Holly & Tom move to a rural English village to begin their new life together. Holly's unhappy childhood haunts her, but with Tom's family background she believes she can move on with her life. Her job as a sculpter allows her to spend time getting to know her new environment and make friends with a past occupant of her house. Tom is a journalist whose job takes him away from Holly for long periods of time, leaving her to make the biggest decision of her life without him.
Holly discovers a moondial half buried at the bottom of her garden which takes her into a future where Tom and their beautiful baby daughter live, but where she is absent. Holly has a choice to make - does she save herself, or the life of the baby she has already fallen in love with.
This novel is the debut from the author and is inspired by her own personal torment when her son died prematurely. It is written with great feeling and emotion from the author, that left me feeling very sad in places for all the characters, as it is not just Holly who has demons to battle with. This book does not have a happy ending, nor a conclusive one. It is a sad ending, but satisfying to the reader.
The thing that sets it apart from so many other books in the "tragedy/drama" genre is the use of the moondial. The supernatural element describes the future/and the past excellently and works well in this context.
This book is featured as one of the eight books selected in Richard and Judy's Spring Book Club 2012. I enjoy looking at the books featured in this list as it rarely disappoints. The choices they make encourage me to try authors and books I would not normally read, and this book falls into this category. I usually prefer my books to be less emotional, however I'm pleased to say I was glad I didn't judge this book by its cover as it was well worth the read.
The whsmith edition features bonus material which includes notes from the author and a Q&A with the author and Richard and Judy
I was sent a copy of this book to review by WHsmith
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