Everyone knows Richard Madeley the TV presenter and long-time co-star with wife Judy Finnigan of This Morning and Richard & Judy, but I was keen to see what I'd make of Richard Madeley the novelist, when a review copy of his first foray into fiction landed on my doormat.
Some Day I'll Find You tells the almost unbelievably tragic but nevertheless all too common wartime tale of young Diana Arnold, whose dashing fighter pilot husband is summoned back to base and tragically shot down over France before she has even had time to change out of her wedding dress. It may have been a whirlwind romance but Diana is left totally bereft, not to mention pregnant with his child.
Fast forward a decade and Diana has managed to reconstruct her life, finding a new husband - the dependable but rather passionless Douglas, who has stepped into the breach as a father figure for Stella - and a new beginning in the South of France. Diana is quite content with her new life until one day, she hears an unmistakable voice and turns to see a figure that she instantly recognises getting into a taxi. What if her first love didn't die a hero's death over wartorn France and was in fact now living out his days just a stone's throw from Diana's home in Nice? Diana simply must find out, much to her eternal regret, as it appears she didn't know her first husband as well as she thought.
The plotline is well thought out, with enough twists and turns to keep the reader's interest engaged, but there were no major surprises. The first part of the book gives a fascinating insight into life (and death) during the Second World War and the different mentality of people at the time. I found the language to be slightly stilted and almost pompous at times, but I think this is more an accurate reflection of the "what what, my dear boy" style of speech at the time that a flaw in Richard Madeley's writing. The characters are a bit too one dimensional and the dramatic ending unfolds a bit too quickly for it to be really gripping and poignant, but it's an enjoyable read nevertheless.
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £7.99
- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd (4 July 2013)
- ISBN-10: 1471112632
- ISBN-13: 978-1471112638
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 3 cm
Disclosure : I received a review copy of the book.
Other reviews you may be interested in :
I clicked on this post because I'd heard Madeley had written a book, and wondered if it was any good. To be honest, I was expecting it to get a proper slating - but from the sounds of it, it seems a reasonably good read! Might even see if I can get it on my Kindle!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, I'm always instantly dubious of celebs trying to write proper fiction ! lol
Deletei think madeley wrote the review
ReplyDeleteDo you really? So you think he'd use words like "pompous" and "stilted" to talk about himself ? Fair enough then ! lol
Delete