Know who your friends are...
On a holiday escape to the Greek islands, Annie Buchanan discovers what - and then who - is missing from her life.
When single mother, Annie, and son Jude take a break away from Scotland to stay with her brother and friends on Symi, they find the warmth and support they need. As they relax into the familiar rhythm of island life, old and new acquaintances change the course of their vacation. Whether it's for better or worse, Annie will discover when she visits the island of Leros. There she may be able to put together some of the missing pieces in her life and learn who her friends really are. But she cannot be prepared for some uncomfortable truths about the past and the dramatic way in which they will change the present for her... and Jude.
***
'You broke my nose, Jude'. ONE - ANNIE, HARKIN CROFT, KILACHLAN, SCOTLAND
***
(Independently Published, 26 June 2020, 283 pages, ebook, copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 30 July via @RandomTTours)
***
***
I'd never heard of the author before but agreed to take part in the tour because I wanted something a little different. I'd love to visit Greece so the setting appealed to me, plus the fact the characters are from Scotland, my home tuft which was doubly appealing even though Annie also lives in London for a period of time. The structure of this short book takes a few chapters to get used to, a variation of stream-of-consciousness which I don't always get on with but I soon settled into the rhythm. I would have struggled more with a longer book. The book is quirky, well written and entertaining. The book tackles a lot in such a short space of time including Annie's struggles as a single parent of a bi-racial son. The last third of the book veers off in a direction I didn't see coming and becomes a psychological thriller. To be honest, I thought the book was too short and the dramatic events the book closes with were not signposted well enough and too rushed. I would have liked to spend more time on Jigsaw Island with these interesting characters.
