Published in paperback 1st August 2024 by Simon and Schuster.
From the cover of the book:
A deeply affecting novel, In Bloom tells of strength, survival, forgiveness, resilience and determination, and the fierce love and unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters.Delph has kept herself small and quiet as a form of self-protection, ever since the love of her life Sol’s untimely death left her pregnant and alone at the age of twenty-four. Theirs was such a once-in-a-lifetime love, that the loss of her soulmate broke her heart ‒ and almost broke her, too.
Years on, Delph’s protective bubble bursts when her daughter Roche moves out of the flat Delph shares with her partner Itsy and in with her estranged nan, Moon. Now that it’s just the two of them, the cracks in Delph and Itsy’s relationship begin to grow. Feeling on the outside of the bond between her fierce-yet-flaky tarot-reading mother and volatile martial-arts-champion daughter, Delph begins questioning her own freedom.
Is her life with Itsy all it seems? And has keeping small and safe truly been her choice all these years…?
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Delph is forced to take a good hard look at her life when her seventeen-year-old-daughter Roche makes the choice to leave home and move in with Delph's mother Moon, an eccentric woman who exists very much on her own terms.
Delph has a lot to reflect on. She begins to realise she has been sleepwalking through the years, kept under the control of her partner Itsy, the man who came into her life when she was left pregnant and alone by the staggering murder of Roche's father, Sol.
Can these three women ever find a way to be a family?
This stunning family drama, with touches of literary thriller and unconventional romance, totally immerses you in the lives of three generations of women separated by the emotional baggage they have collected. At the heart of the novel sits Delph, caught between the maddening behaviour of her flaky mother Moon, and the frustrations her daughter Roche cannot contain. They seem poles apart, and you feel every moment of exasperation as they cannot help but rub each other the wrong way, which I think many readers will find poignantly relatable.
Verde knows how to write superbly about difficult family dynamics from the outset, but it is not until the history of these women reveals itself through sensitively written scenes in the present, and powerfully wielded glimpses of the past, that that you truly understand the events that have shaped them. There is an almost relentless tide of heartache, yearning, and unfathomable loss laid bare as you discover shocking secrets that Moon only knows how to stifle under hoarded possessions and a cocktail of drink and drugs; Delph's utter helplessness in a relationship that is all about control rather than love; and the aching vulnerability of Roche as she struggles with her identity, future and fears.
My emotions took a pounding from the echoing themes of abuse, racism, manipulation, and grief. Many tears were shed. And yet, as these women shatter the well-worn pattern of dysfunction that isolates them from each other, confronting the past and looking towards a future filled with forgiveness, it is the unbreakable bonds of love and the warming spark of hope that overwhelm you. I loved that Delph, Moon and Roche finally come into blossom, in keeping with the wonderful title In Bloom, and it was a joy to be at their sides as they found their way towards the sunlight. Beautifully written, and intensely moving.
In Bloom is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
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