My edition: Paperback, to be published on 22 August 2013 by Harper, 416 pages.Description: After battling a brain tumour twenty-nine year old Emma thinks she is in the clear, but her world comes crashing down around her when she is told her fight was in vain, and there is nothing more the doctors can do.
Realising that she won’t now have time to achieve the things she dreamed of, Emma decides to write her perfect life in a story. She imagines all the things she would have done, the places she would have seen, the husband she would have shared her life with and the family they would have raised. And, mysteriously, as she writes her story, she starts to notice that some of her dreams seem to be coming true.
Now with a real love in her life, and her fading hope burning brighter, reality and fiction start to become blurred. As she writes their life-long love story Emma dares to believe that anything is possible, but can she really change her fate?
Rating:
29-year-old Emma is devastated when she receives the news that her brain tumour has returned in such a severe way that she likely only has a few months left to live. Being so young there are many things she still dreams of doing and achieving in her life, so she decides to write them all down in the form of a novel. As fictional Emma gets the job she's always wanted and the perfect man to share her life with, the lines between fact and fiction start to blur and some of the things Emma puts to paper start happening to her in real life...
When a novel opens with the horrible news that the main character will likely not make it till the end you know you're in for a heartbreaking story. As expected this is an utter tearjerker throughout, and the last few chapters in particular were read by me with a heavy lump in my throat (I tried to hold it together as I desperately wanted to finish the story and I also did not want to weep all over my beautiful copy of the novel).
But this isn't just a very sad story about the final months in Emma's life and all the things she is missing out on. It's also one of hope and accomplishment as despite the terrible disease weakening Emma's body, making it extremely difficult for her to do the things she still wants to experience, she is a very strong and determined person and she manages to do it all at least to some extend. It makes you realise that if she can do this despite all the obstacles in her way then (almost) anything is possible.
The characters surrounding Emma were equally inspirational. Her mother at times is suffocating and overprotective, but the reader can sympathise with the character and completely understand why she's acting this way. There is something so fundamentally wrong about the idea of a parent losing a child that her stubbornness is a very relatable way to try and cope with this. And of course there are the wonderful friends surrounding Emma. They not only support her but they also give Emma a reason to not give up as she tries to do everything within her power to make them as happy as possible so she will not worry about what will to happen them after she's gone.
And then there's Ben. There are not enough words for me to describe how much I fell in love with him. He's the most generous, sweet and caring person you can imagine and Emma and Ben are exactly what they both need in their lives. They're perfect for each other, which makes it even more devastating and unfair that their relationship is not meant to last decades, like the good ones are supposed to. But perhaps because it is so short-lived they ensure to make the most of the precious time given to them.
Another Way to Fall is one of the most moving books I've read in a long time. Beautiful and inspirational yet also distressing and utterly heartbreaking. The compelling story about love and loss pulled me in straight away and kept me gripped until the final page. This is one of my favourite reads of 2013 and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
It is available in supermarkets and as ebook on August 22 and goes on general release on September 12. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Waterstones or your own preferred retailer.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review
Would you like to know more about author Amanda Brooke? You can connect with her online at:
Website: amanda-brooke.com
Twitter: @AmandaBrookeAB
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