Book review: One Moment, One Morning

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By Sarah Rayner
Published by Picador

There are books that grab your attention from the very beginning and never let it go. One Moment, One Morning is one of them. One Moment, One Morning is also one of those books that leave a lasting impression and will linger at the back of your mind to suddenly jump into the foreground when a sound or an image reminds you of them.

In her new book, Sarah Rayner takes us on a journey on the 07:44 train from Brighton to London. It’s Monday and Anna and Lou are travelling on the same train, packed with commuters. They don’t know each other and are sitting in different compartments. Anna is reading a magazine and Lou is listening to music while observing her travelling companions. Next to her, on the opposite side of the aisle, are Karen and Simon. A happily married couple, they are going to London to sign the contract for a new house. Suddenly, Simon collapses. He dies instantly, of a heart attack.

In that same instant, many lives are changed. Karen’s, who loses her life partner and is faced with the upbringing of their two children as a single-mother and Anna’s, Karen’s best friend, whose life balance is thrown upside down by Simon’s departure. Simon, the perfect husband and friend, puts her own relationship with alcoholic Steve under a new light, one that she doesn’t like. And then there is Lou, a counsellor who by chance shares a cab with Anna after the incident and finds herself drawn to the lives and sorrows of the two women.

One tragedy, one moment, one morning. Three women who form a strong bond and, by sharing experiences and emotions, acquire strength and build hope for the future. Friendship, love, grief, loss, new beginnings. All of this and more can be found in Sarah Rayner’s brilliant fiction. A book hard to put down – even when reaching out for a tissue – and characters so credible and real that I found myself looking out for them on the streets of Brighton.

*COMPETION COMING SOON!!!*

Comments

  1. Anonymous24 January 2010 at 15:10

    That sounds interesting, another one to add to the ever-increasing TBR pile!

    ReplyDelete

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