Book Stop Corner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies.”

                                                       ----Dorothy Allison an American writer, speaker, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers

Emma Burstall, the English author's, latest book, The Darling Girls explores the lives of three women held together by a common relationship- a man shared by all three.

Synopsis:
Three women, one man, and a tangle of lies.

When the world famous music conductor Leo Bruck dies suddenly, the three women who loved him meet for the first time at his graveside.

Victoria, his partner of twenty years and mother of two of his children; Maddy, mother of Leo’s daughter Phoebe; and twenty-four year old Cat. Can these three very different women, whose lives become inextricably bound, break free from the masterful control Leo exerts - even from the grave - once and for all?


Cat, Victoria and Maddy shared the same man in their lives- two was Leo's mistress and one was Leo's unmarried partner and what was common between them- Leo used to address them all as his "Darling Girls", but on the day of Leo's funeral, their perfectly loving worlds collide, crash and shatter forever, thus leaving them heart-broken for the rest of their lives, when they realize that they were all his "darling girls- instead of the one darling girl!" Hatred, rage and jealously were their first reaction towards each other, but when more of Leo's lies started to formulate in their lives, they gradually started to trust each other, hence Leo's lies might have ruined their love and trust towards Leo, but his lies brought together three very different women and ultimately friendship.

This is Burstall's third novel and in this novel, the author crafted a story about infidelity and how it ruins someone's life. And we see the story from the eyes of the victims to infidelity by the world famous music conductor, Leo. How he used them because of his own personal needs and in that way forgetting that he was actually hurting them, instead of making them happy. I loved the first chapter how compassionately the author brought together the three women of Leo's lives together on the day of his funeral, my heart ached for them at that moment! I loved Burstall's writing style, from the first page, I felt myself absorbing deeply into her story. Moreover, the friendship that the author featured in this story between three different women is absolutely lovely and sweet and something to cherish for.

What I couldn't come to terms with the story was the plot- as I was reading, I felt something was going to happen- something major especially about Leo, but unfortunately the plot felt very monotonous in the mid-way, in fact the prologue sounds really intriguing, but while reading the book, I never felt that the prologue was anyway justified in the story. Moreover, I can't picture or draw Leo's demeanor very well on to my mind, since the author's sketchy and hazy picture of Leo left me feeling that I never got to know about Leo or about his valid and strong reasons behind his infidelity and lies.

The characterization is absolutely fantastic, except Leo. The three women are equally striking and fragile at the same time and their children are something to look out for in their book, especially Victoria's teenager son, Ralph, and the way the author portrayed his pain due to his father's death is brilliant. The ups and downs in Ralph's life is very believable and the author featured them with enough love and compassion. The characters had their own flaws and those flaws made them perfect in a reader's eyes. The pain that they undergo after Leo's death is something really beautifully, heart-breaking and deeply moving.

The author's prose is crisp and clear and with such a free-flowing narrative style, I felt myself drawn to the very core of the story. The background that the author painted in the canvas of her story is very vivid and mesmerizing, and at times, I felt myself transported to those amazing locations across United Kingdom.

Verdict: A really engaging book about love, loss and friendships to cherish forever!

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Emma Burstall, for giving me the opportunity to read and review her book.
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Author Info:
Emma is the author of three novels - Gym and Slimline, Never Close Your Eyes and The Darling Girls, which was in the Kindle and The Bookseller's e-book Top Ten.
She read English at Cambridge University and began her career as a cub reporter on the Western Morning News in Plymouth, later becoming features editor of Woman and Family Circle.
She has also written extensively for national newspapers and women’s magazines including the Guardian, Independent on Sunday, Red, Good Housekeeping and Woman & Home.
She gets by in French and Spanish and works out – occasionally – at her local gym. After walking her youngest to school, you might also spot her jogging in Richmond Park with some friends. Slowly.
Emma lives in South West London with her husband, the political commentator Kevin Maguire. They have three children aged 26, 21 and 11.
She’s currently working on her fourth novel.
Visit her here

Book Purchase Links:

• Amazon US 
• Amazon India 
  

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