Sheer Abandon

'Sheer Abandon' marks Penny Vincenzi's first novel since completing the hugely popular and successful 'Spoils of Time' trilogy. As a long time fan of Vincenzi I was desperate for its arrival (there was a gap of two years between publications)... but could it possibly live up to the huge expectations I now had for anything she wrote?

'Sheer Abandon' tells the tale of Kate, a foundling. Abandoned in a cleaning cupboard at Heathrow in the 1980s, Kate is now a teenager and curious about where she came from. This is entwined in the tales of three women who met as they all began a gap year of travelling, Jocasta - now a tabloid reporter, Clio - a GP, and Martha - a lawyer ensconced in the world of corporate business. It quickly becomes apparent that one of these three women is Kate's birth mother, but the question is which one?

The issue of which woman is the mother is resolved relatively early in the book from the reader's point of view. To the rest of the characters however it remains a secret until far nearer the end. I felt this was an interesting choice of storytelling style for Vincenzi to make - revealing the big secret as early on in the book may have put some people off finishing the book. However I strongly hope that all who start this book finish it, as it is in the continued reading of the book that you realise what a stroke of genius it is to reveal the secret to the reader. It provides an added element of interest in various meetings and coming-togethers of the various plotlines - almost a sense of "I know something you don't know."

The book to me was truly representative of all that makes Penny Vincenzi one of my favourte female authors. Her books contain well written characters woven carefully around each other in intricate plots and this is certainly no different. Whilst not every character is likeable, you care about all of them and what happens to them. Vincenzi regularly pushes past the 600 page mark, and again this is true to form. The fact that these pages zoom by is testament to Vincenzi's ability to engage the reader.

I would highly recommend this to anybody, and for the average speed reader I'd say you could pack this in your suitcase and not need any other book for your week's holiday. [Jenni Nock]

If you liked this, try The Family Way by Tony Parsons.

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