Published in paperback 12th October 2023 by Aria.
From the cover of the book:
This Christmas, everything will change...When Liv Latimer says goodbye to her fellow nurses and finishes work for the holidays, she's looking forward to a Christmas to remember with her boyfriend Eddie.
But as she leaves the hospital, tragedy strikes and Liv is faced with a choice. Will she ignore her instincts and go home as planned? Or will she stay, and potentially change the course of her life as she knows it?
Whatever choice she makes, Liv is about to discover that fate finds a way...
From the bestselling Irish author of The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club comes an emotional and uplifting festive story about love, family and how a split-second decision can change your life.
***********
But as Liv leaves the hospital, she is involved in an incident that leaves her with a choice. Should she head home as planned, or stay behind in Dublin and follow the pull of destiny that is tugging at her..?
What could be nicer that a story that takes you back to glorious Ballycove, where it is always like being among old friends? Well, how about a story that takes place in Ballycove at Christmas? Now you are talking! But this is also an unusual Ballycove story, because in On the First Day of Christmas Faith Hogan works the cleverest of Christmas magic, with two parallel story lines for Liv that diverge at a fateful moment in time.
In one she continues on to Ballycove and the family reunion she has been looking forward to, and in the other she follows her instincts and stays in Dublin. It is really difficult to talk about either of the timelines without spoilers, but suffice to say that both offer Liv a chance to reflect on where life has brought her, but in different ways. In true Sliding Doors style, it is hard to tell which timeline will ultimately prove to be the one that offers Liv the happiness she has been looking for since the tragic death of her twin sister Rachel.
It is easy to keep track of the parallel stories in the text as they are helpfully printed in different fonts, and they swap back and forth to build up a picture of what fate holds for Liv in each one. Many of the same characters crop up in both - notably Eddie and his awful mother Barbara; Liv's parents and younger sister Maya; and Liv's best friend Pete and his deceitful girlfriend Anya. There are name drops for some other familiar faces you might know if you have spent any time in Ballycove too. As each storyline unfurls, Hogan moves back and forth between them more frequently, which builds pace beautifully, until they come crashing together in the most unexpected manner.
What could be nicer that a story that takes you back to glorious Ballycove, where it is always like being among old friends? Well, how about a story that takes place in Ballycove at Christmas? Now you are talking! But this is also an unusual Ballycove story, because in On the First Day of Christmas Faith Hogan works the cleverest of Christmas magic, with two parallel story lines for Liv that diverge at a fateful moment in time.
In one she continues on to Ballycove and the family reunion she has been looking forward to, and in the other she follows her instincts and stays in Dublin. It is really difficult to talk about either of the timelines without spoilers, but suffice to say that both offer Liv a chance to reflect on where life has brought her, but in different ways. In true Sliding Doors style, it is hard to tell which timeline will ultimately prove to be the one that offers Liv the happiness she has been looking for since the tragic death of her twin sister Rachel.
There are so many things I love about this book, including the delicious way Hogan keeps where her real intentions lie hidden until the climax of the story. As in all her books, this one revolves around the trials, tribulations, hopes and dreams we can all relate to about family, friendship, loss, and the pivotal decisions that we make. She has such a talent for working these themes through to heart-warming, bittersweet conclusions, and the same is true of this story. But there is also an extra dimension here that makes the absolute best of the magic that comes with a tale set at Christmas, by weaving in the enchanting whisper of a supernatural guiding hand from Liv's late sister Rachel to ensure everything works out the way it should.
This is a reread for me, and I adored it just as much as I did first time around. The way Hogan uses the idea of 'the road not taken' is so moving, and her use of the colours green and gold throughout to tie Liv and Rachel together is very clever. This story made me laugh, it made me cry, and it even made me angry at times (Eddie, Barbara and Anya I am looking at you here!). I finished with a heart that was full, and many tears shed - and I would not have changed a thing. What an excellent book to get the festive reading season underway!
This is a reread for me, and I adored it just as much as I did first time around. The way Hogan uses the idea of 'the road not taken' is so moving, and her use of the colours green and gold throughout to tie Liv and Rachel together is very clever. This story made me laugh, it made me cry, and it even made me angry at times (Eddie, Barbara and Anya I am looking at you here!). I finished with a heart that was full, and many tears shed - and I would not have changed a thing. What an excellent book to get the festive reading season underway!
On the First Day of Christmas is available t buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Aria for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Her new summer read The Guest House By The Sea is out now and it's a great big welcome back to Ballycove for her readers.
She writes twisty contemporary crime fiction as Geraldine Hogan.
She lives in the west of Ireland with her family and a sausage-loving Labrador named Penny. She's a writer, reader, enthusiastic dog walker and reluctant jogger - except of course when it is raining!
No comments:
Post a Comment