Publisher: 29th October 2020 by Harlequin Australia
Pages: 400 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: women’s fiction, contemporary
My Rating: 4.5 cups
Synopsis:
They say a change is as good as a holiday...but what if you don't want either?
Is her family's happiness more important than her own?
The first time Ashling Wood realises her marriage is on the rocks is when her husband, Adrian, suggests they try nest parenting. Heartbroken, Ash suddenly finds herself living a double life - one week with her children, the next cohabiting with her happily single sister-in-law. Her friends think the modern custody solution is an exciting opportunity for her to spread her wings, but all Ash wants is her family back together.
An offer to renovate a seaside cottage seems like the perfect distraction for Ash while waiting for Adrian to come to his senses. She's determined to fix her marriage as well as the cottage, but life gets even more complicated when she meets local fisherman Dan Emerson.
Soon, each home-stay becomes more dysfunctional, while for the other week Ash enjoys the peaceful life of the beachside community. The more time Ash spends in Ragged Point, the more she questions what she really wants. Is a sea-change the fresh start she needs to move on?
When tragedy calls Ash back to the city, she's torn between the needs of her family and her future. Can her family life fit in with a permanent move to the beach or could Ash's new-found independence attract Adrian back to the nest?
My Thoughts
‘Despite what she said, I knew she thought I’d be an idiot to do any such thing, but I couldn’t just throw away over two decades of my life because my husband lost the plot for a while, could I? After all, we were only human. Everyone made mistakes.’
Aussie author Rachael Johns has gifted her followers with another ripper read! The stories Rachael writes are like catching up with friends for coffee and sharing all the news. On this occasion, sadly a marriage is under strain, yet the twist here is one of ‘nest parenting’. I have read another book that brokered this concept so I was keen to see Rachael’s take on it.
This tale is from the wife’s, Ashling’s, point of view and she is completely blindsided by her husband's nesting proposal. Dealing with the fallout of this news (and hoping to patch her marriage back together with as little impact upon her two children) Ash takes the opportunity to renovate a friend's seaside shack on her alternate week away from the family home in a desperate attempt to lose herself from the chaos reigning down. Rachael delves deeper still as she weaves a number of subplots throughout her story. Apart from the impact of divorce on both the couple and their children, she takes it that step further and allows the lead character to realise what this situation may present for her as a life lesson. I also appreciated her dabble into the gaming culture rampant among adolescents and the fallout of addictions. And then there is the cast of secondary characters who bring so many layers to this highly engaging tale.
I love the taste of Australia that is given through the fictional town of Ragged Point - from the beachscape, to living in small communities, to even the onset of a cyclone. At its heart, however, this story is looking at people and how they cope when life dishes out those unexpected hurdles -when someone’s seemingly ordinary day to day life is plunged into chaos. This is where Rachael is at her best - detailing the way people, much like you and me, deal with issues - and she does it in a most relatable and believable fashion.
Overall Rachael has written a very appealing book with an epilogue that will answer everyone’s wonderings about the future. Although this is a book about a marriage that may have outlasted its use by date, at its heart it offers much more than that. Yes, a loss such as that will affect people in different ways, however, it's about discovery and second chances and learning to find yourself and be true to that.
‘Life?’ It was my turn to laugh. ‘I don’t have a life without Adrian and the kids. I don’t even know who I am without them.’ ‘Then maybe it’s time you find out.’
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