Saturday, April 20, 2013

One Moment, One Morning

One Moment, One Morning
by Sarah Rayner

One Moment, One Morning

Genre: Women's Fiction

Summary (from the publisher):
The Brighton to London line. The 07:44 train. Carriages packed with commuters. One woman occupies her time observing the people around her. Opposite, a girl puts on her make-up. Across the aisle, a husband strokes his wife's hand. Further along, another woman flicks through a glossy magazine. Then, abruptly, everything changes: a man collapses, the train is stopped, an ambulance called. And for three passengers that particular morning, life will never be the same again: there's Lou, in an adjacent seat, who witnesses events first hand; Anna, who's sitting further up the train, impatient to get to work; and Karen. Karen is the man's wife. Telling the story of the week following that fateful train journey, "One Moment, One Morning" is a stunning novel about love and loss, secrets and lies, family and - above all - friendship. Memorable and moving, gripping the reader from the very first page, it's a stark reminder that sometimes, one moment is all it takes to shatter everything. Yet it also reminds us that somehow, despite it all, life can and does go on

Review:  The writing was generally easy to read, yet not remarkable, but I found the frequent flashbacks hard to follow.  The main characters were likable and easy to relate to, although Lou's connection with the other women seemed a little forced, and her struggles seemed entirely separate from the main happenings in the book.  While I liked her character a lot, she could have been removed from the story with little impact.  The primary focus was on Karen's ability to deal with her husband's death and help her small children through their grief, and I felt that this was done effectively and movingly.  Otherwise, the ending for each character was very predictable.  All in all, an enjoyable read, but not a very memorable book.

Rating: 3 stars


1 comment:

  1. I've been wanting to read this book. Did I tell you about this book? I may still read it since you say it's enjoyable but it's lost at my library :(

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