Nicci Gerrard, The Moment You Were Gone
I had read many books by the couple Nicci Gerrard/ Sean French before, but Gerrard’s novels are of a completely different kind. While the Nicci French novels are thrillers, The Moment you Were Gone is the story of Gaby, a woman at a turning point in her life: her only son has left home for university, and, while she is happily married and has a close relationship with her son, she lives with one regret: about twenty years before, she lost her best friend, Nancy, who used to date Gaby’s brother and left one day without an explanation. She feels angry and wronged, and at the same time unable to forget Nancy. Some weeks before, Gaby saw her on TV, by chance, on a news report about a flood, and now, distraught by her son’s departure, she decides, on an impulse, to go and find Nancy. But sometimes, the past had better been left buried, and the truth Gaby discovers wreaks havoc in her own life…
I was very surprised to find how well written this novel was (certainly better than the Nicci French novels, although their writing has improved a lot in the more recent novels, like Catch Me When I Fall). Nicci Gerrard writing about an ordinary woman living an ordinary life reminded me of such writers as Anne Tyler, Alice Munro or Carol Shields. Gerrard is very gifted for describing the little things of everyday’s life, she conveys the feelings of a woman suffering empty nest syndrome very convincingly and Gaby, her heroine, is an engaging and lively character. I will be looking for other novels by Nicci Gerrard…
Rating: 4/5
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