52 Books Challenge #7

This week has not been the best of them! Three days off for Chinese New Year was an excellent boon to the week but the lagging recovery from the last illness and they sudden swooping arrival of a new and nasty one meant that the week was rather turned on its head.

What this did mean however, was that the purchasing of sympathy books (when one buys books to make themselves feel better) is totally applicable and utterly guilt free. It is one of my sympathy purchases that is this weeks book: Fixing Shadows by Susan Barrett.

I spotted the spine of this book on a bookshelf and being a sucker for a decorative cover I had a peek. The cover indicates a vast cast, which this book has, but I barely warmed to anyone. By the end of the book, though still not enamoured of any of the main players, I could very much appreciate and enjoy the delicate weaving of the story and the interesting way in which it was told.

Two baby boy are born on the same night to a Duchess and her governess; one dies and the other does not. What follows is how their lives played out in the aftermath of that fateful night and what effect it had on the child who lived!

It took a while to trudge through the first few chapters and get used to the style and the absence of connection but it was well worth the effort and an excellent sympathy purchase indeed.