Letting You Go is Anouska Knight’s third novel and, having loved her previous two, I was so excited to receive a copy of this book from the lovely people over at Mira UK in exchange for an honest review. It was a beautiful, touching and unforgettable novel that I know will stay with me for a long time to come and one which I can tell will, without a doubt, be on my top ten reads of 2015 post.
When the novel first opens the reader immediately learns of what happened to Dillon on a September day in 2004 which completely changed the lives of his parents, Ted and Blythe, and older sisters, Alex and Jem. For reasons that are made clear as the novel progresses, Alex blames herself for what happened to her little brother and escaped her hometown, Eilidh Falls as soon she possibly could. After several years away Alex might never have returned had it not been for a phonecall she received from her sister, Jem, informing her that their mother, Blythe, had suffered a stroke. Upon returning back home to a house without Blythe who is still in hospital and who, by all accounts, was the rock of the family, Alex is greeted by her father, Ted, who has not forgotten what happened in 2004 and her sister, Jem, who it’s clear has several issues of her own to deal with. Of course I couldn’t write this review without mentioning Finn, a face from Alex’s past who leaves her feeling more than a little bit unsettled.
Letting You Go is a book which I thought was absolutely incredible and fantastically written with plenty of description included to really set the scene and draw the reader into the story. Throughout the novel we meet and go on a journey with characters who have lived in the past for many years. From reading what I did about the characters and their ways I have a suspicion that had Blythe not fallen so ill the family might have carried on living in the past for the foreseeable future. Blythe’s illness however prompts them all into stopping, thinking, re-evaluating their lives and trying to re-connect with one another as they realise that, actually, life really is too short to not appreciate those that surround you.
Despite the fact that this was a novel based around a family tragedy it wasn’t all doom and gloom and there were several moments that brought a smile to my face. I particularly liked to see the way that Carrie, who thought she was something really special and behaved abysmally towards Jem whilst they were at school together, got her comeuppance.
Letting You Go, released on the 10th September 2015, is a novel which I would highly recommend. I found that it was not only very easy to get into and immersed in but also very easy to read and follow - I very much enjoyed it. I am already looking forward to reading whatever else Anouska Knight writes in the future and, once again, would like to end this review by thanking Mira UK for sending me a very beautiful copy of Letting You Go. I hope this review has done Letting You Go the justice it deserves and wish it every success!
