Reluctantly Home is the latest novel by bestselling author Imogen Clark, published in 2021.
This was the first novel I’d read by Imogen Clark but as her books always seem so popular I was excited to give it a try.
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Plot
As a successful human rights lawyer living in London, Pip Appleby seems to have it all. She has a lovely flat in the perfect location, she has a charming and successful boyfriend and a job she loves. This all changes when Pip finds herself unable to cope in the aftermath of a tragic accident and she finds herself back at home at her family’s rural farm in Southwold. The humble life she tried so hard to leave behind suddenly becomes her new reality.
After discovering the diary of Evelyn Mountcastle, Pip enjoys being able to distance herself from her own life, and emerges herself into someone else’s. Evelyn’s diary reveals her life as an actress in the early 1980s and how she too found herself reluctantly returning to Southwold. Pip can’t help notice the parallels between Evelyn’s life, also marred with tragedy, and that of her own.
Both women are consumed by guilt and grief and find it impossible to move on. The diary brings the two together and they realise they have more in common than they immediately realised. Can they help each other forgive what happened in the past and learn how to move forward in their own lives?
Reluctantly Home Book Review
The book is told from two viewpoints with Pip’s version of events being told in the present day. Evelyn’s viewpoint starts in the late 1970s, continues into the 1980s within her diary and eventually is told from the present day like Pip’s. It sounds a little confusing but it’s actually really well done.
Reluctantly Home is an interesting exploration into grief and guilt and how people react to tragedy. Imogen Clark isn’t afraid to tackle some really difficult themes and topics such as anxiety, death and sexual assault were both realistic and sensitively done.
The story moved at a slow pace with hints dropped throughout before eventually unveiling the truth. However, I felt there wasn’t any real suspense or mystery as the “secrets” were, in my opinion, quite obvious and as I suspected. The book is well written and the characters were likeable and realistic. I just felt there was something missing. It’s a nice story of female resilience and the power of friendship, but I just felt it lacked any real impact.
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