Shelley wakes up to find herself in hospital, in intensive care so she knows things are fairly bad. No-one will talk to her about what happened and she asks if there have been any visitors as it transpires that she has been there a few days. As she begins to think about things she is taken back to her childhood and alternating chapters tell about Shelley growing up and about some of her past. There’s a shadow to both parts, something recurring which Shelley can't quite piece together as yet but as she does she starts to see a pattern. What really happened and will Shelley be able to remember?

I love Laura’s books. She has the fantastic skill of writing a character so that the reader quickly feels in on the story and invested in the person and situation they find themselves in. I had to stop several times and take a breath as it was poignant, reminding me of different times in my own life and feeling for Shelley in her situation. It's one of those books that I desperately wanted to find out what happened but at the same time didn't want it to end, it's so beautifully written. Laura is one of those very special authors, one whose books I would read without hesitation or even reading the synopsis. Stunning, brilliant and every other superlative. One of my books of the year.

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I absolutely adored this book, even more than Laura Pearson’s brilliant Mable, she’s done an exceptional job of writing about the very difficult issue of domestic abuse and created a book that is absolutely joyful. Told primarily during Shelley’s recovery from a coma in hospital with her making herself remember key moments throughout her life with a view to regaining her missing memories. Told entirely from her perspective we see how confused and fearful she is on waking and how the staff and her friends so sympathetically support her recovery. The characters in this are really strong and I think the way a lot of the story is told retrospectively makes it easier to process, this doesn’t hide the impact events of her life have had on her but there’s a warmth around her recovery somehow that makes you see just how exceptional Shelley is.