Sunday 6 January 2013

After the Fall by Charity Norman


In the quiet of a New Zealand winter's night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy with severe internal injuries. He's fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse, and his condition is critical. At first, Finn's fall looks like a horrible accident; after all, he's prone to sleepwalking. Only his frantic mother, Martha McNamara, knows how it happened. And she isn't telling. Not yet. Maybe not ever. 

Tragedy isn't what the McNamara family expected when they moved to New Zealand. For Martha, it was an escape. For her artist husband Kit, it was a dream. For their small twin boys, it was an adventure. For sixteen-year-old Sacha, it was the start of a nightmare.

They end up on the isolated east coast of the North Island, seemingly in the middle of a New Zealand tourism campaign. But their peaceful idyll is soon shattered as the choices Sacha makes lead the family down a path which threatens to destroy them all.

Martha finds herself facing a series of impossible decisions, each with devastating consequences for her family.

Charity Norman is a new author to me, having heard on a number of occasions that her work is along the lines of Jodi Picoult I was intrigued to see if her writing can live upto such a great writer. 
Martha is a heart-warming character. She always wants to try and do what she thinks is best for her family and when she see’s that the best thing for her marriage would be to move to New Zealand there is one person who isn’t happy with the new plans and that is her daughter Sacha. Sacha is a typical teen and doesn’t like the idea of change and it is as though the whole world is going to come crashing down on her because of the move. I can’t say I loved her character but I do think she was a fantastic character and she is a crucial part to this book and plays the perfect character.
What won me over with this book is how unpredictable it was. At the beginning when we find out that a little boy has fallen from a balcony something didn’t feel right and as we got a few chapters in I had my own little theory as to what really happened but I have to admit I was way off track! There was so many dark twists in this book that I didn’t see coming and this held my attention all the way through.
The story follows the lead up to the accident and every so often there is a chapter back in the present day in the hospital with Finn and Martha. This was not a book that you could easily pick up and put down, you needed your full attention and I found it impossible to put down. I was tense when reading this book I was on the edge of my seat it was so detailed that I actually felt as though I was sitting and watching a film!
This was a very intense and addictive read, I did love the little twins parts in this book they brought a little light to a dark storyline with their little mischief making!
I would recommend this book and I will also be looking forward to reading more books by this author.
AFTER THE FALL HAS BEEN CHOSEN FOR THE 2013 RICHARD AND JUDY SPRING BOOK CLUB!

Paperback                    Kindle

5 comments:

  1. Like the sound of this one so just added it onto my wishlist.

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  2. Rea - thanks for linking this in. I put the title/author stuff in for you - not a problem. Cheers

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  3. Thanks for the review.

    Stopping by from Carole's January Books I Loved. I am in that list as #46.

    My featured book is SEVEN LOCKS.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog

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