I am so pleased to be taking part in the blog tour to celebrate Rachel Burton's latest novel, The Things We Need to Say. Today, I have an excerpt from the novel for you and there is a great International Giveaway with the chance to win a bound proof copy and a pack of Yogi teas. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.
Sometimes the things we never say are the most important.
Fran loves Will with all her heart. They had a whirlwind
romance, a perfect marriage and a wonderful life. Until everything changed. Now
Fran needs to find her way again and teaching a yoga retreat in Spain offers
her just that. Leaving behind a broken marriage she has some very important
decisions to make.
Will needs his wife, he needs her to open up to him if
they’re to ever return to the way things once were. But he may have damaged any
possibility he had of mending their relationship and now Fran is in Spain and
Will is alone.
As both Fran and Will begin to let go of a life that could
have been, fate may just find a way of bringing them back together.
From the best-selling author of The Many Colours of Us comes
an emotional story perfect for fans of Katie Marsh, Amanda Prowse and Sheila
O’Flanagan.
Excerpt
She makes her way towards one of the cafés and sits down.
She orders a pot of tea, leans back in her chair, and closes her eyes.
The waiter has just delivered her tea to the table and she
is considering asking him if there are any apple tarts when she hears it. It is
like a voice from the past that has broken through the ether somehow – a name
that shouldn’t be there. Something she hasn’t heard for fourteen years.
‘Frankie Sullivan?’
It’s been a long time since anybody used her maiden name.
Longer still since anybody called her Frankie. It’s a name that belongs to a
different person, a different time. For a split second she can smell nightclubs
and cigarette smoke, Aramis aftershave, and Camden Lock at three a.m. Suddenly,
just for a moment, Fran finds herself back in London, the crowds, the
anonymity, the press of bodies against each other on the tube. For the first
time in fourteen years Fran wishes she’d never left.
‘Frankie?’ The voice is closer now; she recognises it from
years ago. ‘It is you isn’t it?’
She senses a shadow being cast over the table and opens her
eyes, frowning at the man standing above her. She tries to place him and
realises the smell of Aramis is more than a memory.
‘Jake?’ she says. ‘Jake Torreno?’
‘My God,’ Jake says quietly. ‘Frankie.’
Fran can’t believe he is there in front of her after all
these years. The last time she saw Jake Torreno – the man she shared five years
of her life with – was the day of her mother’s funeral. He insisted on coming
and, afterwards, had wanted to stay with her, help her sort things out before
she returned to London. But she already knew she was never going back so she
sent him away, telling him she’d follow in a few weeks.
She never did.
My Thoughts
In The Things We Need to Say, Rachel Burton
returns to the subject of family and explores ideas of parenthood and
marriage. It is quite an intensive read, told through two of the
characters, mainly Fran but also her husband, Will. Rachel picks apart
their relationship until we have got to its bare bones in this affecting
and emotional story. I stayed with them all the way through, willing
them to just sort a few things out and speak to each other. Of course,
it is not that easy.
Through
Fran's yoga class and hotel workers, we are given an interesting bunch
of people who are all on the retreat for their own personal reasons.
They add a touch of humanity to what is an otherwise emotional read and
you see another facet of Fran's character as their yoga teacher and
friend. You realise that she is intensely loyal and caring, offering a
protective shoulder or a sympathetic ear at times.
Just as in The Many Colours of Us, Rachel has created a well-paced story with likeable, rounded characters and some deeply felt issues. Recommended.
In short: A marriage in crisis makes for an emotional and affecting read you can't help get involved in.
( Review re-posted from Publication Day May 11th 2018)
About the Author
Rachel Burton has been making up stories since she first
learned to talk. After many false starts she finally made one up that was worth
writing down.
After graduating with a degree in Classics and another in
English, she didn't really know what to do when she grew up. She has worked as
a waitress, a paralegal and a yoga teacher.
She has spent most of her life between Cambridge and London
but now lives in Leeds with her boyfriend and three cats. The main loves of her
life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.
Her debut, The Many Colours of Us, was an Amazon Kindle
bestseller. Her second novel, The Things We Need to to Say, is released on 11
May 2018. She is currently working on her third novel in which the heroine
follows the love of her life to live in a city in northern England. It has no
autobiographical elements at all.....maybe.
Find her on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or
search Facebook for Rachel Burton Author. She is always happy to talk books,
writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly
dreaming of her next holiday....
Thanks to Rachel Burton and Jenny of Neverland Blog Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Giveaway (International)
To win a bound proof copy of The Things We Need to Say and a pack of yogi teas, just follow the link below and good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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