I'm excited to be sharing my first ever book review with you today! It's of one I read recently called 'The Difference A Day Makes' by Carole Matthews. Here's what I thought of it!
I mentioned in my January Favourites that I've recently rekindled my love of reading and this is the book that's responsible! My mum got it years ago and seeing as it was just sitting in the house, I thought I may as well pick it up and give it a go.
SO WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
Married couple William & Amy Ashurst are workaholics & devout Londoners. When Will suffers a stress-induced health scare, they decide to up sticks and move to the Yorkshire countryside. Well, rather Will decides and Amy doesn't voice her protests. Suddenly the pair and their children are living out Will's newfound dream of 'idyllic' country life - farm animals and all - but when something disastrous happens, Amy is left to make a huge decision. To stay in the place the rest of her family had now grown to love or could she go back to London and attempt to live her old life again?
MY THOUGHTS?
It took me quite a while to get into this book at the beginning. I found Amy as the protagonist to be quite irritating as she never spoke up for herself and just stood by as her husband called all the shots, trying to be 'the good wife'. I know we all have to bite our tongues at times but for the first lot of chapters I struggled to get past her lack of integrity.
Then, the something disastrous happened and it took me by complete surprise. Obviously I don't want to spoil it for you but after that, the dynamic was flipped on it's head and I was completely drawn in to the story. The addition of an extra main character, Guy Burton the local vet, made things very interesting and that's when I realised I was starting to get more & more attached to the characters. A real sense of suspense was building as to how Amy would move on from the shocking event that occurred. Although as the reader, it soon became blindingly obvious what she should do and it was then a waiting game as to when she would catch on and figure it out! She was learning to learn the countryside and everything that came with it, she just hadn't realised it herself yet as she was still so fixated on how 'wonderful' her life back in London used to be.
"Perhaps if I'd protested more vociferously, I wouldn't be here at all."
I couldn't help but take note of this quote. Eventually (!) she realised that if she'd told William how she felt about the move, she probably wouldn't be in such a mess.
Despite the far fetched nature of many parts of it (the dog they adopt gets up to some ludicrous naughtiness), despite the fact it took a while for it to grow on me (I don't think I'd be friends with Amy but that's okay) and despite the fact some details are now outdated (it was written in 2009 and the reference to Bebo made me laugh), I bloody enjoyed reading The Difference A Day Makes. I even got a bit emotional near the end. If it sounds like your cup of tea and you fancy something light but thought-provoking to read, I'd even recommend it!
So there you have it, my thoughts on 'The Difference A Day Makes'! Get involved in the comments and let me know if you've read this or anything similar - I'd love your recommendations!
Would you read this book?
Thanks for reading,
Maeve
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