Out now
Published by Bookouture
Purchase from Amazon here
What is the book about?
Hello? Rhys Woods? I have a patient here I think you know. Yours
is the only number in her diary…
When Rhys is called to the hospital to meet Susan,
a woman he barely knows, he is compelled to help her. Still grieving the loss
of his brother months earlier, Rhys knows all too well the feeling of
loneliness.
There are years between them, but Rhys is the only person Susan
will respond to, and when she asks him to bring her her most treasured
possession, a book of fairytales, he is intrigued.
Hidden in the book is a clue to Susan’s past, and the painful
regrets she carries with her. And as Rhys starts to unearth Susan’s secrets, he
finds that his own grief begins to heal too…
Together, Susan and Rhys must learn to live again. Can they help
each other to find happiness and finally mend their broken hearts?
How to Mend a Broken Heart is a heart-wrenching
and absorbing story about second chances, forgiveness, and making every second
count, perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Lucy Dillon and Miranda Dickinson.
What did I think?
The first thing that grabbed my attention was the cover
of this book. It is beautiful, and as I came to find out, sometimes you can
judge a book by its cover, because the story told in the pages were also
beautiful.
I must admit that I didn’t fully take in the
synopsis before starting to read. I was expecting a light story of someone who
has had a break up and has to get back on her feet. But what I found was far
more than that. It was deeper, more heartfelt and compelling.
The blurb tells you what you need to know about the
book without giving too much away, and that is part of what I found powerful,
not knowing the characters stories, and having them revealed to me as I read.
Yes, ok, it isn’t too long before you put the pieces of the jigsaw together,
but for me it didn’t take away from the book as this is a work that as
described on the cover is an emotional, uplifting page turner about love, loss
and hope. I felt all those emotions during the course of the story, and as I
write this review, just hours after finishing it, I find myself feeling that I
have taken a message away that will stay with me.
Susan is a complex and troubled character and like
Rapunzel, trapped in a tower of her troubled and sad life, she needs rescuing.
When an event happens Rhys is the only contact number they can find on her and
so Rhys gets a call which leads to him racing to the hospital thinking his Mum
has been injured. Whilst relieved that his family is ok, he is compelled by
Susan, and having lost his brother he has an urge to see if by helping Susan he
can bring some closure and answers to his grief.
One character not mentioned in the blurb is Kat who
is a nurse working at the hospital. She is also key to the story and I loved her.
She has her own past that she is battling, but she is strong, caring and
compassionate. A little bit of a lost and damaged soul I could relate to her.
I wasn’t initially sure how I felt about Susan and
Rhys. Whilst I was reading the words and could understand them it took me time
to get inside their heads and emotions, but for me it was worth the wait. Their
stories are moving and absorbing, as is Kats. I loved the way that the author
has made each of their situations and feelings compliment eachother.
Each chapter is narrated by a different character
which gave it an added dimension for me as I was able to look at the how the
story evolved from each of their perspectives, in particular Kat and Rhys.
Susan is definitely far more closed and surrounded by more mystery which by the
end really left me wondering how things would pan for her. I would love to hear
her story with her as narrator.
I have just seen that this the debut novel from Anna
Mansell which didn’t even occur to me whilst reading. Full of character, depth
and emotional writing this book is fantastic, and I can’t wait to read more of
her work.
About Anna Mansell
Anna spent almost twenty years trying to shoehorn writing in to her career as a marketing manager for dance and theatre companies. Eventually, she did what you are not remotely supposed to do and walked away from an excellent job in order to try and become a published author. Three years, lots of tears and some slightly hairy bank balances later, she met Kirsty Greenwood and the rest, as they say, is history. Anna lives in Cornwall with her husband and two kids. She feels very fortunate!
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