Save Her by Abigail Osborne
Published by Bloodhound Books
Published 5th May 20212
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Book Description:
Would you give up your husband to save your best friend's life?
Bonded by their traumatic childhoods, Flora and Sophie are inseparable friends who married brothers.
What they could not have anticipated was their mother-in-law, Cecelia. Disappointed that her children have married beneath them, Cecelia takes every opportunity to belittle and taunt her daughters-in-law.
When Cecelia learns that Flora and her son are moving away, her wrath escalates, and Flora’s world begins to fall apart.
Meanwhile, Sophie’s life is also crumbling around her. Her marriage is not what it seems, and she is desperate to escape the clutches of the poisonous family she has married into.
Is Flora being tormented or is she losing her mind?
Will Sophie and Flora be forced to leave their husbands in order to survive?
With a mother-in-law like Cecelia, anything is possible…
My Thoughts:
I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this book since Abbie told me she had her second book in the planning stages some time ago. At one point I think I was more excited than she was to know that it was to be published imminently - I think she had hit the nervous stage while I was keen to read what I was confident would be another cracker of a book.
We meet the leading character of the book sitting in a hospital waiting room, her mother in law undergoing the ministrations of the doctors and nurses, and we know from Flora's immediate confession that she is the one responsible for putting her there. But you need to read the whole story to understand the background to the situation. Because Cecelia has many layers, several of which have hardened her into the person she has become.
Flora is married to Sam, one of Cecelia's treasured sons. Neither of Cecelia's daughters-in-law will ever be good enough for her boys and she's not backwards in coming forwards to let people know this. Flora, having lost both her parents many years previously, takes many of the slights on the chin despite how much they hurt her emotionally. Her best friend Sophie, who is Cecelia's other daughter in law, is a different kettle of fish and does not see why the two women should accept the abuse they get from a woman who she believes should be supporting them in their role to provide the next generation of the Cavendish family.
It's not difficult to see why then, when unpleasant things start happening to Flora that Cecelia is the prime suspect and why Flora would be particularly unsympathetic towards her. I know many women don't click with the family of their husband but the author has conjured up some particularly unpleasant situations for Flora to encounter - I'm not giving any detail away but one specific instance had me cringing in horror. Just the thought of the experience had me squirming!
You can tell from the storyline that the author is a very caring, empathetic person who has put herself into the situations she has created and described how she herself would feel and react if these things were to happen to her. I was frustrated by Flora at times as she relied on others strength of character instead of believing in herself. She (in my opinion) cries far too easily and leans much too heavily on Sophie, who may well have been her oldest friend but who I felt took advantage of her gentle character far too often. I really enjoyed seeing Flora's character change as the story progressed and she began to trust her instincts more.
There are some interesting characters and relationships in this book, most of whom are not who they initially appear to be. There are lessons to be learned along the way - the most important one I took from this book is not to take anyone at face value, and always trust your gut instinct. It's rarely wrong even if the reasons why you came to that initial decision may be slightly off.
The chapters keep you turning the pages avidly and wanting to read 'just one more' before you put the book down to do the real-life things you know that you really ought to be doing. There are sufficient twists to keep you guessing - some of which will have you properly shocked along the way. I'm hoping there will be a sequel to this book as there are plenty of opportunities I feel to delve into the story further.
My sincere thanks to the author for allowing me the privilege of reading her work ahead of publication and once again my apologies for not having posted my review sooner.
About the Author:
Abigail is originally from the Lake District but moved to the West Midlands for University where she completed an English Literature & History degree and also met her husband. She is a passionate reader and has an unsustainable collection of books. This obsession with books has led to her creating her own Dewey decimal system and she has been known to issue fines to family and friends if her book is not returned on time. Writing The Puppet Master has unleashed a love of writing and Abigail hopes to put her scarily crazy imagination to good use.
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