Annie has a secret. But if she's not going to tell, we won't either. It's a heart-breaking secret she wishes she didn't have - yet Annie isn't broken, not quite yet. Especially now there's someone out there who seems determined to fix her.
Kate has run away. But she's not going to tell us why - that would defeat the point of running, wouldn't it? It's proving difficult to reinvent herself, however, with one person always on her mind.
Scratch beneath the surface and nobody is really who they seem. Even Annie and Kate, two old friends, aren't entirely sure who they are any more.
Perhaps you can work it out, before their pasts catch up with them for good...
A gripping and unpredictable story of two young women running from their pasts.
We defy you to guess
The Day We Disappeared by Lucy Robinson is published by Penguin in paperback and ebook on 9 April 2015.
Where to start? Where on earth to start? It's not often that I am left speechless, but oh my goodness, words totally failed me when I came to the end of this extremely clever and quite captivating story. Lucy Robinson is one hell of a talent, she's created some characters, made a plot and then smashed the reader straight in the face with a great big unexpected twist.
I started reading The Day We Disappeared with no preconceptions at all, I vaguely thought that it would be a kind of romantic comedy, and the early chapters seemed to prove that. There's certainly a lot of humour in Robinson's writing, and romance features quite heavily.
I can't say much about the story, it's one of those books that would be so easy to spoil in a review, and I'm damned if I'm going to spoil this one for anyone. Let's say that it's a story of secrets, of friends, of family and of running away. Both Kate and Annie are well-formed characters with their own problems, their own demons, things that have shaped them. Lucy Robinson doesn't disclose these secrets easily, so I'm certainly not going to either.
Take two scarred and vulnerable women. Hide them away from their family, their friends, and from themselves really. Create two new worlds for them - an eventing yard and a city business, populate both of these with charismatic characters and then add some darkness to the plot. Deal with some pretty scary and very serious issues, and deal with them sensitively and compassionately, but keep the humour going too.
That is exactly what you've got from The Day We Disappeared, and I loved it. It's one of those books that stay there, in the corner of your mind, niggling away, making you think and wonder, and yes, making you feel a little bit uneasy.
This really is perfect storytelling, warm and funny, and mysterious and downright terrifying in places.
My thanks to Francesca at Penguin who sent my copy for review.
Lucy worked in theatre and then television documentaries before starting a blog for Marie Claire about her laughably unsuccessful foray into the world of online dating. She did not meet a man during this time but she did become a novelist; every cloud has a silver lining.
She now lives in Bristol with her partner.
For more information about Lucy Robinson and her writing, visit her website www.lucy-robinson.co.uk
Find her on Facebook Follow her on Twitter @Lucy_Robinson
I like the sound of this one. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteSounds great - another for the to-be-read list!
ReplyDelete