Jenny Gill

When I started reading this book, knowing that it was the fifth in a series, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to follow the plot. This book can easily be read as a stand-alone, though! And I would definitely recommend it as a story with a lot of heart.

It follows three generations of a small family: Joy and Michael, their daughter Rachael and her baby Kelly. Rachael, in her early twenties, is not a bad person per se... She's just irresponsible and used to getting her own way - both of which is not helped by her tendency to drink past her limits, frequently.

Her mother Joy has high hopes that having to care for a baby will force Rachael to grow up, but it soon becomes apparent that the young woman is way out of her depths. More and more of Kelly's care falls on Joy, and eventually the situation escalates. As much as they love their daughter, Joy and Michael need to put the needs of helpless Kelly first.

When she comes close to losing her daugther, it's a much needed wakeup-call for Rachael. Can she pull her life around, for her own sake and for Kelly's?

The story isn't told in chronological order, and at first I feared that it might get confusing. But I got into it quickly, and after that it was like watching a puzzle come together. Why is Rachael so spoiled? We need to go back into the past, when her mother lost one baby after another, until the arrival of a healthy child seemed like nothing less than a miracle. Why does Michael react to strongly to the flaws of his daughter? Only the memories of his charming but selfish mother can explain that.

I found the passages that were told from Rachael's view the most interesting. It would've been easy to portray her as unlikable and egotistical, but she's simply a flawed human being who does her best.

And so you, as the reader, watch it all unfold, and even though it is a story that's not without tragic and conflict, it never gets bleak and dire - because it's also not without love and hope.

...

I gave the story 4 out of 5 stars because it could do with a bit of editing here and there - nothing major, just the occasional missing word, punctuation error and the like.