This is a poignant tale of tragedy following the death of Cornelia's husband. I enjoyed the chapters switching between before and after the accident and found this made the story all the more heartbreaking as you get to know the characters before the overwhelming grief descended and various secrets are uncovered. You totally understand why she begins to unravel. I thought this was beautifully written and this draws the reader in.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

A heartbreaking but captivating and urgent read - I found it compelling, sad but poignant, with lots of twists and turns that kept me engaged and wanting to know more. I would read more from this author.

This is a heartbreaking read, about mental health surrounding a woman who has suffered child loss but now also the death of her husband. We see the grief from her husband death play a role in her behaviour going forward. While we learn more about her past struggles.
Cornelia becomes obsessed with a little boy she believes is her dead husbands son. Going out of her way to befriend his mother.
Its easy to see this isn't going to end well.
The helpless feeling of knowing something bad will happen but you can't stop it.
What Cornelia does isn't OK but at the same time you feel sympathy for her. Throughout the book you just want her to seek help.

I would love to give this 4 stars but I struggled a little at the beginning. Then the end felt too rushed. There was such a big moment then as quickly as it started it finished.

The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood by Susan Elliot Wright is a story of tragedy, loss and being left to cope on your own.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one. I really struggled to get into it and struggled with the format.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Cornelia Blackwood is trying to live her life as best as she can but people look at her and talk behind her back. She seems like a broken woman. She has a loving husband but he has his own secrets and their marriage is perhaps not quite as solid as she thought it was.

I started reading The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood early one afternoon and I lost myself in its pages. The next thing I knew it was early evening and I was turning the last page. The writing in this book is stunning and the way the story of Cornelia gradually unfolds is so brilliantly done.

We meet Cornelia as her husband is about to go off on a work trip. She feels very unsettled about him leaving and she hates waiting for him to go. It’s clear that she is an anxious person but initially you don’t know why. The novel then moves in time between this point and a few months later. There is also a slow reveal of what has happened in the past. I had no idea what was coming in this novel so I’m going to keep this review short and a little vague as I don’t want to risk any spoilers.

I will say that I felt a real connection to Cornelia. She is such an unhappy woman and clearly has issues that she’s not coping very well with. I couldn’t envisage that she could have ever done anything terrible but her behaviour throughout the book can be seen as somewhat questionable. At the same time I just felt so sorry for her. I love it when books leave me unsure of a character’s motives but at the same time make me want them to be okay.

The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood is disturbing at times, and it’s such an emotional read, but it’s so beautifully and sensitively written that it felt impossible for me to put it down. I’m in awe of this book and it’s one that I keep thinking about. This was my first Susan Elliot Wright novel but I will absolutely definitely seeking out everything she has ever written.

I really enjoyed this, Susan is an excellent writer and manages to drip feed excellently throughout a book. Leah is a sympathetic character even when making very stupid choices

Cornelia, or Leah, Blackwood is somewhat of a mystery. This is what we know about her: she has a loving husband; she is shunned by her neighbours and even when she goes to the shops; she has badly injured her back at some point and is only just recovering, after having a long time away from her job in teaching; she was once pregnant, but there are no signs of any children in her life.

Although things seem quite positive in the beginning, and Leah is getting her life back together, sadly it doesn't last. As Leah's life spirals out of control, so her feelings and story spill out onto the pages of this book. I really connected with Leah's emotional journey in this book, and that is its great strength. Her character is fantastically written and very likeable, despite her past and present experiences. I think in the end it didn't matter to me what she did, I would still like and pity her.

The plot and the way the book unravels is excellently planned out; it is a slow burn, but intriguing so I was utterly gripped the whole way through. It really is one of those books you can't put down until you find out what happens. I was once on the bus on my way to work reading this book, and I was feeling pretty fragile after a few drinks and a late night the day before. But as soon I started reading, all of that just fell away. I didn't look up again until the bus pulled into the station, and I had completely forgotten where I was and how rough I felt. That's the power of this book.

