This book is a novel set in both Spain and England. It follows the story of a couple who have a young child who disappears whilst on holiday in Spain.
The book is told from both parents’ side of the story and describes their struggles to maintain ‘normality’ and different coping methods after the child has disappeared. It also explores the secrets that families and couples keep from each other and the importance of honesty and openness in relationships.
The book is a good size for packing in a suitcase to take on holiday, and easy to hold and read in bed. It spans just over 400 pages and includes a preview of the author Giselle Green’s forthcoming book.
I found the language within the book easy to read and very non-taxing, especially just before bed. There were no plots that I needed to concentrate on and it was easy to slip in and out of the story line without much effort. With the recent well publicised case of a child going missing whilst on holiday, I was concerned that it would just be a copycat version of this story, but, whilst there were some strong similarities to the case, there were some obvious distinctions too.
I did find the storyline rather frustrating at times, and there were some avenues that I wished the author had explored rather than the conventional way the story played out. Within the context of a missing child contained in the book there were many other storylines that the author touched upon, but didn’t explain fully. The book was set in a period of less than twelve months from beginning to end. I wrongly made the assumption that the parents of a lost child would spend ALL their time during this period concentrating on finding their child pursuing any and every avenue, brushing aside all other commitments. Not so within Little Miracles.
The characters themselves were not fully accessible to the reader – they were briefly introduced but not always with insight. I felt there was some glossing over of more in-depth feelings which would have made for a more interesting approach. That said, I would have been happy reading this on holiday (as long as my child was strapped to me!) It’s not a book that I would necessarily recommend to my peers for a number of reasons, not least due to the rather abrupt, obvious and almost rushed ending. It prompts me to ask: did the author run out of energy or maybe she is saving herself for a second novel in this series?
Green, G (2009) Little Miracles
Avon (division of Harper Collins), London
ISBN – 13: 978-1-84756-068-1
£6.99