Review : My Husband's Wife by Amanda Prowse

Published by : Head of Zeus

14 July 2016

Copy : Reviewer purchased

The Blurb

Once a week, Rosie Tipcott counts her blessings.

She goes to sit on her favourite bench on the north Devon cliffs, and thanks her lucky stars for her wonderful husband, her mischievous young daughters, and her neat little house by the sea. She vows to dedicate every waking hour to making her family happy.

But then her husband unexpectedly leaves her for another woman and takes the children. Now she must ask the question: what is left in her life? Can Rosie find the strength to rebuild herself? More importantly, does she even want to? 

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Amanda Prowse has written yet another beautiful, moving and heartfelt novel with My Husband's Wife, making me once again think, laugh and shed a tear. 

With the most wonderful main character, Rosie Tipcott, we are taken on a true journey of the heart.  I have to say, Rosie is one of my most favourite characters from any book.  I loved her wholeheartedly.  She is so happy with her lot in life, even though she doesn't have massive riches or a fantastic glamourous job, she loves what she has and in her eyes her world is just where is should be.  How lovely and refreshing to meet anyone like that, real or fictitious!  

When the love of her life, husband and father of her two adored daughters, Phil, leaves her for a rich and highly successful women (who, of course, we hate), Rosie thinks she should question her outlook on life.  But ultimately she can't question what she loves and that was the life she had, as her husband's wife and mother to her children.  That was her dream and she achieved it.  Amanda has managed to really capture the true feelings of anguish and torment that Rosie endures in the months and all that transpires with Phil and his new mistress, with real finesse.   

Many might question why this would be enough for a person, being a wife and mother - is it realistic someone would be like that?  But Rosie didn't have that life growing up.  Her mother left when she was born and she was raised by a good and decent single parent father.  After her husband leaves, and she finds herself in receipt of a letter her mother wrote when she left, Rosie starts to see similarities in her mother and fathers relationship and her own with Phil and she is forced to re-evaluate the way she has always viewed her past, and look at her childhood more closely. 

The relationship Rosie has with her father and step-mother is an amicable one and it is quite moving how the revelation of some truths helps to rebuild it to something more between them all.  One particular gesture by her step-mother at the end of the book did actually make me cry.

Although a deeply emotion book it was never too intense or hard going and had some brilliant scenes of comedy - particularly the opening scene with her daughters, Naomi and Leona.  It has been written with a light hand and I flew through it, enjoying every minute I spent with Rosie in her world.  Even in some of the most dramatic scenes for Rosie, there was a hint of humour (I will never carry a bowl of coleslaw to a party...) and that made her even more relatable and real.  The other characters within the book were also well portrayed and I loved how some of them behaved in the complete opposite way to which I was expecting them too. 

All of this goes on in the small sea-side town of Woolacombe.  With brilliant and vivid imagery I could practically taste the salt on my lips and the wind blustering through my hair up on Rosie's bench.  I felt the location matched the character of Rosie perfectly.  Sitting snuggled in the coast line of Devon is it unassuming and content, like Rosie, and blossoms in the summer with the influx of tourists, it lighting up with excitement when it has people to entertain.  For Rosie, her world lit up whenever she was with her family, they are her tourists.  During the cold season the town still sits and waits, the beauty the same, waiting, waiting for the tourists again to arrive.       

Rosie was a character I really rooted for and I was so happy with the ending, it was a perfect fit for her.

The beautiful My Husband's Wife by Amanda Prowse receives :

    

Review : Another Love by Amanda Prowse

Published by : Head of Zeus

01 April 2016

Copy : Hardback - Reviewer purchase

The Blurb

In the early years, she was happy. Romilly had worked hard for her stunning, modern house in one of Bristol's most fashionable suburbs. She adored her gorgeous, gap-toothed daughter and her kind and handsome husband. Sure, life was sometimes exhausting - but nothing that a large glass of wine at the end of the day couldn't fix. But then, as deep-buried insecurities surfaced, everything started to unravel. A glass of wine became a bottle; one bottle became two. Once, Romilly's family were everything to her. Now, after years of hiding the drinking, she must finally admit that she has found another love...

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Amanda's statement 'I write stories for women about women.' was what first drew me to her books.  I am yet to be disappointed in reading one of her novels because that statement could not be more true.  Whenever a new Amanda Prowse book comes out I can not wait to find out what thread the story is going to weave around, but one thing is always guaranteed; it is going to be emotional.  Another Love is no different.

Focusing on the world of Romilly, her husband David and daughter Celeste I immediately loved this family.  Amanda has created a family we all know, they are in love, they work hard in their professional careers to provide a beautiful home and a stable life to their much loved child, daughter Celeste.  But, as with most relationships, you never know what really goes on behind closed doors.

Romilly has an addiction, one that waggles itself underneath the noses of so many on a daily basis but that they control.  But for Romilly that addiction slowly turns itself into an illness, it snakes inside of her and takes hold so tightly she gives herself up to it - Romilly is an alcoholic.

This novel takes us through the torrent of emotions of being an alcoholic, via Romilly's narration and also on the flip side through what it is like for those who find themselves living in a home with someone who has an addiction - in this case via daughter Celeste.  I loved the chapters being written from the two viewpoints, even though sometimes it did leave me quite emotionally drained.

It was quite alarming, how Romilly's addiction grew from simple and to be honest quite, run of the mill, random binge drink sessions in University (I think the majority of drinkers have all done that in the past), to the glass of wine looked forward to at the end of the work day with dinner.  How quickly the glass turned to half a bottle and then a bottle.  How the drink with dinner turned into a little afternoon tipple.  I felt sad at those people in Romilly's life who thought it was all fun and games to encourage her to drink, really for their own amusement - whether they realised or not they were pushing her further into alcoholism I am not sure.

I didn't know how far into this illness Romilly would find herself, but Amanda has not held back and we are taken as far as we can go, I am sure all screaming for her to stop in our head, but knowing and understanding that she will not.  I like that Amanda did not do it by halves, it made it feel all the more real, which is one of this authors real talents as a writer, she is not afraid, she does not hold back.  The characters are flawed and those flaws are the basis for her brilliant novels.

I liked that the alcoholic in this novel was Romilly and not David.  It would have been easy to have made the female the one left picking up the pieces, fighting to keep the family together, to keep her daughter shielded.  It was - I think - a fresh take, a more unique story this way.  Another Love is a perfect title for this novel.

As a big fan of Amanda Prowse and her work I am always a little tentative when starting a new novel, hoping it will be as good as previous.  There was no disappointment with this book.

Another Love gets a Very Pink Notebook rating of :