Our score:★★★★★★✩✩✩✩
GENRE: Psychological, Gothic, Supernatural
Selected by Gemma - October 2009
SYNOPSIS:
Elizabeth has been married to Michael for ten years. She has adjusted to a fairly monotonous routine with her wealthy, decent but boring husband. Part of this routine involves occasional visits to Beinn Caorrun, the dank and gloomy house in a Scottish glen that Michael inherited.
But then Michael begins to change.
It starts when he thinks he sees, in a picture, the figure of a girl on a landing. As he changes, life becomes so much more fun and Elizabeth sees glimpses of a man she can fall in love with at last.
But who - or what - is changing Michael?
(Synopsis taken from Amazon)
STORY BEHIND THE BOOK:
Gemma:
I love the idea of a ghost story and so when I read the synopsis of this book I was very much drawn to the supernatural element. Whilst I hadn't read a Paul Torday novel before I knew that his previous book had great reviews so was keen to try this one.
REVIEW: (Contains spoilers)
Gemma's Thoughts:
I was gripped by the first chapter and loved that it got straight into the story. However, the next chapters were setting the scene and including background details to Michael's and Elizabeth's marriage, which I found a bit boring. I was excited by the ghostly elements of the book but wanted more of this to run through the book and to be developed. Although a work of fiction, it just goes to show the effects drugs can have on people and made me question this - should we give children medication to control ADHD or other illnesses? At the end of the story Paul Torday left me thinking why had Elizabeth seen the girl with the green dress? Was she too mad? Was it a ghost after all? Or does it have future implications for her son John? And will Michael ever be found?
Emma's Thoughts:
At the time of reading this book, I lived alone so was not keen to reading a ghost story. Thanks Gem! Luckily it wasn't that scary. You wonder if it's ghosts, if Michael is on drugs or just going a bit bonkers. Mickey was much more interesting than Michael, but Elizabeth was annoying - who agrees to marry someone and then hopes they don't turn up! The book was 'so,so' hence the 5/10 and I'm sure I'll totally forget about it soon enough.
THE SCORES:
Emma: 5
Gemma: 7
Maria: 6
Nic: 5
Pamela: 6
Sandra: 7
Average 6
Let us know what you thought about this book. We would love to read your reviews and know what score you would give it.
If you enjoyed reading this book, why not try:
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman
Happy reading!