Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Buried Treasure: is not always what it seems by Gilli Allan.
Gilli Allan began to write in childhood - a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home, and real life supplanted the fiction.
After a few false starts she worked longest and most happily as a commercial artist, and only began writing again when she became a mother.
Living in Gloucestershire with her husband Geoff, Gilli is still a keen artist. She draws and paints and has now moved into book illustration.
Currently published by Accent Press, each of her books, TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL has won a ‘Chill with a Book’ award.
Following in the family tradition, her son, historian Thomas Williams, is also a writer. His most recent work, published by William Collins, is ‘Viking Britain’.
Follow @gilliallan on Twitter, at Amazon, at Accent Press, on Facebook, on Goodreads, at RNA,
Visit gilliallan.blogspot.com
About the book
Their backgrounds could hardly be further apart, their expectations in life more different. And there is nothing in the first meeting between the conference planner and the university lecturer which suggests they should expect or even want to connect again. But they have more in common than they could ever have imagined. Both have unresolved issues from the past which have marked them; both have an archaeological puzzle they want to solve. Their stories intertwine and they discover together that treasure isn’t always what it seems.
In a way this is about two different kinds of buried treasure, which is also an element of the story that connects the two main characters. Jane is fascinated with the treasure her uncle found many years ago and was confiscated in its entirety barring one piece. Theo on the other hand is looking for treasure of the archaeological kind. The proof or evidence of the existence of an ancient civilisation close to his university campus.
Two different types of treasures, priceless and of equal importance. Two completely different people, who find it difficult to find commonalities and thrive on the differences. In fact they use the differences to keep walls up between the two of them.
I think it's fair to say that the way Jane lives her life and makes all of her decisions is influenced by her relationship with her sister. More so by the fact she feels like second best and never quite good enough, because that's the way her sibling likes her to feel. It probably explains a lot of her interactions with Theo.
I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters. It wasn't the writing per se, but rather the way nothing appeared to connect, flow or intersect in any way in the beginning. A little bit of literary smugness in outsmarting the reader. I haven't read anything by Allan before, so it could just be her specific style of writing and storytelling. Then again maybe I should just come back to it again at a later date in time.
It's a contemporary romance, a mystery bound in historical fiction. Two people who share more than they think, despite them seeming worlds apart on the surface.
Buy Buried Treasure: is not always what it seems at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com.
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