Tuesday 24 April 2018

The Runaway Wife - Dee MacDonald


About the book… 
One evening in early August, while mashing the potatoes for dinner, Connie McColl decides she’s had enough…

Connie is tired of solving one family crisis after another - usually involving her unruly grandchildren - while her husband Roger spends all day at his beloved golf course. Surely it must be time for her to shake off her apron and start living again?

So Connie packs a bag, gets in her little green car and drives off...

As Connie journeys from England to Scotland on an unexpected adventure, she finally begins to rediscover herself. And she starts to wonder, will she ever be ready to return home? Or will this summer change her life forever?

The Runaway Wife is an inspiring and joyously uplifting novel about being true to yourself. If you loved The Kicking the Bucket List and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry this book is for you.

Buy Links:
  
iBookstore Buy Link: http://ow.ly/ARm130jCDeS
Kobo Buy Link: http://ow.ly/26W730jCDg0
GooglePlay Link: http://ow.ly/1BG330jCDhr

About the author… 
Aged 18, Dee arrived in London from Scotland and typed her way round the West End for a couple of years before joining BOAC (forerunner of British Airways) in Passenger Services for 2 years and then as a stewardess for 8 years.

She has worked in Market Research, Sales and at the Thames TV Studios when they had the franchise.

Dee has since relocated to Cornwall, where she spent 10 years running B&Bs, and only began writing when she was over 70!
Married twice, she has one son and two grandsons.


My thoughts…
I was given an early read of this book and asked to be part of the Blog Blitz in exchange for an honest review by Kim at Bookouture.  This is something I am more than happy to do.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book.  It hits the spot on so many levels.  Connie McColl, wife, mother, grandmother has had enough.  She's living everybody else life and doesn't seem to exist as a person worthy of living her own life.  She's living in a house she doesn't like, organising and running around after her husband and at the beck and call of her children - often the main carer of her grandchildren.

One summers evening she makes the decision to leave home, the turning point was the reality of the previous day.  A day that should have been significant in the calendars of the whole family but as usual, no-one remembered or acknowledged it with the exception of her friend Wendy.

Connie packed up her trusty but old car with everything she thought she might need for a prolonged trip away, left identical notes for her children and husband Roger and set off.  This was a journey that took her on a route down memory lane, encountering old friends and new at the same time as enjoying new and unexpected experiences.

I absolutely loved Connie and cried with laughter throughout the whole book.  It had hilarious, laugh out loud moments and at times lots of 'oh noes' and felt quite sad and emotional. I was totally absorbed and engaged in the plot, Dee MacDonald has written this novel in such a way it could be a diarised story of someone's real life - every single incident and encounter was plausible and felt right. I loved how Connie shed her inhibitions the more miles she put between herself and home. All the while making decisions and choices simply based on the opposite of what she would normally do or what would normally be expected of her.

The Runaway Wife is totally plausible in every way, I found it uplifting and I loved the idea that you could just set off and 'go with the flow' an idea so far outside of my comfort zone I found the whole premise a little daunting yet at the same time exciting and exhilarating.

As Connie journeyed between Sussex and Scotland Dee stripped away layer after layer of Connie's character to reveal a much lighter, happier person who knew her own mind and wasn't afraid to share her thoughts.   Dee eludes to Connie's relationships with her husband and children and without giving the game away I don't think I have ever been quite so blindsided by an ending to a book! Little hints and clues are revealed along the journey but nothing could have prepared me for it.

I highly recommend this book, it is right up there in my top three books I've read so far this year, I enjoyed it that much.  It'll make you smile, laugh and dream a little - what if............? The adventures and friends she makes along the way are equally important to the story, each and every one of them are important cogs thats propel Connie on her journey, offering friendship and support with no strings attached. 

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