The Girl Who Came Back by Susan Lewis book review

What is The Girl Who Came Back about?

Susan Lewis’ latest novel seamlessly combines emotional nostalgia with the grief of the present as she narrates Jules Bright’s heart-wrenching account of the cruelty, murder and ill justice that struck right in the heart of her family.

The Girl Who Came Back follows her personal story; it builds you up for tragedy and then takes you with her as she begins to pick up the pieces.

goodtoknow says:

Lewis’ depiction of inter-familial relationships in her latest novel is so accurate and powerfully emotive that The Girl Who Came Back does more than just tug at your heart strings; her characters almost reach out of the pages and pull you in to their twisted world of sadness and revenge. There’s something about the way Lewis so truthfully captures the sensitivity and uniqueness of a mother-daughter bond that makes her novel so gripping; you rather want to unravel the story as if it were happening to your very own family. But the novel isn’t for the faint hearted; anger and grief take hold in turn as the plot unfurls, leaving you feeling almost dazed when the demands of daily life call you to put it down!

Initially, the plot comes across as a little far-fetched and more fictitious than realistic. But as you read further, it seems that is exactly what Lewis wanted to achieve. The book targets that part of us that thinks ‘that would never happen to me,’ by creating a protagonist with whom her readership can so clearly identify, and it really got us questioning how we would react in such a situation.

The Girl Who Came Back is certainly hard to put down, although it isn’t a feel-good read. It’s dark, questioning and beautifully written; if you dare to pick it up, it will utterly absorb you into its twisted tale.

Rating: 7/10 Publisher: Century Publish Date: 25th February 2016