Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours Book Review: Living In The Shadows

Living in the Shadows

by Judith Barlow
Publication Date: July 16, 2015
Honno Press
eBook & Paperback; 320 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction/Family Saga




It's 1969 and Mary Schormann is living quietly in Wales with her ex-POW husband, Peter, and her teenage twins, Richard and Victoria. Her niece, Linda Booth, is a nurse - following in Mary's footsteps - and works in the maternity ward of her local hospital in Lancashire.

At the end of a long night shift, a bullying new father visits the maternity ward and brings back Linda's darkest nightmares, her terror of being locked in. Who is this man, and why does he scare her so?

There are secrets dating back to the war that still haunt the family, and finding out what lies at their root might be the only way Linda can escape their murderous consequences.

Sequel to the acclaimed Changing Patterns and Pattern of Shadows.

AMAZON US | AMAZON UK | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | CHAPTERS | KOBO

Review: Living in the Shadows is really part of a series, but it can be read as a stand alone novel. I felt I would have liked to have read the other two books before, but it didn't spoil the enjoyment of this book, it was more so I could have a complete story.

This story really read like a UK soap opera. I loved getting all the stories within the story and there were a lot of them at varying degrees of drama, and the drama didn't stop until the final page is read.

The story takes place at the tale end of the 60s and unlike most family saga type books that I've read, the characters here are really more "real" more "ordinary". They could be people you know, and that's really what I liked about it. And their struggles? Well those weren't quite so ordinary, in fact, most of the struggles were pretty extraordinary, especially the whole thing involving Richard and Karen's relationship.

Some of the characters are easier to like than others. Victoria was really hard to like and it was understandable when other characters reacted negatively towards her at the end of the book.

All the characters were so well rounded and their stories so complex. The book deals with so many issues, homosexuality, the hippie movement along with murder and complex family situations.  The characters will feel like family as the stories go on. The drama really comes to a head at the end, and it is almost impossible not to shed a tear or two or even a whole river at the end. (Yes, there's death)

This is a fabulous story and well worth the read and I definitely want to go back and read the other books.

Rating: 5 flowers

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Judith Barrow has lived in Pembrokeshire for thirty years. She is the author of three novels, and has published poetry and short fiction, winning several poetry competitions, as well as writing three children's books and a play performed at the Dylan Thomas Centre. Judith grew up in the Pennines, has degrees in literature and creative writing and makes regular appearances at literary festivals.

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