Steph's Books

The Life I Left Behind had me hooked right from the beginning. It starts with one of my biggest fears, that of finding somebody dead whilst out walking. The whole of the novel is told from three women's point of view. The police officer Victoria, who is investigating the murder of Eve and consequently looking into the assault on Melody. Then there is Melody whose life has never been the same since the attack on her, and finally Eve. Eve is the women whose body was found, and her story about how she got there is fascinating. She was a journalist who started investigating the sentence against the man who attacked Melody and whether he was wrongly accused.
I found Melody hard to engage with at first. I think this was mainly due to her relationship with very controlling Sam who seemed to manipulate the way she was left after the attack. But as I got more into her story I liked her very much. And hated him more by the page.
Victoria was determined to get to the truth regarding the two cases. Even if it means upsetting her superior who investigated the original case. Very much a minor character compared to the other two who dominated the story.
I loved Eve, her humour, compassion and her determination to get the true story from Melody's ordeal was fantastic to read. She was a delight and I loved getting to 'know' her.
This novel is easily one of my top ten books of the year. Highly recommended, especially if you like something that little bit different.
Thanks to the publisher and the author for the copy via netgalley.