Today I’m joining the blog tour for Private Lives. My review is written with thanks to Zoe O’Farrell for inviting me on the tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Everything is as it should be.

Rosie and Seb Kent are happily married, living in the sleepy seaside town of Waverly. Now that Seb has achieved his dream of becoming headmaster of the local school, their lives couldn’t be any better.

Then she arrives.

Abi, a young, single mother, has come to Waverly for a fresh start. She plans to reinvent herself and give her children a new life. And then she sees Seb.

And nothing will ever be the same again . . .

As their complicated hidden past threatens to destroy them both, they try their hardest to keep it contained. But in a small town, secrets don’t stay hidden for long, and soon, what should be their private business becomes a very public scandal. How far will everyone – them, their families and the whole community – go to protect everything they hold dearest?

Review:

I really enjoyed The Herd by this author, and Private Lives poses a moral dilemma in a similar way. Emily Edwards is a really intelligent writer and I love how she explores all the different angles of the situation about which she is writing.

Private Lives focuses on the residents of Waverley, and I was drawn into the village life immediately. It felt horribly uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but I still found it compelling and I wanted to know all the gossip! The characters themselves are incredibly well constructed and nuanced and it was fascinating to see the different sides of each character. I felt sympathy for all the characters at different points, but also disagreed with them and I kept changing my mind!

The plotting in Private Lives is brilliant and Emily Edwards places small clues throughout the story. It was never obvious where the story would go and I was definitely shocked by some elements of it. The author is constantly asking the reader questions and this is what kept me hooked until the very end.

Private Lives is available from Amazon.

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