TITLE & AUTHOR: Never Too Late by Jo BarneyI was given a free copy by the author in exchange for an honest review. WHAT'S IT'S ABOUT PUBLISHER: Penner Publishing
OPENING EDITION: KindleWHAT I THOUGHT
RELEASE DATE: September 14 2015PAGES: 284 pages
Decades ago, a shotgun wedding locked Edith into a life with a husband she's not sure she ever loved. Now, at a 'certain age,' she feels like a ghost in her own life, wondering where all this came from: the scornful husband, the mercenary brood of grandchildren, the well-meaning but controlling daughter-in-law. Then one Christmas morning Edith wakes to find her husband dead, and the role she played for so long crumbling.
Soon questions arise about her husband's death, and papers discovered in his pockets send Edith unravelling secrets of the man she thought she knew. Edith's son Brian is the focus of her life, but he may not be as perfect as she thought. Revelations that he might be cheating shock her. As Edith investigates the mysteries of her family, she may just find who she truly is.
'Yeah?' a voice asks when he rings the bell.
Never Too Late is an emotional roller-coaster. Once I started to get into the novel I couldn't put it down. The characters are brilliant. I thought Edith was wonderfully real and raw. I loved the way the author explored Edith and Art's unhappy marriage. It must have been very hard for her to be married to someone who treated her and their son with such cold disdain. It must have been equally hard for him married to someone out of obligation to avoid a scandal. The main theme of this novel is secrets and how they can devastate those who have been lied to once they are revealed. Never Too Late is jam packed with secrets. Art kept many secrets from his unhappy wife. I felt awful for Edith unravelling all of his secrets after his death. Her son kept secrets and the consequences were almost disastrous. At the end, Edith understands Art a little more and has a better, stronger relationship with her son, daughter-in-law and grand-children which are good things. I really liked how Edith develops over the course of the novel, becoming much stronger and more assertive. Never Too Late is a wonderful novel.
