff’s brother, James. But after fifteen years together, and forever bound by love for their eleven-year-old son, Luke, breaking free and starting again seems impossible.
Following on from The Half Life of Hannah this is the continuation of Hannah and Cliff’s story as they find new lives after their separation.
Once again a terrific character driven novel, we get to hear from both Hannah and Cliff. Emotionally compelling, for someone like me who is currently going through a separation herself, this book spoke volumes.
Having been very much on Hannah’s side during the first novel, I found myself sympathising with Cliff as we learn more about his inner turmoil.
If I had one complaint it would be that I wanted more from some of the characters I fell for in Book One, Tristan and Jill particularly, but you never know – whilst this gave closure there is also room for more. Here’s hoping.
All in all I loved both these novels and would Highly Recommend reading one after the other. As a whole it was wonderfully compelling with a high standard of writing.
Happy Reading Folks!
Great review doll 🙂