Title: The Girl in the Corner
Author: Amanda Prowse
Published on: 20th December 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rae-Valentine and Howard were childhood sweethearts. On the night of their 25th wedding anniversary, Howard reveals a shocking betrayal that shatters Rae’s happy life.
Her wedding anniversary present is a two-week vacation at Antigua. But Rae doesn’t want to go with her husband. So, Dolly, Rae’s best friend since the age of 16 and Howard’s sister, accompanies her to Antigua. The vacation is a much needed break for Rae but things do not go as planned. Or rather, Rae realizes that all the things that she’s gone through so far have been made for her. In other words, others made decisions for Rae. Things are about to change for Rae.
Is Rae willing to look deep into her inner self and make the right choice this time?
I am going to start the review by saying that, as I read through the book, my opinion turned out to be similar to a cosine wave. As the story started, I was really engrossed. Rae and Dolly meeting by chance and then Rae and Howard dating, their marriage, kids and finally 25th wedding anniversary. And then… the downfall. Howard confessing to cheating on Rae. Rae’s anger and dejection. She feels she’s lost everything. She cannot make up her mind to forgive her husband. Howard trying his best to make up with his wife. Rae not being able to forgive her husband.(Yes, it repeats… again and again and again.)
Dolly is Rae’s best friend and sister-in-law. She supports her brother and thinks that Rae should forgive him no matter what happened in the past. When Rae questions her if she would forgive if her husband had cheated on her, Dolly says no – no because her husband loves her so much and he wouldn’t cheat. I really did not like Dolly. Not a bit! If she had been through what Rae had, she wouldn’t have given her husband a chance. But now, since its her brother who has cheated on his wife, she thinks she has the right to support her brother!!
In real life, I have met a few who fall first in line when it comes to giving advice… unasked advice. But when they go through a similar situation, they make excuses and state that their ‘situation’ is ‘different’ and nobody has any say in it. Psshh! The author has made an excellent job in highlighting real life scenarios in this book.
The transformation of Rae, the girl in the corner, to Rae, the girl who finally decided to stand up for what’s right, was amazing. Though, I would like to add that I wish the story wasn’t more inclined towards how Rae felt helpless and indecisive. More than half of the book is about Rae’s issues and her feeling helpless about it. The ending is really good. This might be a spoiler but I am going ahead and saying it. Rae stands up for what is right. It was really nice to see Rae finally being a strong and independent woman. But, I wish there was more of this in the story than Rae being delirious.
I loved Amanda’s writing style. It keeps the reader engrossed until the end. The storytelling was good too. I might seem repetitive here but I liked the way she included real-life scenarios in this book. It even makes you feel like you could relate to a few things mentioned in the book. The story highlights the emotional side of the character, a tad too much if you ask me, but with such an awesome ending, I really did not mind it at all. That is why I said it was more like a cosine wave – starts on a high, then the downfall and then, high again.
Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.
The Book Decoder 