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A provocative, amusing, and emotional read focusing on the isolation of grief, it’s surprising in the best possible way.
Quirky yet insightful, bright yet wistful, amusing yet emotional… this is one heck of a thought-provoking and stimulating debut. When Rachel is told ‘everything happens for a reason’ after her son Luke is stillborn, she begins to search for proof, certain she is to blame. This is one of those books that doesn’t fit neatly into a genre, instead it straddles several, and actually stands quite rightly on its own two feet. Author Katie Allen is a journalist, and this story is deeply personal and painful to her, she said on twitter that after her baby died one person texted back: “everything happens for a reason”, and she had grappled with that ever since. Grief is a lonely and isolating place to be, yet this novel, while eye-opening, is also inclusive and encouraging. Letting her feelings out in a series of emails, Rachel is incredibly engaging, she took my hand and welcomed me into the pages. I quite honestly had no idea where this book was going to to take me, I didn’t try to guess and remained firmly in the the presence of the words as they entered my thoughts. Highly recommended and a LoveReading Star Book, Everything Happens for a Reason is full of contradictions that fuse into the most surprising, moving, and beautiful novel.
When Rachel's baby is stillborn, she becomes obsessed with the idea that saving a stranger s life months earlier is to blame. An unforgettable, heart-wrenching, warm and funny debut.
Mum-to-be Rachel did everything right, but it all went wrong. Her son, Luke, was stillborn and she finds herself on maternity leave without a baby, trying to make sense of her loss.
When a misguided well-wisher tells her that 'everything happens for a reason', she becomes obsessed with finding that reason, driven by grief and convinced that she is somehow to blame. She remembers that on the day she discovered her pregnancy, she'd stopped a man from jumping in front of a train, and she s now certain that saving his life cost her the life of her son.
Desperate to find him, she enlists an unlikely ally in Lola, an Underground worker, and Lola's seven-year-old daughter, Josephine, and eventually tracks him down, with completely unexpected results...
Both a heart-wrenchingly poignant portrait of grief and a gloriously uplifting and disarmingly funny story of a young woman's determination, Everything Happens for a Reason is a bittersweet, life- affirming read and, quite simply, unforgettable.
| ISBN: | 9781913193614 |
| Publication date: | 10th June 2021 |
| Author: | Katie Allen |
| Publisher: | Orenda Books |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 320 pages |
| Collections: | 2021 Preview - Exciting New Books on the Horizon, |
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Closing date: 30/06/2021
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion some of our Reader Review Panel were also lucky enough to read and review this title.
I love books that are a little bit different and using emails makes this book stand out. An emotional read
This book is written in the form of emails to the main character, Rachel's, son who was stillborn.
She is trying to figure out why it happened and if everything does happen for a reason.
The emails vary in length and this makes it really easy to keep reading.
I love books that are a little bit different and using emails makes this book stand out. You really get to know all the characters and the story unfolds with a few twists and turns along the way. There is a lovely sausage dog, who is so cute!
It's an emotional read due to the subject of the book and the fact it's based on the authors real experience. It's well written and I really cared about the characters and wanted to know what happened to everyone
ISBN: 9781913193614
Publication date: 10/06/2021
Format: Paperback
