Her marriage on the rocks, no job, and at odds with her teenage daughters, Trish vows to reinvent herself. 'Like Madonna,' she tells her teens. 'Only as a writer.'
Naively, she pins her hopes on arrogant Amanda to nurture her, and weekly classes begin at Amanda's gloomy house in the woods. Trish takes an instant dislike to Amanda's strapping young handyman, Pavel. Her suspicions grow, as an air of foreboding - as well as a nasty smell - hang over the house.
When Amanda vanishes, it's left to Trish to mount a rescue. Is she woman enough for the job? Will she ever write that bestseller?
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I had no business being on a bike. - One
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(SRL Publishing, 19 March 2024, e-galley, 307 pages, copy from the publisher)
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I really enjoyed A Novel Solution though it took me a while to get into the book. There are interruptions in the text by Trish in what only can be described as her inner thoughts sometimes reflecting on what happened in the previous chapter or chastising herself. I found this quite irritating and distracting and it took a while to get used to. The book could had done without these interjections. I think the author was trying to reflect how writers, especially when they're just starting out are in their head a lot of the time. Aside from this, I really enjoyed the plot of the novel and the twists and turns. There are two plot threads revolving around Trish's divorce and Amanda. I liked the twist the book takes at the end which I didn't see coming. I really enjoyed this book.
