It’s been 192 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes since her last drink. Now Astrid is trying to turn her life around.
Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and painful memories of her life before, Astrid is focusing on her recovery. She's going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she's wronged.
But someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won't stop until she learns that some mistakes can't be corrected.
Who Did You Tell by Lesley Kara is published in hardback by Transworld on 9 January 2020. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour
Lesley Kara's debut novel, The Rumour was one of my favourite books of last year, and was a huge success. I've been looking forward to reading her next book for months and she proved with Who Did You Tell that she's no one-trick pony! This is another suspenseful, twisty story that had me gripped from page one.
Thirty-two-year-old Astrid has moved in with her mother in the small seaside town of Flintstead. Astrid is a recovering alcoholic, attending regular AA meetings and struggling to overcome her inner demons. Her mother has endured Astrid's problems for over half of her life and whilst she is supportive, she is also stern and quite suspicious.
There's a really dark and sinister undertone to this story. The author's description of Astrid's longing for alcohol, and how every single day seems like a mountainous climb is incredibly well done. I was so impressed by the details incorporated into the story, it really is quite magnificently done.
Astrid is haunted by her previous relationship. Her boyfriend Simon was also an alcoholic and it's clear that their relationship was difficult and quite poisonous. It's also clear that something terrible happened to Simon and at first, the reader is not quite sure just how much input Astrid had into that. What is clear though is how paranoid Astrid feels; she smell Simon's aftershave, she glimpses him in town, or on the beach. She even sees one of his t-shirts for sale in the local charity shop ... or does she?
This is a chilling and quite complex read, but will keep the reader on their toes throughout. The author has created a superb cast of characters to support Astrid and there's even a little romantic interlude thrown to soften the read.
Very enjoyable and intelligently written; Who Did You Tell is another fabulous read from this very talented author. Highly recommended.
Lesley Kara is an alumna of the Faber Academy 'Writing a Novel' course. She lives on the North Essex coast. She is the author of The Rumour, a Sunday Times Top 10 and Kindle No. 1 bestseller. Her second novel, Who Did You Tell?, is published in January 2020
Twitter @LesleyKara
Website : www.lesleykara.com
Author Page on Facebook
Instagram @lesleykarawriter
Author photo credit: Christian Davies Photography.
Author photo credit: Christian Davies Photography.
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