Review: Review: 'The Half-Life of Hannah' by Nick Alexander
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2014
Thirty-eight year old Hannah has been happily married to her husband Cliff for the past fifteen years and together they have a teenage son, Luke, who is the centre of Hannah’s life. After a bit of persuading, Hannah convinces Cliff to go on a holiday to the south of France where they have rented a villa together with Hannah’s sister Jill, her daughter, and Jill’s good friend Tristan. Everyone wants to have a relaxing and sunny holiday, but it doesn’t take long before the tension starts to rise. Secrets are being kept and when a ghost from Hannah’s past arrives, she starts to think whether it is time for her to leave this stable life behind and finally start living the other half of her life.The blurb of the book doesn’t promise anything too exciting: a family who goes on holiday together to the South of France. However, after just a few chapters, I was already somehow captivated by Hannah’s voice and the story I found myself in. Hannah appears to be incredibly normal; she’s a housewife and a mother, someone who prefers to hide her problems instead of confront them. Yet, as the story progresses, the reader can see Hannah’s struggle and the fact that she isn’t as happy with her life as it might appear from the outside. The flashbacks to the past definitely helped with that, because we get a glimpse into what could have been. I could relate to Hannah and warmed to her, which I suppose many other readers will be able to do as well; the feeling of wanting to change something, but at the same time not wanting to risk everything you have and worked hard for.Next to Hannah, there’s a mixture of fascinating characters, including Hannah’s son Luke and family friend Tristan, two characters I specifically enjoyed reading about. I didn’t particularly like Jill, Hannah’s sister, but that’s just my personal opinion and didn’t ruin the story for me in any way. I really enjoyed Nick Alexander’s writing style; it was well-paced and comfortable and kept me interested. The book works towards quite a twist at the ending, something I did not see coming, and something that definitely leaves room for a sequel, which I’m really glad there is! As a whole, ‘The Half-Life of Hannah’ is a compelling and fascinating read all about family and finding your true self. I already look forward to reading the sequel, ‘Other Halves’!