This is a contemporary tale of a well-to-do family and we first meet Jennifer Redmond, the main protagonist, in intensive care, suffering from concussion. Through the gradual return of her memory the reader learns of her work-focussed husband, Peter and his overriding ambition to reach the top, whatever the price.
It’s a bad time for Jennifer Redmond, in her mid-forties and suffering the ‘empty nest syndrome’, for she’s finding no consolation in her husband whose driving ambition is all-consuming to the point where he is totally switched off to her. She longs for the happy, fulfilled early years of their marriage and unable to stand her lonely existence any more she decides her marriage has finally ended.
Jennifer Redmond summons the courage to sort her life out and makes one tremendous effort to leave her husband for good, nervously driving herself to Invergrosgie, a place of many happy memories, in Scotland. She meets with Angus Cameron the Scottish hotelier with his own sad turn of events only partially revealed during the course of her stay. They are immediately attracted to each other but a catastrophe sets a course of events against the development of this new relationship. The story unfolds with interesting twists as we learn of her grown-up children, parents and her special friend and confidant, Anna. All the while and certainly keeping the pages turning, Peter Redmond’s working life filters through, building momentum to eventually place the reader in New York where the tension escalates rapidly as Jennifer discovers there’s far more to her husband‘s ambitions than she had ever realised.
This tale is rather more convoluted than one might expect from an eternal triangle situation, though it’s simplistically drawn and undemanding. There is an easy switch between all characters which are well formed and very believable. Burton likes detail and provides meticulously described settings which gives substance and makes, for the most part, an enjoyable read. One does feel, however, the story would have benefited from further editing and could have been comfortably shorter as one felt the second part lost momentum in the driving of the story to its conclusion.
However, for those who like romantic modern fiction and a good moral twist to the tale, I would highly recommend this book. It is well produced and has an attractive cover.
Reviewed for ‘The Self Publishing Magazine’ published by Troubador Ltd
ISBN 9781780884097
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd 2012
Reviewer: Margaret Henderson Smith
Copyright – all rights reserved
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