Book review : She Chose Me - Tracey Emerson

I've just spent a few days reading Tracey Emerson's début novel, She Chose Me, and I can't decide whether I'm disappointed to have finished it or relieved to know that I might actually get my bedtime back to normal now !

The novel relates the story of Grace, a middle-aged woman who has come back to London after twenty years abroad, so that she can look after her dying mother's affairs. Working in a language school, she has put her mum in a nursing home and is in the process of clearing out her house. Times are tough and she could do with a friend to help her through her dark times.

In alternate chapters, we also get to know Cassie, who was adopted when she was younger and is out to find out more about her real mother. She has recently lost her adopted mother and, we learn, is followed by a psychiatrist. Determined that Grace is her mother, she ends up getting a job in the nursing home and takes on a new identity, as a down-graded, less well-off and less intelligent version of herself.

The two women strike up a friendship, but when Grace starts receiving Mother's Day cards and gifts in the post, things get complicated. You'll have to read the book to find out how it all works out !

It's a tense read, that is very believable, especially as many of the chapters look over the same events, seen through different eyes. I felt sorry for both of the women and did hope that they would manage to build bridges and (re)construct a relationship, despite getting off to a dodgy start.

It's an easy-read that sucks you in and won't let you back out, as you race towards the final reveal.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £8.99 (Paperback) £4.99 (Ebook)

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Legend Press (15 Oct. 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781787198739
• ISBN-13: 978-1787198739
• ASIN: 1787198731
• Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 19.8 cm

Check out the She Chose Me blog tour ...

Disclosure : I received a review copy of the book, in order to share my honest opinion.