Leah
Written on Sep 16, 2009
My first, and only, Louise Candlish book I’ve read was the outstanding Since I Don’t Have You which ranks high up on my list of best books ever so I was always going to be doubtful about any further books by Louise. I also have another of Louise’s books to read, The Second Husband, but decided to read her newest Before We Say Goodbye as it sounded like a fabulous read.
I thought the book opened perfectly, on the eve of Maggie’s death, and I was quickly dragged into the book. It’s told in three parts – I’m not a fan of books being in parts – but the “parts” don’t jump time too much, if at all. The whole of the first part is told in the first-person perspective by Olivia and the last two parts alternate between first- and third-person, bringing in Olivia’s husband Russell’s perspective, which helps to balance out the book. I enjoyed the added perspective as I didn’t think Olivia was enough of a force to keep the whole book going with just her thoughts.
For me though, the let down of the book were the characters. I didn’t like Olivia at all. I thought she was incredibly selfish especially since she herself grew up with an absent mother, granted her mother, Maggie, was away far longer than Olivia was, but that isn’t the point. Olivia still deserted her two children, Noah and Jamie, even though her mothers’ desertion disgusted her. It made her out to be a bit of a hypocrite. I was surprised at how quick she was to take herself off to Millington in search of Richie. I know a lot happened between them but even so, it was twenty years ago. Unsurprisingly though, both Olivia and Richie still felt the same about each other which was a bit hard to take. For a while Olivia came across very clingy once she met up with Richie again and it drove me insane as I found it difficult to swallow. Surely one of them would have changed in the twenty years they hadn’t seen each other? but no. I can’t say I particularly liked Richie. I don’t really know why, I just couldn’t take to him. For most of the book, my sympathies were with Russell until Jana came into the picture. Then he lost all credibility, too, as far as I was concerned. My favourite character was probably young Wren, Richie’s daughter. It says it all when my favourite character is a child.
One of the highlights of the book were the flashbacks to Olivia and Dean’s childhood. We learn exactly what their mothers abandonment did to them and why they resented her so much. We also learn how Olivia and Richie first fell in love and eventually we also learn how it all went wrong. I thought those chapters really added to the book and I enjoyed them immensely. It took a while to get to the crux of the matter, but it didn’t disappoint. The flashbacks were definitely my favourite part and they helped to mould the story better and added flesh to the whole thing. I have to admit that I didn’t see what Maggie did that was so wrong it warranted so much hate from her children. Yes, she abandoned them which was awful but Olivia made her out to be the anti-christ particularly when it came to Richie. Olivia held one heck of a grudge in regards to what her mother allegedley did to try and end Olivia and Richie’s relationship. Even twenty years later she still didn’t seem to be over it all. I can understand it, because Olivia did go through a lot after Richie left, but it also seemed a bit… I don’t know, childish? I felt that after twenty years she should have moved on. Olivia had a loving husband and two great children but she still wasn’t happy.
For all I’ve said about the book, I didn’t hate it. I just wasn’t a fan of any of the characters. It’s hinted that Olivia is having some kind of breakdown, but that never really took off. It was an underlying thing that never really happened. It’s a shame I didn’t find it lived up to expectations. It was a great idea for a plot and it worked in a way, it just wasn’t what I expected and I found the characters incredibly disappointing. One last thing I have to mention is the ending. It seemed like a cop-out – it was too quick. I would recommend this if you liked Louise’s other books but it you’re new to Louise I’d recommed you read Since I Don’t Have You.