Happy publication day to Emma Davies! And it’s day 1 of the blog tour for The Wife’s Choice.
Alys is at that point in her life where she realises that her dreams will probably remain forever unfulfilled, and she’s wondering where, in fact, her life disappeared to? Married to second husband, Hugh and with her lovely daughter Esme just about grown up and ready to go out into the world, Alys is really at a loss. With no self-confidence and feeling rather adrift in her own world, it only gets worse when she’s made redundant from the job she’s had for just about all of her adult life.
Although I really wanted to feel empathy for Alys, I found it difficult. She’s a real wet blanket and doesn’t make it easy for the reader to feel sorry for her, or to even like her. At one point it seemed she was in this situation due only to her own fault, but the author does manage to guide us through Alys’s background and we’re able to see that as much as she did bring about many of her own misfortunes, even more were thrown her way due to circumstances beyond her control. But I just wanted her to have a bit more of a backbone, a slightly louder voice.
I couldn’t bear the opinionated, controlling Hugh, who manipulates his words to make it seem as if he is caring when in fact he isn’t (well, not about Alys – maybe about his reputation). And I absolutely couldn’t tolerate the way he treated his adult daughter as if she was a mindless, ignorant child!
It’s obvious that Alys yearns for what could have been, wondering how her life would have turned out if her first husband hadn’t had a tragic accident and insisted on divorcing her. Especially now that she’s at a loose end and has more time to think things through a lot more thoroughly.
But having that extra time on her hands leads to a chance encounter that could turn things around for Alys. It all depends on how she chooses to react and whether she decides to stagnate in her misery or move forward and choose a different path for herself.
Although I just couldn’t warm to the main characters, this book and its themes resonated me, possibly because of my age, but whatever the reasons, I think that others will find something of a wake-up call in the words that Emma Davies has crafted here. Her message is clear: speak up sooner rather than later, and grab the chance for your own happiness because nobody else is going to do it for you!
This is a 3.5 star read that will speak to the heart of those who understand what it’s like to have to adjust your dreams and plans if only to put them on hold for a while until they’re ready to find their place in the sun!
Thank you to Bookouture for inviting me on this tour. Take a look at what other book bloggers are saying about The Wife’s Choice …
Author Bio:
After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty-something mother of three.’ Well the job in the design studio didn’t work out but she’s now a forty-something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.
After many years as a finance manager, she now writes full time and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It’s a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact, the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea.
Author Social Media Links:
Pop over to her website www.emmadaviesauthor.com where, amongst other things, you can read about her passion for Pringles and singing loudly in the car. You can also wave to her on twitter @EmDaviesAuthor / https://twitter.com/EmDaviesAuthor or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her): https://www.facebook.com/emmadaviesauthor/
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