Member Review

An unlikely visitor
By Joanna Cannon
Published by HarperCollins Publishers

Joanna Cannon gives us a beautifully written story of love, grief and patience. So many wonderful words, questions and moments of reflection that will resonate with anyone who has experienced a true love lost.

Margaret and Dericks daughter Jeanie never comes home from her paper round. That was over forty years ago now and the mystery has never been resolved. The pain and suffering has moulded their lives. Questions never answered. Closure never came. But their strength as a couple never faulted.

But life doesn’t stand still for everyone. People get on with their lives, they grow old, memories fade. But for Margaret and Derick their lives will never be the same again.

Now Margaret is widowed and has too much time to wonder, question and query about what was missed in the disappearance of her daughter all those years ago. Despite her determination to find out the truth, Margaret feels so alone, lost in her thoughts. Until one day, Margaret returns home to an unlikely visi­tor, her Derick, talking to her in her home. Questioning him and his presence, together they set out to discover what really hap­pened to Jeanie.

Although full of sadness, Margaret still keeps her strength and her dry humour will make you smile, punch the air with a “Yes” as she opens up her mind and her heart.
Never before have I read such pure love and compassion when your heart has been broken.
And this phrase “Perhaps if you knock on enough doors, you might find another end to your story…” made me think, brought a tear to my eye and made me reflect on my own grief. Painful as it is, life must go on for the living!

Joanne Bardgett - teacher of littlies, lover of Children’s literature.
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