Book Review - The Affair ~ Amanda Brooke - Family Drama

TITLE - The Affair

AUTHOR - Amanda Brooke

PAGES - 432

PUBLISHER - Harper

Buy Link - Amazon UK Amazon US


SYNOPSIS


A shocking story about a fifteen-year-old girl and the man who took advantage of her.
“You might as well know from the start, I’m not going to tell on him and I don’t care how much trouble I get in. It’s not like it could get any worse than it already is.

I can’t. Don’t ask me why, I just can’t.”

When Nina finds out that her fifteen-year-old daughter, Scarlett, is pregnant, her world falls apart.

Because Scarlet won’t tell anyone who the father is. And Nina is scared that the answer will destroy everything.

As the suspects mount – from Scarlett’s teacher to Nina’s new husband of less than a year – Nina searches for the truth: no matter what the cost.

MY REVIEW

This is a book with a subject that I am passionate about, child sexual exploitation or CSE. A young girls head is turned by an older man, who showers her with love and affection; she believes everything he tells her. 

What I enjoyed about this book was although this was the main theme of the book, there were lots of other stories going on in the background; family dramas and heartache; Teenage romance; business exploits and lies. Lots of lies. 

The book is initially told going backwards and forwards in time, which got somewhat confusing and I had to go back and read some bits again. This then seemed to stop. There are chapters narrated by Scarlet the 15 yr old at the centre of the story and then chapters with the other characters in. I enjoyed how the author wrote about the interaction between all the different characters and their relationships. 

I enjoyed how you were kept guessing who the older man was, and the whole situation was delicately handled. It showed how the situation affects not just the immediate family but the whole family circle. Apart from the disjointed start to the book, I enjoyed it and would certainly read more books by this author. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author is a single mum in her forties who lives in Liverpool with her teenage daughter

Jessica. She has a degree in Computer Studies and an established career in local government although up until recent years, her writing skills were mainly concentrated on producing corporate documents. It was only when her young son was diagnosed with cancer that Amanda began to develop her writing, recording her family's journey in a journal and through poetry. When Nathan died in 2006 at just three years old, Amanda was determined that his legacy would be one of inspiration not devastation.

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