Book Description:
From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a story that asks: how do you forgive the family that lied to you, and love the mum you never had?
When her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead.
As the two women get to know each other and Victoria begins to learn more about her past, it becomes clear that her beloved grandmother had been keeping life-changing secrets from her. Desperate for answers, she still struggles to trust anyone to tell her the truth.
To live a full and happy life, Victoria knows she must not only uncover the truth, but find a way to forgive her family. But after so many years, is trusting them even possible?
My Thoughts:
Amanda Prowse is an author whose writing gently draws you in and holds you within the story. I loved the ease of how I settled right in from the first few pages alone. Even only just meeting Victoria and her grandmother Prim, they felt like I had known them for years.
The setting was so idyllic with the beautiful family home, Rosebank, definitely capturing my imagination. For Victoria to find herself the owner at the young age of eighteen, is a huge responsibility, especially when dealing with grief. Again, this is an author who writes from the heart. The utter devastation and anxiety of losing a loved one, leapt from the pages and I felt every emotion that Victoria was going through.
Something that really stood out to me was the friendship between Victoria and her best friend Daksha. They have been friends for forever and you could feel their closeness. The reason why their relationship stood out to me is that Daksha at times shows the true meaning of friendship. Telling your best friend things they don’t want to hear is never easy but that’s what a true friend will do. Seeing this pair going through some ups and downs as Victoria tries to deal with her grief as well as get her head around an enormous lie, was both captivating and emotional.
This is a story that will have you questioning if you would do things differently. Who knows what we would do in the same position. I can’t say I totally agreed with Prim and Victoria’s mother with how they handled things but I could understand why. The relationship between a mother and daughter is not always an easy one so you can’t help admiring both these women. I also greatly admired Victoria for how she handles things. She doesn’t always make the best choices but the way she deals with the outcome shows what a wonderful young lady she is.
The Day She Came Back grabbed hold of me and kept me there until I turned the last page. I was captivated by these very different women and the dynamics of their relationships. As I have mentioned before, Amanda writes from the heart and as with all her books, this was another compelling and emotive read. Another winner for me.
My thanks to the author and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
Amanda Prowse is one of the UK’s most prolific and loved storytellers with global sales of 8 million copies and legions of loyal readers. Based in the West Country, Amanda is the author of 25 novels and 7 novellas with books sold in 22 countries and translated into 12 languages– no mean feat when you consider her first novel was only published in 2012!
A passionate reader since her first visit to the local library aged 6, Amanda would read everything and anything and – armed with her precious library ticket – would spend hours reading loved Enid Blyton, Anna Sewell, Judi Blume, Nina Bawden while scribbling short stories of her own. As time passed, she moved onto the more risqué delights of Lace, The Thorn Birds and A Woman of Substance; gritty, emotional stories that would inform her writing.
A powerful storyteller and a master of the addictive plot, Amanda’s rich imagination and prolific writing talent has seen her write over 20 bestsellers with millions of copies sold across the world. She often writes for 15 hours a day and sees her plots like movies in her mind that she’s compelled to get down on paper. These heartfelt human stories have made her one of the most successful female writers of contemporary fiction today and she has become a regular interviewee on TV and radio as well as a successful journalistic writer.
Amanda’s ambition has always been to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night; great characters that stay with you and stories that inhabit your mind so you can’t possibly read another book until the memory fades. She is also a passionate supporter of military charities and those that support women’s causes and holds regular ‘Evenings with Amanda’ events as fundraisers for her chosen charities.
Twitter – @MrsAmandaProwse
bytheletterbookreviews 
I just know I will enjoy reading this one, thanks for the heads up, Sarah!
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