Last month, I reviewed A Friend In Deed by G.D. Harper, which is the second book in a three-part series, but which works perfectly well as a stand-alone novel. The author kindly offered to send me a copy of the first book, Love's Long Road, so I've recently been catching up on what went before.
While the second novel - A Friend In Deed - is set in the near future, Love's Long Road takes place in the 1970's, mainly in Scotland and partly in London. The key character in this novel, Bobbie Sinclair, pops up in the second episode, and the main character in the second part, Duncan Jones, is Bobbie's friend in this opening tome. The two novels are very different though and Duncan has evolved a lot.
The story opens with young Bobbie at her boyfriend's funeral, following his suicide after she broke things off with him. Bobby blames herself and her way of dealing with things is to throw herself into a string of meaningless sex encounters. This is the 1970's after all ! She soon crosses paths with the charismatic Michael Mitchell and embarks on a relationship with him. She gets some fun, a job, a few doors opened ... then the shock of her life when she realises that he is a gangster and she is in way too deep. Her dreams of being an actress are thrown away as she runs away and starts a new life, desperate to keep him and everything he stands for at bay.
Bobbie is basically a decent human being with a good heart, but many of her life choices had me rolling my eyes at her. Whether in terms of sex, drugs or other rock 'n' roll style choices, we do have to remember, though, that the novel is set in the 1970's, a time when women, in particular, were getting lots more opportunities both in the workplace and also for having fun. The novel shows the tragic and far-reaching negative consequences that can spiral out of a few dodgy decisions, but Bobbie eventually sets out to make things right.
I loved the 1970's backdrop and found that Bobbie was an interesting character to follow. I'm looking forward to the third part now, which will presumably feature Michael and his crime lord lifestyle.
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £9.99
- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Matador; UK ed. edition (28 April 2016)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1785890948
- ISBN-13: 978-1785890949
Disclosure : I received a review copy of the book.
The premises of the book sound interesting, and Bobbie appears to be a complex character on a path of self-destruction,
ReplyDelete