From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a story that asks: how do you forgive the family that lied to you, and love the mum you never had?
When her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead.
As the two women get to know each other and Victoria begins to learn more about her past, it becomes clear that her beloved grandmother had been keeping life-changing secrets from her. Desperate for answers, she still struggles to trust anyone to tell her the truth.
To live a full and happy life, Victoria knows she must not only uncover the truth, but find a way to forgive her family. But after so many years, is trusting them even possible?
What did I think?
I really don't know how Amanda Prowse writes so many amazing and completely different books in such a short space of time but I do know that you're always guaranteed a great read with one of her books. The Day She Came Back is her latest novel and it explores family relationships and the effects of withholding family secrets.
After the untimely death of her mother, Sarah, when she was a baby, Victoria has been brought up by her grandmother, Prim. When the octogenarian suddenly passes away, Victoria is left all alone in the world at only eighteen years of age. Prim was such a massive part of Victoria's life, and it sounds like the pair were as much friends as family, that Victoria is completely devastated by Prim's death. When a mysterious woman turns up at Prim's funeral claiming to be Victoria's mother, Victoria is sent into turmoil. Why did her beloved Prim lie to her all these years? If you can't trust those closest to you, who can you trust?
As Victoria deals with her grief over Prim's death and her confusion over Sarah's reappearance my heart really went out to her. Victoria makes some questionable decisions and snaps at those closest to her but I could understand every one of her actions. It felt like she was a runaway train and could go off the rails at any moment until she changed her destination to Norway, where Sarah now lives. I loved the vivid description of Norway; it sounds so beautiful and it is clearly a destination that is close to Amanda Prowse's heart.
Nobody writes from the heart like Amanda Prowse and I always prepare myself to cry at some point when reading her novels. The Day She Came Back felt a bit different from other Amanda Prowse books when Victoria's gran died so early in the story that I hadn't got to know her and I remained dry eyed. I thought I was finally immune to Amanda Prowse's superpower of making me cry until the letters appeared. Oh my word, the letters between Prim and Sarah are so heartfelt, emotional and poignant that I was completely powerless against the tears that brimmed and fell from my eyes.
An emotional and poignant story, The Day She Came Back is another outstanding novel from Amanda Prowse. Have your tissues at the ready, there'll not be a dry eye in the house when you read The Day She Came Back.
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating:
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About the author:
Amanda Prowse is one of the UK’s most prolific and loved storytellers with global sales of 8 million copies and legions of loyal readers. Based in the West Country, Amanda is the author of 25 novels and 7 novellas with books sold in 22 countries and translated into 12 languages– no mean feat when you consider her first novel was only published in 2012!
A passionate reader since her first visit to the local library aged 6, Amanda would read everything and anything and Рarmed with her precious library ticket Рwould spend hours reading loved Enid Blyton, Anna Sewell, Judi Blume, Nina Bawden while scribbling short stories of her own. As time passed, she moved onto the more risqu̩ delights of Lace, The Thorn Birds and A Woman of Substance; gritty, emotional stories that would inform her writing.
A powerful storyteller and a master of the addictive plot, Amanda’s rich imagination and prolific writing talent has seen her write over 20 bestsellers with millions of copies sold across the world. She often writes for 15 hours a day and sees her plots like movies in her mind that she’s compelled to get down on paper. These heartfelt human stories have made her one of the most successful female writers of contemporary fiction today and she has become a regular interviewee on TV and radio as well as a successful journalistic writer.
Amanda’s ambition has always been to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night; great characters that stay with you and stories that inhabit your mind so you can’t possibly read another book until the memory fades. She is also a passionate supporter of military charities and those that support women’s causes and holds regular ‘Evenings with Amanda’ events as fundraisers for her chosen charities.
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