HER OWN RULES by BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

HER OWN RULES

BY BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

THE BLURB:-

Meredith Stratton is forty-four and a successful businesswoman.

The owner of six elegant international inns, she is about to celebrate her only daughter's engagement. At this seemingly happy time in her life, Meredith begins to suffer from a strange illness that baffles everyone. Her doctor cannot find a cause for her debilitating symptoms, and, desperate for answers, she seeks the help of a psychiatrist. Through therapy, Meredith peels back the layers of her life to discover the truth behind her most careful creation- herself.

Secrets, survival, redemption and love abound in this compelling story of a woman who uncovers the key to her tormented past, and finds the courage to live by her own rules.

THE REALITY:-

I liked this book form the offset. My own novel, The Reject's Club, is split into three parts: The Present, The Future and The Past, so it was pleasing to see that this novel consisted of a similar formation. This is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her best, writing a beautifully descriptive novel with a bit if a mystery- one that sucks you in completely and makes you want to keep turning the pages to the end conclusion.

I have seen the film version of this book but it was a bit different: in the film Meredith was the product of her mother's relationship with a married man who has a paraplegic wife (if my memory serves me correctly- this would have been ten to fifteen years ago) whereas in the book Meredith has the affair with the married man and has a daughter by him. But both book and film are very gripping so I'm not complaining.

I did question whether Meredith would have lost her early memories regarding her mother completely- after all, she would have been six when she was sent to Australia under some kind of forced adoption scenario. I also questioned why she wouldn't have wanted to find out about her birth mother much earlier in life, but then I suppose that everyone's different and character quirks are what make a story interesting.

I really felt for Kate and her circumstances and could understand her heartbreak, frustration and anger at losing her little girl unnecessarily. It was so awful the way the authorities blocked Kate's progress in finding out what had happened to her daughter. It's sickness. I do hope that this kind of thing doesn't go on nowadays, although a friend did tell me some horror stories regarding the Tony Blair government's adoption quota.

The scenic descriptions (especially Yorkshire) really came to life, as did the emotions involving the recovery of Meredith's memory. Her strive to discover her past was really gripping and made you want to race to the end to find out if she really did get reunited with her mother. A superb novel.