This book was an easy read and despite the rather sad and desperate subject I did not feel moved, although Leah was quite a well-drawn character. I think that the alternate chapters between past and present and the drawn out way Leah's past was described detracted from the book and what could have been a dark and absorbing read suffered accordingly.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Susan Elliot Wright/Simon & Schuster for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

The flight of Cornelia Blackwood caught my attention because of the cover, yet the story is much better, its hard to write a review without giving to much away, but although it starts of a little slow and it does jump about between the past and present which I do find a bit off putting it has a way of grabbing the attention and holding you in its thrall right to the very end. .Definitely worth giving it ago.

I’ll warn you now that I might not use the word “enjoyed” at any point in this review – and I know that might be a tad unusual for me, but reading this book was such an intense emotional experience that it seems somehow inappropriate. But that’s certainly in no way a negative, because this book gripped me from the beginning until its dramatic and almost inevitable conclusion. Its themes are immensely affecting: we know that Leah isn’t a mother, and that she carries physical and emotional scars, but not the reasons why. The book tells us, slowly revealing the events that have gone before, while unfolding a present day story that escalates dramatically as we learn more about Leah’s loneliness and emptiness, and the heartbreaking series of events that lies behind it.

This is unquestionably an “important” novel because of the issues it deals with, but it’s also an excellent piece of story telling – the book has a forceful narrative drive, and the author develops the story in a way that I found totally compelling, alternating between “now” and “then”, making you ache within at every new revelation from Leah’s past and every wrong decision in the present. There are moments of joy – but with a depth of feeling behind them that keeps you somehow balancing on a knife-edge, knowing that things probably won’t be well and that those moments are something of an illusion.

I desperately don’t want to tell the story, other readers need to experience this book the way I did: the author’s prologue will guide you as to whether the book’s themes make it one you’ll want to read. It left a profound emotional impression, and I was immensely moved by a story laced with obsession and loss, but told with sympathy and deep compassion.

(Review also added to Amazon, but link not yet available)

I'm finding it very difficult to write a review of this book, it is well written and plotted and the author takes the reader with her as the believable characters reach the bleak and almost inevitable conclusion to this particular story. However, I felt uncomfortable with the portrayal of a woman with PPP, although because of the writing, I felt great sympathy for Leah and what she had done, I also felt the condition was demonized and adds to the stigma surrounding it. I have only worked with a couple of women who were in the acute stages of PPP but they were well supported and went on to have ordinary lives and were able to care for their families without being a danger to other people's children. I realise Leah's story is fiction and the circumstances were needed for dramatic effect, but I felt there could have been some positive things highlighted as well to give hope to others.
thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Oh my word!  What a devastatingly heart breaking yet 'unputdownable' read.  I have never actually read a book in a day before.  I'm a fairly slow reader, lots of other stuff to do, blah, blah.  But I meet a friend yesterday morning, got home, sat down, picked up the book and finished it in time (just) to cook tea.  Wow!

We follow Cornelia, known as Leah in this dual time line novel.  Chapters are simply headed Now and Then, with each time line written in a differently paced, differently felt narrative it makes it easy to follow. It is clear from the start that something devastating has happened to Leah, but with the seemingly loving support from her husband it looks like she may get through it.  Right?  But from the opening chapter the overriding feeling of tension and fear is so apparent you wonder, will she?

As others have said its hard to review without giving to much info and spoiling the story for those who have yet to read it. Its also a hard review to write. Trying to express the raw, deep, heartbreaking emotions that this book covers, there just doesn't seem to be the right words to describe it.

This book covers some serious issues.  Loss, grief, postnatal depression and psychosis.  Tough subjects to write about, but topics that should be written about.  To do this in the form of a novel and a suspenseful, readable, unputdownable novel, is amazing.

The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood is published by Simon & Schuster and is out February 21st.

I received a paperback preview copy of this book from the author/publisher and also a digital preview copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood’ by Susan Eliot Wright in exchange for an honest review.

