Thursday 20 June 2019

Review: Half a World Away by Mike Gayle

Strangers living worlds apart.
Strangers with nothing in common.

But it wasn't always that way...

Kerry Hayes is a single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never hope to afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot ever forget her past.

Noah Martineau is a successful barrister with a beautiful wife, daughter and home in fashionable Primrose Hill. Adopted as a child, Noah always looks forward, never back.

When Kerry reaches out to the sibling she lost on the day they were torn apart as children, she sets in motion a chain of events that will have life-changing consequences for them both. 


Review: wow what a beautiful but heartbreaking novel. This book just covers so many aspects of life that can have a massive impact on people and yet people just go about continuing to live their lives despite having these things happening to/around them.

I love how this book delves into the topic of adoption and what can happen when siblings are separated in the process of being removed from their parent. It also deals really well with the circumstances under which a child might be removed from their parents and the steps that could be taken to avoid that. The concept of looking forward and never back is also one that I think isn't dealt with enough in novels and how that can affect people around you so I love the fact that Mike Gayle explores just what that can mean in this book. 

Noah is a great character to read about and the way he is described, he absolutely leaps of the page and I can imagine him standing here in front of me. He is trying to be a good man, a good husband, a good father and a good son and he can't seem to see why he isn't getting it quite spot on. I loved his integrity and I love how fiercely he really wants to protect those around him but sometimes he just takes the wrong steps to make that happen. I would have loved to have had someone like him in my life!

Kerry is also an incredibly strong character, these two main characters really are alike and we get to find out why that might be as the novel progresses. I love the bond that Kerry has with her son Kian and also her friends that she has made as she has been forming and growing her own life. She really does know what it means to multi task and seems to wring the most she can out of life. 

I loved watching the relationship between Kerry and Noah form over the course of this story, the things that are thrown at each of them and how they each cope with those things. I liked the influence of th3e other people in their lives and as I previously said, I really felt like the issues covered in this novel are so well dealt with. 

This book really is heartbreaking in parts but so honest and true to life it really is impossible not to read and rate it. Come to this one prepared with tissues but don't be put off picking it up because you'll regret it if you don't read this beautiful story!

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

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