Having heard so many great things about her, I have been meaning to read an Amanda Prowse novel for quite some time. So when Another Love popped through my letterbox as the result of a Goodreads Giveaway, it had barely hit the mat before I had ripped it open and turned to the first page.
What an amazing story - it was heartbreaking, uplifting, tear-jerking, joyous, despairing and hopeful - this book really does have it all. Romilly is the most flawed character I have ever come across. She just doesn't know when to stop drinking and she is almost bi-polar in her outbursts when the alcohol has her in its grip. Her whole family is affected, none more so than her daughter Celeste and my heart was breaking as each chapter ends with a snippet from her diary. She loves her mum but she is also afraid of her and it was absolutely devastating reading all of Celeste's feelings.

Romilly's husband, David, clearly loves her but you can feel him getting to the end of his tether and I was wondering how much more he could take. As Romilly spirals out of control, David asks her to make a heartbreaking choice - her family or the booze. A decision that Romilly has to live with for the rest of her life - a life that I feared grew shorter every time the bottle hit her lips.

Amanda Prowse has really managed to get under the skin of an alcoholic; the denial, the lies and the feeling of euphoria were all described so well that I felt I was standing in Romilly's shoes. Alcoholism is a serious battle and I can now see how easily alcoholics can fall off the difficult and long path to recovery.

I did need my tissues at the end of this book as the tears fell down my face, blurring the words on the page. I think perhaps they were tears of sadness, joy, and even a mixture of both, as the ending wrapped up perfectly.

Now I know why readers get excited when a new Amanda Prowse novel is released - I will certainly be one of them from now on.

I received this book from the publisher, Head of Zeus, via a Goodreads Giveaway.
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Romilly loves David and their daughter Celeste so much. Sadly her love of alcohol becomes even stronger. This book is the story of that battle.

What a stunning book. At the same time heartbreaking yet not possible to put down. Such exquisite characterisation showing the trauma when addiction beats everything else in your life. This book sheds understanding and humanity to the struggle with this disease.

Everyone should read it - but with a large box of tissues. Heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure.

Amanda Please is an incredibly gifted author. ( )

Amanda's statement 'I write stories for women about women.' was what first drew me to her books. I am yet to be disappointed in reading one of her novels because that statement could not be more true. Whenever a new Amanda Prowse book comes out I can not wait to find out what thread the story is going to weave around, but one thing is always guaranteed; it is going to be emotional. Another Love is no different.

Focusing on the world of Romilly, her husband David and daughter Celeste I immediately loved this family. Amanda has created a family we all know, they are in love, they work hard in their professional careers to provide a beautiful home and a stable life to their much loved child, daughter Celeste. But, as with most relationships, you never know what really goes on behind closed doors.

Romilly has an addiction, one that waggles itself underneath the noses of so many on a daily basis but that they control. But for Romilly that addiction slowly turns itself into an illness, it snakes inside of her and takes hold so tightly she gives herself up to it - Romilly is an alcoholic.

This novel takes us through the torrent of emotions of being an alcoholic, via Romilly's narration and also on the flip side through what it is like for those who find themselves living in a home with someone who has an addiction - in this case via daughter Celeste. I loved the chapters being written from the two viewpoints, even though sometimes it did leave me quite emotionally drained.

It was quite alarming, how Romilly's addiction grew from simple and to be honest quite, run of the mill, random binge drink sessions in University (I think the majority of drinkers have all done that in the past), to the glass of wine looked forward to at the end of the work day with dinner. How quickly the glass turned to half a bottle and then a bottle. How the drink with dinner turned into a little afternoon tipple. I felt sad at those people in Romilly's life who thought it was all fun and games to encourage her to drink, really for their own amusement - whether they realised or not they were pushing her further into alcoholism I am not sure.

I didn't know how far into this illness Romilly would find herself, but Amanda has not held back and we are taken as far as we can go, I am sure all screaming for her to stop in our head, but knowing and understanding that she will not. I like that Amanda did not do it by halves, it made it feel all the more real, which is one of this authors real talents as a writer, she is not afraid, she does not hold back. The characters are flawed and those flaws are the basis for her brilliant novels.

I liked that the alcoholic in this novel was Romilly and not David. It would have been easy to have made the female the one left picking up the pieces, fighting to keep the family together, to keep her daughter shielded. It was - I think - a fresh take, a more unique story this way. Another Love is a perfect title for this novel.

As a big fan of Amanda Prowse and her work I am always a little tentative when starting a new novel, hoping it will be as good as previous. There was no disappointment with this book.

(NB : This review was first posted on my blog The Very Pink Notebook) ( )