- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Michael Joseph (14 Feb 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0718159004
- ISBN-13: 978-0718159009
Also available on Kindle
Cheltenham, 1991
When Eva Patterson returns home from work one day, a devastating scene awaits her. Her mother, Flora, lies dead in the bath. Beside her is a note saying only: 'Forgive Me'.
Until then, Eva always believed her family's life would be comfortable and secure - but Flora's suicide changes everything.
And when Eva discovers that in her will Flora left her an artist's studio in London, she realises how little she knows about her mother's past.
When Eva visits the now derelict studio, she is shocked to find out that her mother was once a successful artist back in the 1960s. A chance encounter leads her to Phil, who agrees to help her restore the studio, as well as offering her the advice and friendship Eva so badly needs.
In the studio attic she finds a collection of Flora's paintings and old diaries, which Eva believes were purposely left for her to find.
Searching for answers, Eva encounters a psychic who mysteriously warns her to beware of a 'sleeping serpent', which she soon discovers refers to a shocking crime in Flora's past.
Will discovering the truth destroy Eva's belief in everything she holds dear? And will Phil stand by Eva even when her journey leads her and those she loves into certain danger?
In the prologue we see Flora Patterson planning and executing her suicide, hoping and expecting that she will be found by her controlling husband, Andrew.
This is not the case as her eldest daughter, Eva is the first home, finishing work early that day and is met by the traumatic sight of her mother laying dead in a blood filled bath.
Twenty year old Eva had always felt the black sheep of the family, never quite fitting in with her younger, more beautiful brother and sister. After coping with the trauma of finding her mother's body, she had to take over her position in the house, cooking , cleaning and dealing with the dramatic outbursts of her younger sister, Sophie. She is never thanked or accepted for undertaking this massive task, and to make matters worse was told some very shocking and upsetting news by her father, Andrew.
After there were the seeds of many secrets hinted at her mother's funeral, she felt it was time to leave home and try to explore these, as none of them were leading to the Flora that she had known for twenty years.
Eva had inherited Flora's studio in London as she turned twenty-one and felt the secrets would lay there.
When she arrived it was left by tenants and squatters as no more than a hovel, and it took many 'man hours' and most of her monetary inheritance to make it inhabitable, and her knight in shining armour, Phil seems ready to assist in her plight, finding lots of 'workman' friends to come along and help her to complete her task.
What she had not realised was what an influential and successful painter her mother had been, and found examples of her work, and several diaries all relating to Eva's infant-hood and the time before she was born, hidden away in the attic of the Holland Park studio.
As she delves deeper into the diaries she slowly begins to piece together the puzzle, but there are still parts missing that she feels she needs to go to Scotland, where it seemed Flora once lived, to complete. She meets some interesting characters while there, and an acquaintance from her mother's past - a psychic who goes by the name of Deena Deeds tries to warn her off Flora's trail, telling her there is no good to come of it, and warning her of a 'sleeping serpent', a secret that has to power to destroy many lives if she does not leave it well alone. She also warns her of grave danger, all of which Eva is desperate to ignore, assuming and hoping that Deena is a fraud.
Eva travelled home from Scotland with far more knowledge than she bargained for, and a whole new mystery which was threatening to take over her whole life.
When a painting of her mother's goes in to be restored a statement written by Flora is recovered which was taped to the back, which blows the lid off everything Eva once knew about her mother, and has her questioning whether she ever knew her at all, but answers in full the question as to why Flora committed suicide.
I really enjoyed Forgive Me, it was fast paced and a real page turner. For me, it was not at all a predictable read and I loved watching Eva rebuild her life, even though there was an unbelievable amount of tragedy and obstacles along the way. There was a strong theme of perseverance and triumphing through what seemed like an endless cycle of adversity throughout the whole book.
I loved the characters, especially Gregor and Patrick, it was lovely to watch Eva finding people who seemed to truly care for her, and I had a special soft spot for Phil, who reminded me so much of my husband!
My only criticism would be that sometimes Eva's dialogue seemed very old fashioned, and even though it was set in the 1990's I found it not quite how a young person would speak, but that in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
I found it a truly brilliant storyline, this is the first novel by Lesley Pearse I have read. and will definitely encourage me to read more of her past work!
Many thanks to Sophie at ED public relations for providing me with a copy of Forgive Me in exchange for an honest review.
