Smother (Diva Books)

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely brilliant- read it and weep!
Review: Excellent! I couldn't put it down!
It is a great book. Poetic, humorous, dramatic, heartbreaking, beautifully written and structured, it absolutely involved the reader.
The characters and dialogue sparkle with life. The plot is an emotional rollercoaster of laughs and tears, and its twists and turns will keep you on the edge of your seat.
It's the story of Mary and Tanya,the dynamics of their relationships, how their past has affected them,interwoven with memories of mothers...
It's both lyrically and wittily told, charming and chilling at the same time.
Buy this for everyone you know - it has echoes for us all.

Rating:
Summary: The Best At Describing the Worst...
Review: It takes a real talent to take such a painful subject as this and turn it into a masterpiece of a novel.

I won't give too much away regarding the plot.

But. It had me laughing out loud and also wondering HOW a stand-up commedienne had managed to find this entire book in her mind?

Beautifully crafted. Unforgetable. And, if you've had anything other than a mildly disfunctional childhood, I would send a small Public Health Warning along with this.

I will read anything else this woman publishes.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This is Linda Innes' first novel - and, without doubt, it heralds the debut of a major new writing talent.
This is a powerful story of two women; a dark comedy about the pains and pleasures of an ongoing love affair and the effect that each of their mothers has had on their lives and on that relationship. A common enough theme perhaps, but in Innes' hands Mary and Tanya almost walk off the pages... into your own mind, like people you know, people that matter to you personally.
Alternating the two voices, chapter by chapter, a story riven by conflict develops, with the shadows of the two mothers ever looming over them, and with friendship and illicit affairs on the side adding an extra depth.
Linda Innes has tackled a difficult subject with a rare eye for detail and considerable flair. And, as a result, she gives us a remarkable insight into the generational behaviour that affects us all to greater and lesser extents. What we do to each other and, perhaps, why we do it.
It is a simply brilliant novel and a privilege - as well as a joy - to read.