I was first drawn to this novel by its stunning cover art. I love corvids and rather hoped this cover indicated that these birds would play a role. They do and its opening paragraph has a cheeky crow walking into Leah’s kitchen upsetting her. Why? There are many questions in this novel and Wright does a masterful job in slowly revealing the answers.

This is the kind of novel that I feel is best to read ‘cold’ and therefore I won’t try to summarise its plot beyond saying that it recounts the tragic story of Cornelia (Leah) Blackwood. It is narrated by Leah in two timelines: ‘Now’ - the present as events unfold and ‘Then’ - that slowly reveals Leah’s path to the present.

Although not a mother myself, I felt a close identification with Leah for a number of reasons.. It is a novel about motherhood, loneliness, and loss and deals with themes of bereavement and mental illness. It is at times a heartbreaking read.

I found it totally gripping and read it in a single day as I just had to know the outcome. I was grateful for the Author’s Note as well as an opening ‘Dear Reader’ message. Wright knows that she is writing about subjects that are likely to stir powerful emotions and I felt that she wrote with great courage and sensitivity.

I certainly plan on rereading it, hopefully with one of my reading groups to allow for in-depth discussion.

I have so many enthusiastic adjectives bouncing around my head right now, that I am struggling to pin down the right words to describe how I feel about this book.
I’ve read some really heartbreaking, wonderful stories recently that have moved me to tears – but this is the novel that has run so close to some of my own early experiences as a mother, that it gnawed at my soul, particularly the last third of the novel. I won’t lie, it is a tough read in terms of content, at least, it was for me, but I didn’t feel ‘triggered’, if that’s the correct term, I felt heard. That it wasn’t just me. That I’m not alone. I actually found some comfort in that.
The story is told in the first person narrative by Cornelia, or Leah as she is known, and it spans a dual time line, simply entitled as chapter headings; ‘Now’ and ‘Then’. It is clear from the start that something terrible has happened to Cornelia, and as the novel unfolds and Leah’s present becomes ever affected by her past, events begin to slowly piece together.
I loved that whilst reading I never really knew where the author was taking me. I guessed that certain events were going to happen – but I was never sure how it would play out. I was absolutely hooked, and quite frankly I made barely any notes during reading because I was so invested in the story I didn’t even think about tearing myself away long enough to write about what I was reading. I just wanted to feel.
Being inside the mind of Cornelia is the highlight of this novel, no other narrative voice could have done justice to the raw emotion she is feeling. The author creates a sense of internalised pain and isolation that is so close, almost to the point of feeling claustrophobic. I felt what she felt, and I was with her every step of the way. She is a wonderfully flawed character, but many of those flaws are a product of her tragic experiences.
In my opinion this is a novel that should be read, if not for the fantastic plot, then just for what it teaches about the darker side of motherhood. Upon finishing the Netgalley supplied e-book, I shut down my Kindle, opened up my Amazon app and pre-ordered the hardback. It is very rare that I do this, I more often than not await the paperback if it is a book I love, but this book is special and I wanted it on my bookshelf as soon as possible.
Absolutely outstanding.

As a dad, I found this book very hard to get through, such are the themes. Leah is a very well written, complex character and the author had me guessing until the very end.

The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood. The book's description had me intrigued and I loved the cover so I was excited to start this one. It was a little slow to start but once it got going it was fantastic. It took me a little while to get used to the changing of the timelines but by the end this worked perfectly and really hit home. The story had me gripped right to the very last paragraph and if you enjoy a gripping story of love, loss, loneliness, and being pushed to the edge, this is one you will thoroughly enjoy. The writing is brilliantly raw and I'd recommend having tissues at hand while reading. It's fast paced and hard to review without giving spoilers. I will say it was different to what I expected but I'm so glad I read it.

The author note at the beginning gives you a sense of dread that never leaves, right up to the last page. Leah is a sympathetic character and the author’s skill is in making sure that her character changes imperceptibly throughout, so you notice her increasingly odd behaviour but know there is a reason behind it. The crow imagery is startling and again, nicely done so that you don’t see the significance until much later on.
An excellent study of grief and mental illness.