27 November 2016

Book Review: My Husband's Wife by Amanda Prowse

"Once a week, Rosie Tipcott counts her blessings. 

She goes to sit on her favourite bench on the north Devon cliffs, and thanks her lucky stars for her wonderful husband, her mischievous young daughters, and her neat little house by the sea. She vows to dedicate every waking hour to making her family happy. 

But then her husband unexpectedly leaves her for another woman and takes the children. Now she must ask the question: what is left in her life? Can Rosie find the strength to rebuild herself? More importantly, does she even want to?"

Rating: 4/5

You can buy the book now!

I've recently become a fan of Amanda Prowse, but I have to confess that I feel I have to get emotionally ready whenever I know I'm going to be reading one of her novels! I managed to get a copy of one of her recent novels, My Husband's Wife, on my Kindle for review, and so began, wondering what emotional rollercoaster I'd be taken on this time! I was right - it certainly was a hard and emotional read, Amanda managed to tap into the heart of each and every situation she writes about, and this book is no exception.

Rosie thinks her life is pretty perfect. She's happily married to her husband, and the pair have two wonderful children. It's everything she has always wanted, and Rosie feels blessed. However, she finds herself knocked for six when her husband suddenly announces their marriage is over, and that he fallen for another woman, living in their town. Rosie doesn't know how to cope with the shock news, but then things manage to go from bad to worse for her. Does Rosie have the courage to pull herself out from the darkest of times?

This is a heart-breaking story, because as the book goes on, we realise what a safety blanket Rosie's family is for her, and how it is going to break her to have all that ripped out from under her so unexpectedly. I hated Rosie's husband Phil for what he did to her, it was cruel and I just couldn't fathom why he had to do that, and devastate not just Rosie but their daughters too. His actions later on in the book are unforgivable too, and I loved that Prowse's writing evoked such strong emotion in me as I was reading!

Rosie was a wonderful characters, someone who loved her life, and I am sure a lot of women reading this will be able to relate to her. She was content with her lot, never wanting more than she had, and being a good wife and mother meant everything to her, especially after her tough start in life. I hated reading about how everything fell apart for her so quickly, and how the bad things just seemed to get heaped on top of each other, pushing Rosie to a breaking point. It seemed cruel one woman could have such a run of bad luck, but it meant I was really pushing for Rosie to pull her out from under the dark cloud and make something of herself again.

This book was hard to read at times, probably too real for some readers who may have experienced something similar, but Prowse's writing is second to none here, it is beautifully written and handles a sensitive topic perfectly. It conveys the emotion, the heartbreak, the despair of the situation, but ultimately left me with a positive happy feeling, and I felt so proud of Rosie for not giving up, which she could have done so easily. As a mum, I couldn't imagine going through what Rosie did, and I think I would have given up long before she felt she had to. Another triumph for Amanda Prowse, I can't wait to read more from this hugely talented author.

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