When Nell’s father makes a deathbed declaration that hints at a long-held secret, it reignites feelings of isolation that have plagued her for years. Her suspicions about the family’s past only deepen when her mother, Annie, who is losing her memories to dementia, starts making cryptic comments of her own.
Thirty-five years earlier, Annie’s life was upended by a series of traumas—one shock after another that she buried deep in her heart. The decisions she made at the time were motivated by love, but she knew even then that nobody could ever understand—let alone forgive—what she did.
As the two women’s stories unravel, a generation apart, Nell finally discovers the devastating truth about her mother’s past, and her own.
Hannah Beckerman is the author of two absolutely flawless
and highly emotive novels both left a lasting impression on me. We have
desperately long waits between her novels but they are truly worth waiting for.
The Impossible Truths of Love is Hannah’s third novel which
begins with our main character Nell as she sits with her dad in the last hours
of his life when he makes the declaration “I have always loved you even if you
were never really ever mine to love”
In the weeks after the loss of her father and with her mum
quickly becoming lost to dementia the time is ticking but Nell wants to find
answers as to what her father’s last words to her could really mean.
This book explores the effects of grief and trauma on mental
health and the impact deep rooted secrets have on shaping the lives of all
involved because all secrets have a way of coming to light in the end and the
longer they stay hidden the more damage they cause.
The book tells the story of both Nell and her mum, Annie so
we get a bigger picture as we start to put the pieces of the story together
looking for clues as to what secret is hidden in Nells childhood. As Annie
tells her story there is so much honest, raw and painful emotion seeping
through the pages, a mother who has had her heart broken to pieces in a
devastating way and the author has raised awareness on this subject matter in
such a tender and careful way as she always so masterfully does.
Hannah Beckerman has such a powerful emotive style of
writing that really hits home every time I read her novels and they all feel so
honest and believable like I am reading a life story and that is because she
draws on day to day tragic events of loss that affect us all directly or
indirectly in our life time which leaves us at our most vulnerable and every
single emotion we feel she pours int the bucket loads into her storylines.
I didn’t like Nell’s sisters especially Claire and although
the way in which they treat Nell is explained later on in the storyline and is
proof of how secrets can destroy a relationship I still don’t feel that Nell
deserved to be treated the way she did and I was so pleased she had a
supportive boyfriend and long standing family friend to support her.
This is yet again another skilful written unpredictable
storyline with so much depth, emotion and intrigue to make this a captivating
and poignant read, so praise once again to Hannah Beckerman.
No comments:
Post a Comment