10 Jan 2012 Edit

The novel begins with a catastrophic fire in a private school in the UK, which badly injures a mother and daughter. The story is largely told through the voice of the mother, Grace, as she tries to uncover the identity of the arsonist. You do have to suspend a bit of disbelief early on in  this book, as both Grace, and her daughter,Jenny, are trying to investigate the mystery whilst they are both unconscious in hospital. So unfettered by their physical bodies, they are able to listen in on private conversations, travel outside the hospital, and get some insights into the mystery that the police do not. Meanwhile back in the physical  world, Grace’s sister-in-law, Sarah, a police officer, is trying to uncover the arsonist.
It is a book full of red herrings, perhaps a few too many, my husband guessed the perpetrator from the second chapter (so he says…) I was a bit slower off the mark. I think there was an opportunity missed in exploring the mother/daughter relationship further – considering they were both in the same predicament of floating about outside their bodies, they didn’t seem to spend that much time together, or ponder much on their out of body experience. I also found the exploration of motherhood  was a bit overdone at times, bordering on the cheesy.
In all, not as great a novel as Sister, but a perfectly adequate follow up to such a runaway success, and I’ll look forward to her next novel with interest.

There is a fire and they are in There. They are in there ...Black smoke stains a summer blue sky. A school is on fire. And one mother, Grace, sees the smoke and runs. She knows her teenage daughter Jenny is inside. She runs into the burning building to rescue her. Afterwards, Grace must find the identity of the arsonist and protect her family from the person who's still intent on destroying them. Afterwards, she must fight the limits of her physical strength and discover the limitlessness of love.

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