Frank has not spoken to Maggie, his wife of forty years, in six months.
Maggie is now critically ill in hospital and Frank has little time to explain why he has been silent for so long.
I’m afraid this book was not for me. I revisited the blurb on Netgalley to clarify my inappropriate selection but the summary is actually vague enough to mislead me. Let me just stress, the problem lies with me, many will absolutely love this book.
I may be pedantic, but I like an accurate backdrop against which a story and its characters are set. Anything less confuses me, is it dumbing down, or incomplete research? The whole Intensive Care situation where the action occurs for much of this read just doesn’t cut it. This of course may be secondary for all those who love Maggie and Frank and their race against time.
On the plus side, this book is eminently readable, and did not at any stage drag, but the inconsistencies in Frank’s character distanced me. I cannot conceive of living with a partner for six months and not being able to get a word out of them (and them still tender to me) and the reveal when it came was heart-breaking but sanitised.
Sorry – not my scene, but I think this book will do well.

A tough read about parenting which deals with several difficult issues. I feel this would have made a better short story than a long form novel though.

It’s not often a book makes me cry, this book did. A really heartbreaking, well written story about marriage and being a parent. Highly recommend.

I have just finished reading this book, and I can barely see through my tears to write this review. I started crying about halfway in, and continued sobbing until the end.
This book was a tragic tale, and heart breaking to read. But people go through these tragedies in real life. My heart goes out to them.
It was obvious what was happening with their daughter, but both of them had a secret, and neither of them confided with the other.
It was a relief to find that the love Frank and Maggie had between them did not diminish, and that there was a happy ending, after all the angst.
Such an emotional read.

This is the story of a man who has not spoken to his wife for six months when she tries to take her life and ends up in a coma. He tells the story of how they met in flashbacks whilst sitting beside her hospital bed trying to explain to her what happened. The explanation came at the end and it was a bit of a let down. They had faced a tragedy together but instead of supporting each other they had retreated into their separate griefs. I did not feel that the reasons for Eleanor's behaviour was fully explored. Her voice is only heard right at the end and there is a happy ending of sorts.
Thank you to the publishers for a second chance to read this after the gliches were sorted out.

I admit I did, at first, think that this was going to be a suspense/thriller, looking at the summary. The husband hasn't talked in 6 months and the wife doesn't know why?

But after reading it, I found it deeper than just a regular suspense/ thriller. In fact, it was far from that. This was a story about the strength of love and what it can do to the people around. One of the deepest, in terms of the emotions felt, books I have read this year.

4 stars.

The premise of the book and the way the story is told makes it an easy read. The reader has the opportunity to get inside the thoughts and feelings of the main protagonists. I enjoyed how my understanding of these characters unfolded and I think the balanced way they are represented is the highlight of the novel

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It is a bittersweet story of love and missed opportunities to say things to one another. It made me smile and also reduced me to tears, it will stay with me for a long time.

I'm sure this would have been a good book if the format hadnt got into such a horrid muddle. Pages were repeated, pages were lost. It was very difficult to make sense of it, sadly.
However, thanks to Net Gslley for at least a chance to reaad this.