Novel set in Adelaide (“..once a cheat, always a cheat..”)
- Book: The Sun In Her Eyes
- Location: Adelaide
- Author: Paige Toon
What I love about working on TripFiction is that I discover new authors, and authors who create books where setting is strong and evocative, as well as writing a good storyline…. there are so many authors out there, it is all to easy to settle into a comfortable groove of the familiar. So, I was excited to discover author Paige Toon who has written several books. The Sun In Her Eyes is the first I have read, but certainly will not be the last.
Amber was a tiny girl when a car accident killed her mother, she was in the car at the time. Glimpses of memory occasionally penetrate her consciousness, but no real concrete memories evolve that she can really grasp. Amber’s life in London, with husband Ned is pretty humdrum until she gets the dreaded phonecall that her father in Adelaide has suffered a stroke. A good 24 hours later she has landed in Australia and is on her way to visit her father in hospital. As he recuperates, Amber finds she has a bit more time on her hands and finds herself drawn to old flame Ethan, the subject of unrequited passion in her younger years; he happens to be newly separated from the mother of his children. As Ethan’s flame grows, Ned’s flame splutters, but how will things pan out?
Ethan takes centre stage as Amber finds her groove with her old friends. He may be in the wine business, running a family vineyard, but he has moments that leave the reader feeling so uncomfortable about his irascible personality – how he responds to his own children, for example. Frankly, I felt he was not a good enough prospect for dear Amber and it was well time to get over him. But she has to make her life choices… and does the old adage “..once a cheat, always a cheat..” really hold true????
Adelaide just comes alive in Paige’s competent hands, as Ethan and Amber look across the city: “The city of Adelaide stretches out before us, and in the far distance the pale blue sky seeps into the ocean in a barely distinguishable line. The clouds over our heads are dark and dramatic, turning brilliant orange the closer they hover to the city’s skyline. Even the obelisk, the soaring white column that was named after explorer Captain Matthew Flinders, is cast in an orange glow.” And there I was, with the characters in a city I have never actually visited. That is the gift of reading literature where location is a character in itself!
There is drama and romance aplenty, crafted in a very readable style. Enjoy!
This review plus AUTHOR INTERVIEW first appeared on our blog
Please wait...
