This is a book for romantic believers in a love which can transcend generations. I could have read about these characters forever; I really didn’t want their stories to end!

After his mother is killed, six year old Ben tells people that his real name is Leo, and that he has another mother. But no one believes him. Doctor Lucy is struggling to come to terms with her marriage breakup when she first meets the little boy. Clare is approaching her 100th birthday, and decides to tell someone the story of her life, before it’s too late. Three separate characters, whose stories (past, present or future) are interlinked. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

If only this had just been Clare’s story, and Leo’s story, and their relationship I’d have been so happy. I’d have been delighted if there had been much, much more of Clare’s story and none of Lucy’s or Ben’s, and certainly none of the hospital procedure and hypnotherapy used to link them to the main action.

This author is a great storyteller but for me the structure of this novel felt contrived and distracted from her main achievements, Clare and Leo - strong, credible characters I came to care for. Some lovely writing here, too. I was struck particularly by the image of Clare’s younger selves still existing in her consciousness:

‘We leave shadows of ourselves in the places where we change…..They’re all with me still, an abandoned regiment, flickering separately in the back of my mind, as if I am still living all of those lives at once.’

So a patchy experience for me. I’m glad I read this book but I’d have difficulty wholeheartedly recommending it

Many thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this book. It was, at times, a sad read and it is clear the book was well-researched. Clare grew on me as a character as the book progressed. Well-written and it stays with you a long time after you have finished it

Posted to Goodreads 05 March 2018.

This lovely but sad book set in Rhode Island, tells the story of Lucy, overworked Emergency resident, six year old prodigy Ben, Leo, a small for his age 11 year old Leo, given up by his mother to live in an orphanage, and Clare, the elderly resident of a nursing home.

Lucy, who has recently separated from her husband and is on the verge of burnout from the relentless demands of her job, meets Ben when he is brought into the ER as the only survivor of a horrific mass killing at his friends birthday party. His mother, who also died there, happens to be a new friend of Lucy’s. Admitted to the child psych ward with traumatic amnesia, Ben, who insists his name is Leo, reveals a story under hypnosis about life in an orphanage decades ago. Meanwhile Clare, who has isolated herself for years, decides to tell her life story to a new resident, Gloria, including how she came to live in a cottage by a cemetery and know a little boy called Leo...

This was elegantly written, and I guessed early on that the author must be a doctor, as both the medical details, and the descriptions of grinding Emergency shifts were spot on - it’s been 18 years since I worked in an emergency department, but it brought it all flooding back.
Initially I was only interested in Ben and Lucy’s stories: the author did such a good job portraying Clare as a withdrawn misanthropic curmudgeon that I felt repelled by her, exactly what she was trying to achieve, but as she begins to open up, probably because of the only grudgingly accepted antidepressant they bully her into taking, her story became the most compelling of all.

I don’t normally like reliance on coincidence in plots, but if willing to accept a slight supernatural twist, was happy with the concept of the characters being slowly but inevitably drawn together by some magical force, with even minor characters all appearing at the right time to tie the threads together.

The blurb has a quote from Jodi Picoult praising it, and in some ways it is similar, but I thought actually superior to the Picoult books I have read. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. One final comment: the NG page cover art features a gorgeous image of a multi coloured bird, while the GR page shows a dull image of a house on a hill. I know I would be much more likely to buy a copy, particularly if it were a gift, if it had the beautiful cover.