I’m delighted to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for moving and thought provoking family drama The Choice by Penny Hancock. Thank you to Anne Cater and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to read and review this excellent novel.
About the book:
An estranged daughter. A missing grandson. A mother faced with an impossible choice.
Renee Gulliver appears to have it all: a beautiful house overlooking a scenic estuary on England’s East Coast, a successful career as a relationship therapist, three grown-up children, and a beloved grandson, Xavier. But then Xavier vanishes after Renee fails to pick him up from school, and the repercussions are manifold.
Renee is wracked with remorse; the local community question her priorities, clients abandon her; and, as long-held grievances surface, her daughter Mia offers her a heartbreaking ultimatum. Amid recriminations, misunderstandings and lies, can Renee find a way to reunite her family?
For fans of Jodi Picoult and If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman, Penny Hancock’s The Choice is an engrossing, thought-provoking novel about family secrets and the way that even the smallest decisions can sometimes have far-reaching consequences.
About the author:
Penny was born and grew up in South East London. She is an author and Royal Literary Fellow.
In addition to novels Penny has written on family in The Independent, The Guardian, Junior Magazine, Child Education, the Times Educational Supplement, amongst others. She is an award winning author of readers for Cambridge University Press English Readers series and author of a two level English language course ‘Pebbles’ for young children.
She has two grown up daughters, a son and two granddaughters. She currently divides her time between her home outside Cambridge and her family in London.
My Review:
The Choice by Penny Hancock is a powerful and thought provoking family drama that once started you do not want to put down until the final page has been turned.
Renee Gulliver has a life many people would envy. A gorgeous house overlooking a scenic estuary, a successful career as a relationship therapist, three grown up children and an adorable six year old grandson called Xavier. But then one day everything changes: Renee makes the biggest mistake of her life when she forgets to pick Xavier up from school, the repercussions of which will echo throughout her family forever.
Wracked with remorse, Renee finds her life in tatters, unable to put right the unforgivable mistake she has made. With her career floundering and her relationship with her daughter nonexistent, Renee is given an impossible ultimatum. As long held grievances, secrets and lies begin to come to the surface, can she find a way to reunite her family? Or is it already too late?
Penny Hancock’s writing is superb as she delves beneath the surface of this fractured family, somehow managing to get to the heart of what is a complex and heartbreaking situation. There is an authenticity to her writing that brings these characters vividly to life, my heart aching for them as the layers are carefully peeled away, leading to a moving and thought provoking denouement that I loved.
Penny Hancock is an author who just keeps on going from strength to strength and I can’t wait to see what she is going to come up with next. The Choice is a complex family drama that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
The Choice by Penny Hancock is available to purchase now.
Check out what these other fantastic bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 