It's great to welcome you to my stop on the Blog Tour for Ours is the Winter by Laurie Ellingham. There's also a chance to win a copy of Laurie's previous book, One Endless Summer in an International Giveaway. Details on how to enter are at the end of this post.
Journeying across the Arctic, their pasts are about to catch
up with them.
Erica, Molly and Noah are embarking on the challenge of a
lifetime, driving Siberian huskies across the frozen wilderness of the Arctic.
Cut off from the world and their loved ones and thrown together under gruelling
conditions, it isn’t long before the cracks start to show.
Erica has it all. A loving husband, a successful career and
the most adorable baby daughter. But Erica has been living a double life, and
as she nears her fortieth birthday her lies threaten to come crashing down.
Molly was on her way to stardom. But when her brother died,
so did her dreams of becoming an Olympic champion. Consumed by rage and grief,
she has shut out everyone around her, but now she’s about to learn that comfort
can come from the most unexpected places.
Noah has a darkness inside him and is hounded by nightmares
from his past. Tortured, trapped and struggling to save his fractured
relationship, he knows this journey is not going to help, but try telling his
girlfriend that.
As their lives and lies become ever more entwined, it
becomes clear that in the frozen wilds there is nowhere to hide.
My Thoughts
This is a book which really exceeded my expectations and carried me along to the emotional end. It is well written with a well-paced plot and some great descriptive passages which really captured the vast and bleak Arctic. As Noah, Erica and Molly seek to survive against the elements and at times, this struggle mirrored their inner emotional turmoil. They were removed from everyday life in such an unforgiving environment and were forced to face their grief and guilt which they had sought to avoid when at home.
All the characters are well drawn and believable. By the end of the story, I was willing them on and would love to know what happens next. The only character who perplexed me a little was Molly's mother who I would love to have found out more about. Erica's relationship with her mother was also hinted at and has obviously affected the way she regards herself as a mother.
It is always hard to present a story from three perspectives and this was written faultlessly. Each character dovetailed into the next which is no mean feat. It was never jarring or confusing. I enjoyed it immensely.
In short: emotional, illuminating, involving.
About the Author
When I'm not running around after my two children, my
husband, our Cockerpoo Rodney, or just plain running, I love nothing more than
disappearing into the fictional world of my characters preferably with a large
coffee and a Twix (or two) to hand.
When I am in the thick of a character crisis, I can often be
seen walking around the village with my jumper on inside out and back to front,
chatting (and occasionally laughing) away to myself.
I have a first class honours degree in psychology and a
background in Public Relations, both of which help in everything I do.
Giveaway (International)
To be in with a chance of winning one signed paperback copy of One Endless Summer, Laurie's previous novel, follow the link below.
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