My Mother’s Shadow by Nikola Scott | Review & #Giveaway #mymothersshadow

 

Published by Headline

Ebook : 30 My 2017   |  Paperback  21 September 2017

368 pages


I’m delighted to be included on the blog tour for the paperback release of My Mother’s Shadow.  In addition to my review, I am also giving away one paperback copy, courtesy of the publisher, Headline. Entry details are below.

 

About the book:

It is 1958. Elizabeth has been sent away from her London home to the beautiful Hartland House in Sussex. Over an idyllic summer by the coast, she grows close to the confident young Shaws, who treat her like one of their own. A lovely but innocent girl, Elizabeth is ready to fall in love – but her dreams are dangerously naïve.

Decades later, Elizabeth’s daughter Addie is stunned when a stranger appears on her doorstep, claiming that they are sisters. Addie doesn’t believe it. Until her beloved father admits that everything she’s been told about her early life is a lie.

For Addie and her new sister Phoebe it’s the beginning of an emotional journey back to a time of fallen women and domineering fathers, as they discover the extraordinary truth about how their lives began…

 

My thoughts:

My Mother’s Shadow alternates between the late 1950’s and the present day and is an engrossing read of family secrets and deception.

The story begins in the present day with Addie and her family gathering at home to remember the first anniversary of the death of her mother, Elizabeth. Her death was so unexpected and they are still struggling to come to terms with their loss. The last thing they need is someone turning up on the doorstep claiming to be Addie’s sister.

Elizabeth had a difficult and somewhat unhappy past and through her narrative told by way of diary entries, we see her loss of her own mother’s death, her experience of first love and the cold cruelty of her father. In many ways her story was heartbreaking – events which in those days would cause a scandal and which were thought to be shameful wouldn’t be thought of in the same way today and it makes you so aware of how society has moved on.

Phoebe, the woman claiming to be Addie’s sister, was the exact opposite of Addie. Phoebe was confident, assured and was very much full on when she wanted something. Addie was much more reticent and indecisive however the emerging relationship between the two was very well told.

Addie had a difficult relationship with her mother, she never felt that she was good enough, unlike her sister Venetia who seemed to be her mother’s favourite daughter, but as the story moves on and she finds out more about her mother’s life, she gains a new level of understanding and acceptance and ultimately, hopefully, forgiveness.

My Shadow’s Shadow is an intriguing book of family drama, with a little bit of mystery between the pages and the odd twist and surprise thrown in. Gradually the full story is revealed and the full extent of secrets and betrayal by certain people come to light.

This was a perfect read for my recent holiday. Nikola Scott writes beautifully with vivid descriptions and I enjoyed the pace and the flow of the story. The characters had enough personality for them to be believable and the emotions given to them certainly brought them to life. My Mother’s Shadow is the author’s debut novel.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be looking forward to her next book.

My thanks to the publisher Headline for an advance reading copy.

Please see below for details of the giveaway.

 

At the time of writing this post, My Mother’s Shadow is available to download from Amazon UK for 99p

About the author:

Credit: Shelley DeJager

Nikola Scott was born and raised in Germany and studied at university there. Having been obsessed with books from a young age, Nikola moved to New York City after her Master’s degree to begin her first job in book publishing – a career in which she could fully indulge her love of fiction. She spent ten years working in publishing in New York and then in London, editing other people’s books, before she decided to take the leap into becoming a full-time writer herself. She now lives in Germany with her husband. My Mother’s Shadow is her debut novel.

 

Author Links:  Website  |   Twitter   |   Facebook   |   Amazon UK   |   Goodreads

 

 

 ***GIVEAWAY (UK only)***

I have one paperback copy of My Mother’s Shadow to give away.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  Once the giveaway has finished, I will contact the winner by email and/or Twitter and request their details which will be passed to the publisher for them to send out the book.  Sorry but the giveaway is open to UK entrants only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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