Slowly getting into a story isn’t always a bad thing!

Synopsis

A family ripped asunder.
A terrible secret lurks in a thrilling novel of love, grief, and mystery.

Patrick thought his grandfather, John, died before he was born.
In later life, he finds out that it wasn’t true. For the first five years of Patrick’s life, they stayed in the same small village.
So why were they kept apart?

Patrick wishes to search the past to find the reason – but only if he can be united with his young daughter first.
And that means bringing her home to Scotland.
It means journeying to France to take her away from the care of her mother, Patrick’s ex-wife. 

In 1915, with the war raging in Europe, John is a young man working on the family farm. Not yet old enough to enlist but aware of its looming threat, he meets Catherine. But his attempts at courtship end suddenly when an accident rips his life apart.

Told in alternate chapters, set, mainly, in South-West Scotland, this is the dramatic story of Patrick, interwoven with John’s traumatic life.

My review

Sometimes you know that you just have to go through a little bit of pain before you enjoy a story. And this is what happened to me when I was reading this book.
Those first chapters were really hard for me to get into the story. I just didn’t feel the pull of it. But deep down inside I just KNEW I shouldn’t just give up and put it away.

So after initial struggle, somehow and somewhere during the story I had found it.

Out of the blue I was pulled into it and I couldn’t put it away.

This is a book containing 2 stories, the story of John and the story of Patrick, grandson of John.
After the death of his father, Patrick wants to know why James wanted to be buried next to his father, when apparently they weren’t really close.

Slowly we get to know both Patrick and John better. Both lives were scarred by some dramatic events and the difficulty of processing those events.
Both characters seem a bit introvert. They have acquaintances but don’t have a real group of friends who they can rely on. This makes their struggle in life even harder.

John will do everything in his possession to make his little boy happy, but one crucial decision throws a spanner in the works.
And Robert is determined to rebuild a life with his ex-wife.
But there is so much to be discovered and secrets to be uncovered.

And this is what made me like the book. When the moment arrives that everything is settling down for the best, another secret is unfolded and the newly found peace is all in the drain again.

So if you are looking for a story that keeps on intriguing you, demanding your attention, go on, read this one!