I know this from the letter in front of me. The knowledge of you was folded neatly into a plain white envelope and addressed to me in a measured, precise hand. It looked so ordinary that anything could have been inside. Had I known it was about you, I might not have opened it. It would have been left untouched, propped up on the mantelpiece, like a wartime telegram, while I sat beside it, quietly weighing up the knowing and the not knowing.
Although I didn't know your name, there were three things I did know about you. One, that you are about the same age as me. Two, that you are a woman. Three, that almost exactly a year ago something happened to you that was every bit as devastating as what happened to me."
Stella and Connie are strangers, brought together by two traumatic events - cruel twists of fate that happen thousands of miles apart.
Stella lives with her mother, a smothering narcissist. When she succumbs to dementia, the pressures on Stella's world intensify, culminating in tragedy. As Stella recovers from a near fatal accident, she feels compelled to share her trauma but she finds talking difficult. In her head she confides in Connie because there's no human being in the world that she feels closer to.
Connie is an expat living in Dubai with her partner, Mark, and their two children. On the face of it she wants for nothing and yet ... something about life in this glittering city does not sit well with her. Used to working full time in a career she loves back in England, she struggles to find meaning in the expat life of play-dates and pedicures.
Two women set on a collision course. When they finally link up, it will not be in a way that you, or I, or anyone would ever have expected.
***
We all know the adage concerning the judgement of a book by it's cover. In this case, an exception must be made as the cover design is gorgeous. It instantly caused me want to pick it up and caress it softly in the hope that the words within its pages would be equally enchanting.
I was not to be disappointed. Original, compelling and convincing are the three words that spring instantly to my mind as I sit reviewing this book.
That there is a connection between the two main characters, Stella and Connie is presented right at the beginning. Initially, this bond between two such disparate women appears unfathomable but little by little is illuminated by the author. Approximately two-thirds of the way through I began to suspect the reason but in no way did that lessen the impact of the reveal when it eventually arrived.
Both Stella and Connie are superbly depicted and contained all the required layers to create characters that are easy to relate to. The chapters alternate between the two women, with Stella's being in the first person narrative. It is this that enables the reader to really connect with them. Even though we do not understand the underlying reason for their lives to ultimately collide, their portrayal leads the reader to question this continually throughout the novel.
The descriptions of the heat in Dubai were visceral and all the more significant when accompanied by descriptions of English weather. This also set up the illustration of the difference between the lives of Stella and Connie and was employed to great effect.
This is a sophisticated and compassionate novel which has been written with sensitivity and intelligence. It addresses some complex themes; self-worth, motherhood and identity, and as such is thought-provoking.
I love it when I come across an author that I have never read before and who writes as well as Ms Velton has in this book. She has previously published Blackberry & Wild Rose which has now shot to the top of my reading list.
ISBN: 978 52941 7364
Publisher: Quercus
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