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What follows are chapters from each family’s members viewpoint, her sister Alice, her brother Will, her mother Belinda and her father Tony. As there were so many characters to get to know I thought things might become quite confusing but it was easy to follow each of their individual storylines and I enjoyed seeing how at some point they were bound to come together. The absence of Leni is felt keenly by her family and by the reader too. You are desperate to get to know her and to read things from her perspective but you know this can’t occur but the further the story develops you do get a sense of who she was and how integral she was to the family and how loved she was. I love books by Lucy Diamond and this one was just as good as the others I’ve read, with lots of characters to keep you interested. Lenis sudden tragic death has shook her whole family. Her sister Alice, mum Belinda, dad Tony and younger brother Will all experience their loss differently and they also deal with it in their own individual way.
I absolutely loved the author's writing - her words are fluid and poetic, which makes the story engaging and deeply passionate. As for character depth and development, hands down to Lucy Diamond! She's just great. This book was very sad as ultimately it follows a family in the months after losing a daughter/sister, but it was uplifting and inspiring too. It did have sprinkles of humour (thanks Hamish!!) throughout, and ultimately it portrayed real life for many families. And Tony Lenis dad is trying to make amends for leaving the family and being a rubbish dad. While awaiting a new baby himself with his new girlfriend. I know Tony the father is to be seen as the bad guy but he really isn’t. He has improved the most throughout.Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
No one writes about family like Lucy does. This is a masterpiece in how broken people negotiate and ultimately survive the worst that life can throw at them. It's an absolutely beautiful book * Milly Johnson * And she admits: “I found myself in tears when writing parts of the book. But I didn’t want it to be miserable. I wanted it to be uplifting. Life is tough with difficult challenges but ultimately it shows there are good people and good times ahead.” Given the subject matter of The Best Days of Our Lives, the new book by Lucy Diamond, you’d be forgiven for thinking this story would be all doom and gloom and extremely difficult to read. Especially as we all know dealing with the aftermath of losing a loved one can be a challenge and have such a long and devastating impact. But thankfully this story wasn’t all misery, anguish and sadness as it could have easily descended into this vein. Instead, the author provides the reader with a snapshot into the year of a family following the loss of their sister Leni and in doing so provides moments of hope and courage to all who read the book. I appreciated the honesty throughout and although the characters are each fractured and torn apart by their loss they have to learn to come to terms with the fate that has befallen them. Through many experiences and an extensive journey they learn lots about themselves and several secrets are also revealed too. Belinda is dealing with her grief in a different way and her partner Ray is extremely worried about her. Hours spent talking to Leni through a psychic hotline may be bringing Belinda comfort but deep down surely she must know that this is not real at all? She may be finding short term comfort but long-term acceptance seems very far away. As her ex-husband Tony seems to have had a revelation/wake up call when it comes to his own life situation Belinda starts to realise things from the past which she desperately wanted kept hidden could be about to break through the surface. Can a lid be kept on something she and someone else have been sitting on for years? Or will a new can of worms be opened up? Every Friday Mercy Hamilton goes to the same supermarket. She doesn’t go to buy groceries, instead, she shows a fading photo of a little girl to anyone who’ll look – begging for help to find her daughter. One Friday, Erica Fielding comes across Mercy, and touched by her story, Erica agrees to help. As Erica is drawn deeper and deeper into Mercy’s life, she discovers there is no record of Mercy’s daughter. In fact, there’s no record of a child at all. But who is the girl in the photo if not Mercy’s missing daughter? And what danger will Erica find herself in by pursuing the truth?
Summary
I love Lucy Diamond books and this one did not disappoint. The characters were so well written, with each persons individual journey and development always leaving me wanting more. Some characters are loveable from the start, some grow on you as you go through the story, and absolutely nobody is perfect. The different family dynamics in the book are truly relatable and I was left rooting for them all to resolve their issues together. Given the nature of this book it may be triggering for some, there is loss of a sibling and the loss of an adult child. There are also issues relating to infertility and complications in pregnancy. Whilst these are very heavy issues Diamond handles them with the upmost care and respect.
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