Today I’m taking part in the blog tour for The Split. My review is written with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book via Netgalley.

Blurb:

Two decades on from a passionate courtship and marriage, Lucas and Esther are getting divorced.  

For Esther, it’s proving hard not to feel bitter watching Lucas enjoying his successful career, not to mention the attentions of his gorgeous, intelligent, and predictably younger lover. She meanwhile is struggling to forge a new life for herself, navigating the pitfalls of modern dating, while trying not to despair at the cost of living as a single woman of a certain age.

Then Lucas faces a shattering accusation at the same time as their children Dylan and Lily, start to implode.  When Dylan runs away, and as his father fights to save his reputation, Lucas and Esther find themselves back in each other’s lives, whether they like it or not. 

Has too much water passed under the bridge, or will long-forgotten loyalties and feelings bring the family back together, just when they need each other the most? 

Review:

From the beginning, I was drawn into this novel by Amanda Brookfield’s writing. Naturally, with a central subject such as divorce, there are lots of emotions involved and Brookfield is really good at capturing them and allowing the reader to understand them and the impact they have on the characters. 

For the most part, The Split is a character driven novel and we learn a great deal about how the divorce has affected everyone around the couple: the couple themselves, their children, their new partners and their families and friends. I enjoyed learning more about them, and as you would expect, there were some characters I liked more than others. Lucas, for example, really irritated me and I wasn’t surprised that Dylan acted in the way that he did. 

As the plot takes shape, Brookfield explores many issues which are incredibly relevant to today’s society. She explores them in a gentle way, almost asking questions of the reader’s point of view. I was interested to see where this story would go and I was pleased it wasn’t always predictable. 

The Split is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: