Review: Sensitively handled story about love, loss and battling one's demons
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 23, 2014
4.25 to 4.5 starsIn Recovery Jamie, at twenty-eight, has been sober for a year with the support of his original sponsor, Alec Bailey, and Alec’s wife Belle – people Jamie has come to think of as the parents of his heart. Not long after the Baileys welcome Jamie into their lives like a second son, Belle was diagnosed with brain tumour. Now almost a year later, they had all hoped that battle had been won, but the treatments have not worked as well as they had wished for and the prognosis is not good. This is the point where Recovery picks up the story.It’s during the launch party for Alec’s new magazine publication that Jamie meets Daniel. They click from the beginning, even with an almost twenty-year age gap. It’s an age difference that never really comes into play between them, even though Daniel’s daughter from his almost thirty year marriage with his ex-wife is a year older than Jamie. That’s written as very believable. They truly come together as equals and Jamie’s past experiences and his battle with alcoholism give him a realistic maturity by this point in his life.For the most part, the writing was very good, but there was a bit of a propensity to jump over important events and then telling what happened after the fact which made the story feel a bit disjointed and over-explained at times. I liked the sub-theme of redemption between father and son with Alec and Owen. It was sensitively dealt with, becoming neither soap operish nor blasé. The majority of the book has a gentle, even pace that gathered all the plot threads together as it went, bringing them together nicely. Belle’s battle with her cancer and how her family dealt with it was beautifully done. Her scrapbook was absolutely brilliant. Beautiful and brilliant. You’ll have to read the book to see what I’m talking about, but I’m sure you’ll agree when you do.This isn’t Jamie and Daniel’s love story, although their romance is definitely there. It isn’t even Jamie’s story alone in some ways, even though it is told solely from his POV. It’s Belle’s story. And Owen’s. And Alec’s. It’s about the things that tear families apart and the things that bring them back together. It’s about battles fought, some lost and some won. It’s about forgiveness and redemption and love. Above all else, this book is about love; in all its forms.Read the full review at Live Your Life, Buy The Book