This week Richard and Judy are featuring Dorothy Koomson's novel 'My Best Friend's Girl'.
'My Best Friend's Girl' tells the story of Kamryn who unexpectedly receives a letter from her best friend Adele. They haven't spoken for two years, since Kamryn found out that Adele had had a one night stand with her fiance and that the result was Adele's daughter Tegan. Adele has written to Kamryn asking her to visit her in hospital, where she lies dying. Despite telling herself she owes nothing to the woman who wrecked her life, Kamryn finds herself going to see Adele. When she arrives she is astounded when Adele asks her to adopt Tegan, so that she will have a mother to grow up with.
Kamryn realises how much it means to Adele to know that her daughter will be looked after, and agrees to take her in. Unfortunately Tegan is the spitting image of Nate, her father, and Kamryn is unsure of how she will cope with the constant reminder of why she fell out with her best friend. Now she must learn to adapt her life to become a good mother, and finally come to terms with the betrayal.
Carry on across the cut to see what I thought about the book.
'My Best Friend's Girl' is an interesting take on the usual tale of betrayal. The story is well paced and keeps the reader's attention. combining the threads of betrayal with Kamryn's adjusting to motherhood with ease. The characters are well written, though it did feel occasionally as though Koomson was trying to hard to get the reader to love Tegan - the descriptions of what a lovely little girl she is were too frequent and unnecessary, she is so well written you can't help but love her.
I enjoyed reading this, but think that so far it is the weakest of the books featured in this years Summer Read campaign. It would make a good book for the beach, but be prepared for the fact you may need your tissues!
Rating : 4 out of 5
