Having read and enjoyed all Lisa Jewell’s other books I couldn’t wait to get started on her latest
novel, The truth about Melody Browne, eager to see if it was as good as the
others. And it is. Jewell has produced yet another book you simply won’t want
to put down.
Melody Browne lost everything she owned when her house burned down when she was nine years old. Worse still, she also lost her memory of everything and anything that had happened to her before the fire. When she got pregnant at fifteen her parents' disapproval forced her to leave home and bring up her baby alone. Now in her early thirties Melody lives alone with her son and has not seen her parents since the day she walked out. Despite all this, Melody is happy enough with her life until a chance meeting changes everything and sends her on a bizarre and moving journey to find out who she really is.
On the way home from work on day, a good looking stranger sits next to her on the bus asks for her mobile number because she has amazing shoulders. He eventually persuades her that he is not mad and she agrees to go out with him. For their first date ( Melody’s first in years) they go to see a hypnotist show where Melody is picked from the audience and called up onto stage. On the count of five she becomes a five year old boy with a runny nose and a serious wind problem. It all stops being so funny though when she passes out and the show is called to a halt.
When she comes round she feels inexplicably different and in the days that follow she starts, very slowly to remember things from her early childhood. Just small fragments of unrelated flashbacks at first; an ice cream parlour, a big house in Broadstairs, another house in a small mews in London and a whole bunch of strangers who she feels should mean something to her. Slowly, little by little, Melody starts to piece together her early life and work out who she really is.
This is a warm and moving story so compelling that I guarantee you will be reading well into the early hours. Melody is a character that you really come to care about and her story will stay with you long after you have finished reading the book. Lisa Jewell’s writing is so readable that the only disappointment with this book is that you will finish it far too quickly and be left longing for more.
If you enjoyed this and haven’t read any of Lisa Jewell’s other books then try Ralph’s Party, Thirty Nothing, One Hit Wonder,Vince and Joy and 31 Dream Street.
5/5
By Wendy Knowles
