She watched Alex’s eyes widen as he went to shake Julia’s hand. He took a tiny sharp breath and swayed slightly, then he quickly put his free hand on the back of his chair to steady himself, whilst the other one, although still held out, dropped like a flower in sudden wilt.
‘Nice to meet you…Julia?’ he said, in a broken, tremulous voice unlike anything Chloe had heard come from him before.
When Chloe and her husband Alex are invited to dinner with her workmate Mark, Chloe doesn’t expect the evening to change their lives. But when she introduces Alex to Mark’s date, Julia, it is instantly apparent that something is wrong.
In the days that follow, Chloe’s world seems to be falling apart as she comes to learn that there are things she doesn’t know about Alex’s past. For Alex, the chance meeting with Julia forces him to confront the events of ten years previous, and to help Julia do the same – even though he must risk his marriage to do so.
Come Back to Me is a wonderful debut novel. The stories of the four main characters are interwoven, with the reader taken on a journey through their past lives and the present, with revelations continuing right till the end. Set primarily in London, but with key scenes playing out in Western Australia, the story brings together settings from the author’s life – born and raised in England, she has recently settled in Australia.
There is nothing not to like about this story – intriguing characters, plot twists, action and beautiful writing combine to produce a satisfying package.
Come Back to Me, by Sara Foster
Bantam, 2010
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