#BlogTour: Meeting Lydia by Linda MacDonald @LindaMac1 #MeetingLydia #RandomThingsTours

Published by Matador on 22nd March 2018. My thanks to the author for the review copy and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invitation for the blog tour. You can get your copy of the book here.

Meeting Lydia explores the very relevant topics of childhood bullying, midlife crises, the pros and cons of internet relationships, and how the psychological effects of these affect the main character and those around her. Readers will be gripped by the turbulent life of Marianne who navigates the onset of menopause, an empty nest, a suspected errant husband and a demanding new obsession that pulls her in deeper as the story unfolds. Those interested in the psychology of relationships will enjoy this novel, as well as those who delight in an enthralling story with relatable characters and the powerful question of what happens when the past catches up with the present. This second edition has reworked the early chapters of the first edition, making for a pacy and shorter version more in line with the audiobook.

Marianne comes home from work one day to find her husband talking to a glamorous woman in their kitchen. Old childhood insecurities resurface, stemming from a time back at school when she was bullied. Jealousy rears its head and her happy marriage begins to crumble. Desperate for a solution - and introduced by her daughter to social networking - she tries to track down her first schoolgirl crush, the enigmatic Edward Harvey. But Marianne is unprepared for the power of email relationships ...

My Thoughts:

Meeting Lydia is the second book that I have read by Linda MacDonald having read and enjoyed The Man in the Needlecord Jacket last year, you can read about that here.

This book is again an exploration of relationships and dynamics that was engaging and enlightening, the reader can't help but be drawn into the lives that are portrayed, the unravelling and the putting back together. 

At the centre of this story is Marianne. A history of bullying has left its scars, and the authors portrayal of this is sensitively handled and accurate. Fast approaching middle age, the menopause and the catalyst of her errant husband leads Marianne into the realms of online relationships and Edward Harvey. 

This book is not particularly fast paced or full of dramatic suspense but what it brings is something else, something different. It peels back the layers so that any of those characters traits could belong to you or me. It was uncomfortable at times. It felt like being a fly on the wall, on the other hand Linda MacDonald has managed to scrape beneath the surface and make her story seem very real and relevant to a whole host of readers. 

Linda MacDonald is a talented and ingenious writer who is capable of getting to the depth of her characters hearts and minds. I look forward to reading more from her in the future. 

Highly Recommended. 

About the Author:

Linda MacDonald is the author of four novels: Meeting Lydia and the stand-alone sequels, A Meeting of a Different Kind, The Alone Alternative and The Man in the Needlecord Jacket. All Linda's books are contemporary adult fiction, multi-themed, but with a focus on relationship issues. 

After studying psychology at Goldsmiths', Linda trained as a secondary science and biology teacher. She taught these subjects for several years before moving to a sixth-form college to teach psychology. The first two novels took ten years in writing and publishing, using snatched moments in the evenings, weekends and holidays. In 2012, she gave up teaching to focus fully on writing. 

Linda was born and brought up in Cockermouth, Cumbria and now lives in Beckenham in Kent.

Follow her on Twitter @LindaMac1

Please do have a look at the other stops on the blog tour.