One for Young Adult readers

At 11 yrs old Nora became her father’s full time carer, and at 18 yrs old her long term future involved looking after bitter and resentful parents while working in a fast food joint. After convincing herself she was in love with a visiting Scottish tourist, she elopes from Indiana to Edinburgh. Her new husband wanted a life of domestic bliss and children, while Nora yearned for freedom and higher education. This book follows Nora trying to live with her guilt at the way she has treated those around her while trying to find her own path in life.

I was a little uncomfortable about the part of the book concerning the child custody issue. A previously neglectful father who learns to care for his daughter and decides that he wants to be a full time father is not a bad thing, even if we are told from the perspective of the loving uncle who would like to keep guardianship.

The best part of the book was, ironically, Nora’s new family in Scotland. Wonderful characters with a fabulous side romance. I loved the sensitive portrayal of Jim, Nora’s husband, who struggled with adoring his wife aware that his feelings were not reciprocated. I also loved the portrayal of her mother, a character who turned out to be so much more than expected. I did, however, wish for a more original plot line to engineer Nora and Aiden’s problems than the convenient “evil best friend secretly in love”, along with a well timed lost phone and the most efficient moving men in Great Britain!

I enjoyed listening to this book but it is really a Young Adult book which is not my favourite genre. I just did not feel the connection between Aiden and Nora. It felt like they came from different generations, with Nora’s education just starting, while Aiden was established and successful in his career and juggling jobs from all over the world. It just all felt a bit fairytale, with Nora suffering that overused romantic trope of “I’m not good enough for him” followed by “I don’t want to be with him because it will hurt too much when he leaves me”

Samantha Young has written some brilliant books and this is almost one of them. I just wish the age and lifestyle gap was not so great and Nora was given a few more years to grow up before the reunion in the final chapters.

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Another stunner!

Another brilliant book by Samantha Young. The story was excellent, for the most part the narration was brilliant (I could listen to Claire talk all day long! LOL)

My only criticism would be the impersonation of a male voice. The Scottish accent wasn’t bad but I do not understand why voices need to be impersonated, why not just have a male voice speak the male part? Also why not have true Scotsman speak with a true Scot accent rather then one being made up?

Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this book, great storyline, good length, good performance ... as I said another success.

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1 person found this helpful

I cried like a baby

Brilliant story and it really made me cry. I’m 83 years old and felt like a teenager.

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