Love After Love by Alex Hourston @alex_hourston @FaberBooks #LoveAfterLove #Win #Giveaway

Nancy Jansen is the beating heart of her family.
She is the centre around whom many lives turn.
Mother
Therapist
Daughter
Sister
Wife
But Nancy has a new role:
Lover
Everybody can be happy, Nancy believes, so long as they can be kept apart.
But when these lives start to overlap, collision becomes inevitable, with consequences for all...

Love After Love by Alex Hourston is published by Faber in hardback on 1st March 2018 and is the author's second novel. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

Love After Love is not a long book, it's under 350 pages, and each one is made up of the most beautifully created prose; sharp and to the point. Screaming with sophistication, this is a book that gripped me from page one and whose characters linger in my head, long after I closed the book for the last time.

Nancy Jansen is an intriguing, complicated character. At times she is difficult to like, she's often difficult to understand, but she's the pivot of this story. Nancy's family revolve around her, her colleagues revolve around her, as do her clients. She has an incredible draw, she's able to understand and to try to heal, yet it is her own life that gradually begins to uncurl - slowly, but surely, Nancy's grip on life gets looser and looser.

Alex Hourston uses words so sparingly, there is no padding, no flowery description. Each startling sentence is immaculately placed. Her observations on life, and people are skilfully drawn, unpredictable, unsettling and so very powerful.

Love After Love is a story of just that; the love that can be found despite the love that one already has. Nancy's choices have far reaching consequences, not least for herself. Whilst the reader may find Nancy difficult to empathise with, her final decisions show that she knows that security does not always mean happiness. I was surprised by the conclusion of Love After Love, but the more I think about it, the more satisfying I find it.

I have one hardback copy of Love After Love by Alex Hourston to give away. Entry is simple; just fill out the competition widget below. The competition will stay open for 7 days. UK ENTRIES ONLY.





Love After Love Giveaway



After fifteen years writing strategy for advertising agencies, Alex took a break to go back to university and her first love, books. She completed a Masters in English and started a PhD, but put it aside when the idea for this novel surfaced.

Alex lives outside Brighton with her family.          

Follow her on Twitter @alex_hourston