The Accidental Wife - Rowan Coleman

...and this latest one - The Accidental Wife - is no exception although I would not class it as one of my favourites. I lie the way that all of her books are different and this one is a story about the importance of friendship but it's also ponders on a lot of 'what ifs!' which I guess that most people have been guilty of at some point in their lives!

In the book we meet two thirty something women. They are Alison James and Catherine ...
...with Catherine's boyfriend Marc and the pair have not seen each other for fifteen years. Looking for a fresh start though, Alison and Marc move their family back to Farmington, the village where the girls grew up and after all this time they are forced to confront each other and their past!

This is a story about friendships and relationships. The most important one is the rebuilding of the relationship between Catherine and Alison. ... more

I have read quite a few books by Rowan Coleman now and I class her as one of my preferred authors. All of her books are really enjoyable and this latest one - The Accidental Wife - is no exception although I would not class it as one of my favourites. I lie the way that all of her books are different and this one is a story about the importance of friendship but it's also ponders on a lot of 'what ifs!' which I guess that most people have been guilty of at some point in their lives!

In the book we meet two thirty something women. They are Alison James and Catherine Ashley. The two of them used to be absolute best friends at school and were always inseparable. That was until Alison ran off with Catherine's boyfriend Marc and the pair have not seen each other for fifteen years. Looking for a fresh start though, Alison and Marc move their family back to Farmington, the village where the girls grew up and after all this time they are forced to confront each other and their past!

This is a story about friendships and relationships. The most important one is the rebuilding of the relationship between Catherine and Alison. It is a good demonstration of the importance that women place on relationships and it is quite touching in the way that the women tentatively resume their friendship. There's also the marriage between Alison and Marc which now, fifteen years later, is not going so well. There are a number of regrets and both of them wonder what their lives would have been like if they had chosen a different course of action all those years ago. The relationship which really had me hooked though is that between Catherine and her estranged but very loveable husband Jimmy. Jimmy has had to live with the ghost of Marc all those years but after one small infidelity Catherine leaves him. However for the sake of their children they maintain a close relationship which is probably more loving and caring than when they were married. They are still very much in love with each other although they don't realise it - but is it too late?

I enjoyed this book and found it reasonably easy to read although I have to admit that it did take me a while to get in to (although I don't know why). The story is quite absorbing and it's written in such a way that you really do get to know the characters. I really liked both Catherine and Jimmy and was desperately hoping for a happy ending for the pair of them! I won't tell you what happened of course! The characters can be quite frustrating at times though as there are lots of misunderstandings which is mainly due to their own very strange behaviour. There's also a bit of a light diversion in the form of Catherine's neighbour Kirsty who has an obsession with her personal trainer and goes all out to get him!

This is a very enjoyable reading which at times can be quite amusing and at other times very moving. If you like reading about relationships then you are very likely to enjoy this book. Also if you've ever had a close friendship which has somehow gone wrong then you are very likely to empathise with both main characters and be fascinated by how they start to rebuild their friendship. It's definitely a women's book!

If you are interested it is currently selling on Amazon for £4.36 

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