My rating: 4 of 5 stars
None of them would forget that week on the wild Norfolk coast. Best friends Rosie and Lisa’s families had always been inseparable. But that summer, Lisa had an affair with Rosie’s husband Nick. And now, after years of silence, she sends Rosie a letter begging for help. A letter which exposes dark secrets. Daughter Daisy’s fragile hold on reality begins to unravel. Teenage son Max blames himself for everything that happened that long hot summer. And Nick must confront his own version of events. There are four sides to this story. Who will you believe?
This is a believable and interesting story of family life in crisis, and which also explores how the mental illness of one person in the family affects not only the person herself but ripples out to the rest of the family. Having dealt with her OCD once, Daisy finds herself falling more and more in its thrall. In her warped determination to shield her mother from upset, she inadvertently provides the catalyst for everyone having to face up to what they saw during that holiday, or didn’t see, as the case may be.
Wendy Cartmell 