Louise Candlish is one of my favourite authors. There's always a twist, a frisson, an aspect mystery and trill.

But not on this occasion. The Day You Saved My Life was pure chick-lit. Nothing deep, no complexity. A very basic premise involving two single mothers who'd made bad choices/been treated badly and their children.

A cheated sibling/scorned wife delivered some conflict but there was really no excitement here. Nothing to challenge the reader, keep me turning the pages.

This was an early book by Ms Candlish and happily she has proceeded to develop a gripping, page-turning style and so I will still anticipate the next book she releases. Actually, the next books.

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I found this book almost unputdownable, both when I first read it, and again ten years later. It begins with drama: Joanna, her seriously depressed daughter Holly, and Holly's toddler son Mikey are in Paris for a few days, taking a trip down the Seine on a pleasure boat. We're told in the first sentence of Chapter One that a terrible accident is going to take place, and it's not hard to guess what will happen.

Also on the cruise are James and Alexa, a young couple about to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. James has been rather distant, and Alexa has planned this trip in the hope of revitalising what they once had together. She thinks that maybe he's starting to relax, if nothing else, when he leaps into the fray in the wake of the accident, and is hailed a hero.

This is the catalyst for dramatic change for several people, and the book follows the next few months of their lives. Cleverly written, with three-dimensional characters and plenty of unexpected twists and turns in the story. Thought-provoking and powerful.

Latest longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-day-you-saved-my-life-by-louise... ( )