Review: Review: 'The Life You Left' by Carmel Harrington
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2014
Sarah Lawler leads a normal life with her husband Paul, their three children Tommie, Katie and Ella, and her part-time job. However, everything changes completely when one morning when Sarah finds a note from Paul, stating he has gone away and that she shouldn’t worry about him; no further explanation. Suddenly Sarah has to take care of everything alone: the children, the household, the mortgage, and she has no idea how to cope with it all by herself. Unexpectedly, her childhood friend Edward comes back into her life and he’s a big support to her. At the same time, though, Edward also brings another issue into Sarah’s life, mainly because she is the only one that can actually see him...After having finished my first and certainly not last Carmel Harrington novel, I’m glad to say I understand and agree with all the other positive and glowing reviews about her work. ‘The Life You Left’ managed to grip me from its first few sentences until the last final stop, and in between it took me from laughter to anger to tears and back to a smile on my face. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but the plotline is fascinating and has many different aspects to it that made it extremely captivating. There’s a mystery that needs to be solved, there’s a spiritual/paranormal aspect to the story, and next to that there’s Sarah (a strong and admirable leading lady) who is dealing with her marriage problems and a great mix of secondary characters, such as Sarah’s lovely twin brother James and her mother-in-law Rita, who also have their own issues.While I was reading the book, I constantly found myself asking new questions and wanting the answers to them, which resulted in me not wanting to stop reading. This also wasn’t necessary, because Carmel Harrington’s writing flows so easily and is a true pleasure to read. This is a book that’s suitable for any day, any time, and any place, and a book that deals with various topics all of us can relate to or at least be interested in such as family, love, friendship, and following your instincts. ‘The Life You Left’ is an incredibly warm, touching and real read; a beautifully written book that is definitely worth a read.