❆❆ Delighted to host today's stop on this lovely Blog Tour ❆❆
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| Lake Union Publishing 11 November 2019 My thanks to the publishers and ED Public Relations for the invitation to be part of this blog tour |
From the ‘Queen of the Contemporary Family Drama’ comes the moving story of life-changing loss, and a father and son finding their way through grief.
When Nick’s wife and childhood sweetheart Kerry falls ill and dies, he realises for the first time how fragile happiness is and how much he’s taken his good life for granted. Navigating parenthood alone, unsure how to deal with his own grief, let alone that of his teenage son, Olly, Nick must find a way to please his son, his in-laws, his family and his friends – while still honouring what Kerry meant to them all. Nick doesn’t know where to begin. When your life is changed in an instant, how do you start again?
What did I think about it..
When Nick loses his wife to cancer both he, and his teenage son, Oliver, have to find the strength to carry on but in the small town of Burstonbridge in North Yorkshire, a place where everyone knows everyone else, moving on is sometimes a bit of a trial. Nick and Oliver do their grieving in the full glare of local sympathy but not everyone is as sympathetic as others and both of them struggle with their sadness at the loss of a wife and mother.
What then follows is such a lovely story, not just because of the realistic portrayal of loss which tugs away at your heartstrings, but it's also about the strength of the father and son bond and of the importance of good friends and family. I loved the way the author brought both Nick and Oliver to life and I could picture them so easily as they were both such strong characters with distinct personalities and I connected with them on an emotional level.
There's a strong sense of time and the town of Burstonbridge is so typical of small towns where everyone knows everyone else's business and with only one main employer in the town everyone seems to work and live in close contact. There are two distinct threads to the story, each of them equally as compelling, as we get to know all there is to know about Nick in the here and now but also we get to learn about the momentous summer of 1992, when Nick and his two best friends, Eric and Alex, had such a special time.
The Light in the Hallway is a beautifully written family drama which has all those lovely little touches which this talented author does so well. One minute you are shedding a few tears and the next you are laughing out loud at something daft which just makes you smile and nod your head in complete agreement. And whilst the story is about love and loss and of the bewilderment of trying to carry on in the face of deep sadness, there is also hope in abundance and the knowledge that your best friends, and family, will be there for you throughout the good times and the bad.
‘The Light in the Hallway’ by Amanda Prowse is out now, published by Lake Union, priced £8.99 in paperback original.
Amanda Prowse is one of the UK's most prolific and loved story tellers with global sales of 6 million copies and legions of loyal fans. Based near Bristol, Amanda is the author of 25 novels and novellas, with books sold in 22 countries and translated into 12 languages - no mean feat when you consider her first novel was only published in 2012.
Twitter / Instagram @MrsAmandaProwse #TheLightintheHallway
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