I am delighted to be taking part in the blog tour today, for the paperback release. I have heard so many good things about this book leading up to me reading it. My thanks to the Publisher (Faber & Faber)
Carmel has always been different - sometimes odd, distracted and prone to getting lost. When she and her mother, Beth, spend a day out at at a festival, they become separated and Carmel disappears. As Beth desperately searches for her daughter, Carmel embarks on an extraordinary journey, with a man who claims she has a special gift.
I guess this book could be catergorised as a crime thriller. In my opinion it is much more than that. The author has created fantastic characters in Carmel and Beth. This is where the beauty of the story lies for me.
From the outset there is a sense of foreboding, Carmel has a habit of wandering off. She is a bit of a dreamy, unusual girl. The day of the festival though, is different. Carmel isn't found this day, is it possible that she is gone for good. If so, where? and what happened to her?
I found this story utterly compelling. Told through Beth and Carmel in varying Chapters, we readers get a real glimpse of what both female characters are going through. The confusion and maybe slight naivety of Carmel and her partial acceptance of what has happened, she never gives up her roots though. With all she went through she remembers exactly who she is and her identity. Her side of the story was absolutely heartbreaking in places.
Beth on the otherhand tells us how life can slowly unravel, the absolute devastation and loss that a disappearance can cause and how it is possible to slowly put the pieces back together again, with a strength that is stoical.
The other characters are also all well written and intriguing and engaging.
This book had me drawn in from the first page to the last. It was frightening that something like this story could happen. I found this totally compelling and could have easily read more after I turned the last page.
Highly recommended.
About the Author:
Kate Hamer grew up in Pembrokeshire. She went to art college and then on to study History of Art at Manchester University. She graduated in 1988. She worked in television for over ten years.
Having always written purely for herself, she finally decided to begin an MA in creative writing at Aberystwyth University in 2011. Here, she won a prize for the best beginning of a novel – the work that became The Girl in the Red Coat.
She lives with her husband Mark in Cardiff, has two Children and is currently writing full time.
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