Book Synopsis:
A mother.
A daughter.
A secret waiting to be discovered.
For too long – since the sudden death of her mother as a teenager, since the birth of her daughter, Em, when she was just seventeen – Delphine has been unable to let go of the past, obsessed with protecting Em and clinging to a secret that could ruin everything. She’s been living life in safe shades of grey.
The day that Delphine finally stands up for herself is the day that changes everything.
Delphine begins to remember what it’s like to want more: rediscovering her singing voice, opening herself to friendship, and reviving not only her mother’s roots, but her mother’s memories. As her life begins to fill with colour, can she be brave for herself and for Em? And what would happen if she finally told the truth?
A big-hearted, hopeful novel about finding second chances – and taking them.
My Review:
Em & me is an uplifting, heartwarming read about friendship, love and growth.
In this book we follow Delphine a young, single mother who is working hard to ensure her daughter has a better life then she did. Delphine is a very relatable character who I loved following throughout the book and watching her grow in confidence as she gets the opportunity to explore new things. Her relationship with Letty was particularly brilliant and it was very enjoyable to watch it develop. Letty is a fantastic character who I quickly fell in love with. I loved her attitude and some of her antics made me laugh out loud as I read.
The story is told mainly from Delphine’s point of view with flashbacks to her past so the reader is able to learn more about her. It was very interesting to learn about the secrets everyone was hiding and seeing Delphine come out of her shell a bit. As a mum myself I know it’s easy to lose a bit of your ambitions when you have kids so I found it reallyy uplifting to be able to watch Delphine realise hers.
I felt very sad to finish the book and leave all the characters behind. I’m hoping there may be a sequel as I’d love to be able to spend more time with all of them.
Huge thanks to Harper Fiction for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book!
About The Author:
Beth Morrey was inspired to write her debut novel while pushing a pram round her local park during maternity leave. Getting to know dog owners, joggers and families, she began to sow the seeds of a novel about a woman saved by her community, strangers who became friends.
Previously Creative Director at RDF Television, Beth now writes full time. She was previously shortlisted for the Grazia-Orange First Chapter award.
Beth lives in London with her husband, two sons and a dog named Polly.
Over The Rainbow Blog 