AFTER I'M GONE by Clare Boyd

 

AFTER I'M GONE by Clare Boyd-psychological thriller

Emily is looking after her two nieces after her sister Charlotte was found dead in a locked bathroom, having fallen and hit her head fatally. She adores the girls but never wanted to be a parent herself. She thinks this is probably due to how her relationship with her mother was and still is, however Charlotte made her promise she would look after the girls if anything happened to her as she didn't trust anyone else. The girl's father left many years ago and now has a new family in Ireland. When she finds inconsistencies in what happened the night Charlotte died, she fears the girls may be hiding something from her. Can she find out the truth of what happened to her sister whilst still protecting her family?

Wow! I found myself happily turning and turning, ever wanting to find out more. I liked Emily and felt for her own heartbreak whilst trying to sort out those around her. Grief is a strange master and manifests in many ways in different people. This is sensitively very well written of how things can either fall apart or bond in the aftermath of such an event. A clever, well thought out twisty premise. A real page turner. 

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A grieving family. A sister’s promise. A secret that will tear them apart…

My husband Olly and I share a perfect life, our evenings spent curled in our candlelit flat talking about all the places we’ll travel. But my world is shattered with the news that my sister has died in a tragic accident, leaving her two girls, Hayleyand Mia, behind. The secret I’ve buried deep in my heart means I was never meant to be a mother – but I made a promise to my sister. I’m all the girls have now.

I give them everything – school on time in clean uniforms, our family’s favourite chocolate-laced chilli bubbling on the stove when they get home – but I never imagined being a mother would be this hard. Hayley and I used to be so close, but now she’s a ball of rage, screaming and lashing out wildly. Olly and I are reaching breaking point.

Then I find a Polaroid picture hidden in one of the girl’s rooms: Hayley is lying about the night her mother died.

I need to find the truth – before anyone else does. Even if it means digging up the secrets that have held this family together for years. Even if it means revealing my own…

But when I do, will there by anything left of this fragile family to save?

A totally gripping and heart-wrenching story about keeping promises and dark secrets – and the sacrifices we make for the ones we love. Readers of Amanda Prowse, Jojo Moyes and Diane Chamberlain won’t want to miss this stunning page-turner.