Saturday 21 November 2015

The Lost and Found Life of Rosy Bennett

When it rains it pours, which is exactly what it must seem like to Rosy Bennett after the sudden and unexpected death of her husband Simon.

One secret after the other, and there seems to be no end to the betrayal. The quiet married father of two seems to have been leading quite the double life.

Suddenly Rosy finds herself in debt, in danger of losing her family home and the owner of a herd of alpacas. Yes, a bunch of four-legged furry exotic animals. Not really the kind of secret you expect your husband to be hiding.

Personally I found the behaviour and language of James quite extreme. Grief and anger aside I felt Rosy ignored his disrespectful attitude towards herself and others. Also the fact that what was good for the goose apparently wasn't good enough for the gander, who had far more problems than Megan.

Taking one to the therapist and not 'making' the older child go was a contradiction in itself. The language and phrases he used is something I might expect of an older teen going through hormonal changes and an attitude problem, but not an 11-year-old boy.

Rosy not only has to rediscover her sense of self, as a woman and as a parent, she also needs a new source of income. No longer the married woman in a long-term partnership she is now free, single and ready to mingle. Not as easy as it sounds with two emotionally distraught boys and her four-legged woolly friends needing constant attention.

Birley has created a nice wee story here, perhaps the basics of the story aren't unusual, but the family dynamics and interactions are ones readers can relate to. It could happen to anyone of us.

Whilst I myself I am not bothered by swearing at all, I do think Birley needs to take into consideration that some readers may be put off by fuck here, fuck that and shag everywhere.
Romance and heartbreak readers often like their drama to be a nice and cuddly read with the occasional tear. Of course it is probably only a small minority of readers.

Thank you to the author for my copy of The Lost and Found Life of Rosy Bennett.
Follow @Jan_birley on Twitter, visit janbirley.co.uk to find out more about her or follow her on Goodreads. Buy The Lost and Found Life of Rosy Bennett at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

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