One Long Weekend by Shari Low

When I requested this book, I did not realise that it was a part of another series by the author. The first that I read from her, in fact. The author had followed up her first ever hit book with a sequel more than a decade apart and it worked well. This is a form of addendum to that series, with characters from that but a different focus entirely.

There are three main different parts to this tale. One is where a grieving widow takes a vacation to her niece’s place ( it was only once she got to the niece’s house did I realise who all the people were, much to my shame). The other is of a corrupt ex- government official whose wife is miserable and making plans to better her life. Her son is another part of this narrative. We also have a young woman who has come to see if her whirlwind romance a few years prior might still have something in it for her.

The author is very good at bringing different voices into a single cohesive plotline. Each individual sounds distinct and although I could have done without the possibility of too many multiple happily-ever-afters, I still enjoyed this book.

Grief and missing a loved one are key features in this story and very simple language is used to demonstrate the depth of emotions people feel. It was easy to feel all the sorrows that are discussed here. There are some happy moments as well as some funny ones ( although less of the latter). I highly recommend the author and this book for people who like multi-cast narratives. Even people who have not read the other books in this ‘series’ will be able to appreciate the story here.

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.