Book Review : With All My Love by Patricia Scanlan

With All My Love by Patricia Scanlan

Published by : Simon & Schuster UK (28 Feb 2013)

Sent by the publisher for review, thank you!
 
The blurb:
On a crystal clear Mediterranean day, Briony McAllister sits playing with her four-year-old daughter, Katie, while she waits for her mother, Valerie, to join them. Valerie has recently moved to a picturesque town in southern Spain to finally leave behind her turbulent past and find a peace that has always eluded her. Briony has no idea that in a few moments' time her relationship with her mother will change irrevocably.

As Katie plays, Briony pulls from her bag an old photo album, found in a box in her mother's new home. As she begins to study the faded photos, a letter falls to the ground. It is addressed to her. My Darling Briony, it begins. As Briony reads the words with mounting shock, realisation dawns. Her mother lied to her about what happened with her beloved grandmother Tessa all those years ago - and denied Briony that most precious of relationships, the type of relationship Valerie now enjoys with Katie.

The lives of three generations of women are set to change forever as the past is revisited and the truth unfolds through the undelivered letters Tessa wrote to Briony over the years. Secrets, lies, betrayals and sacrifices - the complex bonds between mothers, daughters and granddaughters are intricately explored as Patricia Scanlan takes us into the hearts and homes of a family at war.

With All My Love has to be my first Patricia Scanlan novel, as her books are targeted for older, more matured readers. I, for one, would never have thought I'd enjoy a novel by her or even Dorothy Koomson. This genre is much deeper, with more depth compared to the chick lit I usually enjoy - Sophie Kinsella, Lindsey Kelk.

What I thought about it:
The story focuses on three different lives of women, Tessa, mother to Valerie's husband Jeff and Briony's grandmother, Valerie, loud and boisterous but with a big heart and her daughter, Briony who had no idea why whatsoever contact with her paternal grandparents had been cut off. At first, it was such a maze for me. I admit, I was blindly following the story, as it was like jumbled up pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Slowly, as the story progressed, I started to enjoy it as more and more of the story started to make sense.

With All My Love for me, was heartbreaking and utterly compelling. One minute, life is good and everyone's jolly but the flip of a page, you'll find yourself welling up for the characters. Normally, I wouldn't cry reading a book, but this is an exception. Beware: this is a tearjerker, have a box of Kleenex by your side and a warm cuppa before you start reading.

Particularly, I really enjoyed reading about how Valerie and Jeff fell in love, it was like a really lovely 80's love scenario where in order to win a girl's heart, all you had to was take her to her favourite band's concert. The other strong element in the book was how a father could defend this daughter, to save her from the predicament she's in, or just be her hero. Valerie's father, Terence might be rough around the edges and moody at times, but underneath, he has his daughter's best interest at heart. 

Patricia Scanlan is undoubtedly a very experienced author. She writes with such flair, that your conscience would escape into the novel and reality seems so far away. I have to hand it to her, it was beautifully written, as readers could understand how every character is dealing with their predicaments throughout the book as it is written from a third person's point of view. The book deals with parental love, the overpowering love a parent has for their child and also the bonds of families.

Well, the only thing I didn't like in the book was Tessa. She could have been the book's antagonist but after all, she's a mother and she did what she thought she had to in order to protect her son. Some parts I just wished Tessa would just collapse and die, but that's very bad negativity coming from a reader. So I shall just deduce it as the portrayal of an overprotective mother.

Verdict:

Anyhow, it's a roller coaster of a book to immerse yourself into. I was lost into the book and enjoyed it. I have never read any by Patricia but after With All My Love, I would try her previous novels. My mum has read it and she polished it off in two days. She loved it.

The perfect Mother's Day present for women of all ages. Compelling, heartwarming tale of women in society and families. Some part could make you sob like a child and some could lift your heart and I loved the reconciliation at the end! Very well written and it just shows what a brilliant women's fiction author Patricia is.

Rating : 4/5

KIERA KNIGHTLEY as Briony McAllister

PATRICIA CLARKSON as Tessa Egan

RACHEL WEISZ as Valerie Harris