Connectedness

Thank you Netgalley and Beulah Press for the ARC

2010. Justine's current succes, a collage series called The Unbearable Greenness of Green, brings us art and nature, friendship and abandonement. Federico, Darya and Rose are all in some way connected to the artist. The chapters jump to 1983 and back getting closer to the secret that Justine has been keeping for years, scared of loosing her credibility as an artist. Beautifully written at an easy pace, it takes us by the hand as we witness the artist struggle to create, take care of her friend and at the same time make sense of her past.
I was impressed by the unwillingly produced headache paintings, explaining the truth as a pain-thing. Equally wonderful is Justine's tender care for Darya.
There are deep thoughts on life and surroundings that are recognizable to all of us.
Eventually all comes together in a heartfelt ending.
Connectedness is a gripping story of love, loss and the human struggle to be your one true self.
An amazing read.

I read Sandra Danby’s first novel - Ignoring Gravity - and was pleased to have the opportunity to read the second one via NetGalley. Although this is a follow-on novel from the first,it could equally be read as a standalone. Danby does not rely just on the story of the search carried out by her identity detective - Rose Haldane, but builds up a detailed and believable picture of the life of her main character, Justine. Well written with realistic characters and the setting out of the story in a carefully and balanced way, I would highly recommend this novel .

I read and loved this author's debut, Ignoring Gravity, the first in the Identity Detective series and so I was waiting eagerly for the next book in the series. And wow, did it deliver! Connectedness is perfection, a masterpiece. A beautiful book on so many levels. The title and the stunning cover drew me in and the prologue took my breath away. I had to read on to know why, what, who. I felt for Justine - her ache, angst, grief, her quest for answers - all so realistic, so sensitively portrayed. The writing is so very evocative bringing to life the settings and the characters so vividly for the reader. I thought the author's debut was exceptional but with this one, she has lifted the bar. I cannot wait to read her next. Highly recommend this amazing book and series to everyone.

A very good book. It can be read as a standalone even if there's a previous one.
The style of writing is really good, the characters are interesting and well designed.
Recommended.

Connectedness can be placed within the wide-ranging genre known as 'women’s fiction' and features the effect that adoption has on all those involved. This book contains characters from Danby’s previous book Ignoring Gravity and although this can be read as a standalone, some readers might enjoy reading the books in sequence.

The story introduces us to Justine; she’s an artist. Her mother has recently died and Justine looks back at her life, questioning many of her decisions. Through a series of flashbacks, we are taken to 1982. Justine was studying art in Spain for a year. Knowing how hard her parents had worked to finance her trip, she refused to ask them for help when she ran out of money. Instead she struggled to survive as best she could.

Years later Justine has made a success of her life in the art world. At an exhibition she meets journalist Rose Haldane, who has been commissioned to write a piece about her.  They find they have a common bond and Justine asks Rose to help her find something precious she fears is lost.

I would describe this as a slow-burner read. It is full of beautifully rich descriptions which involve all the senses. I could see, hear and even taste many of the items that surrounded Justine. There were lots of intriguing layers too, as we were drip-fed details which lead to the denouement.

The research carried out by the author shone through with well-rounded characters and lovely touches of detail, rather like accessories which make an outfit or room feel polished. Recommended to those who appreciate a well-written story.

4.5*
Beginning with a short, intriguing prologue, we become acquainted with Justine King as she attends her mother’s funeral in Yorkshire.

Justine is a very successful artist and her story unfolds through present and past narratives. Justine’s return to her childhood home kindled memories, and thoughts on the path her life had taken after learning of her friend’s betrayal when they were teenagers. Turning emotions into art she created a collage which paved her way into art college and a subsequent year of study in Malaga.

Justine’s time in Spain was difficult, financially and emotionally, made worse by having no support. On her return to England, just as she thought things might work out, she faces a devastating choice. All of Justine’s migraine pain and sorrow are reflected in her art, which brings her acclaim as a best-selling artist.

Eventually Justine contacts Rose Haldane, journalist and identity detective, and asks for her help. So many years of keeping secrets makes it very hard for Justine, she isn’t at all sure she’s strong enough to cope with the distress and uncertainty of laying bare her past and all the hurt that would entail.

A beautifully written story encompassing love, loss, regret, adoption and art, taking place in Yorkshire, London and Spain over three decades. Evocative and description prose brings places to life with sights, sounds and scents. Justine becomes a very sympathetic character as layers are peeled away and more and more of her past is revealed. Her need to know despite the doubts and reservations is realistic, understandable and handled extremely well. Certain sections brought tears to my eyes, the scenes are so well described. The secondary characters are also well defined and the details throughout show the amount of research it must have taken to make the narrative entirely believable. A very engaging read.

Grief. Loss. Pain
Perhaps, what's memorable about this book is the clarity with which the author weaves emotions into her writing. You cannot help but know that Justine is a troubled woman. She's a successful artist, but through her art and her interaction with the real world you can almost painfully feel that something's missing and the cloud of guilt she carries around is one that anyone can relate to.
Thank you NetGalley and Beulah Press for the eARC, this book is a heart-wrenching read, well written, evenly paced and above all, a great read.

I really enjoyed this book and I need to go back and read the first one in this series. It was so well written that I felt all of Justine’s emotions throughout the book. I enjoyed learning about the art world also. It was a wonderful book on so many levels. Thanks to Beulah Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted to love this novel and there were many parts that I did enjoy. The characters were well developed and the descriptions of scenery and events were very clear. The story woven in the background was the most interesting part for me, and well written. I found the present day sections less gripping, however.

Sandra Danby at her best!

Having read and loved the first book (Ignoring Gravity) in the Identity Detective series I looked forward to reading a new novel from Sandra Danby. Connectedness is the book in the series, yet it can easily be read as a standalone novel. The books in the series all feature Rose Haldane, who helps to reunite adopted children and their birth families, and who was adopted herself. Connectedness centres around the artist, Justine King, whose life is a tangle of lies and secrets. Justine Tree asks identity detective Rose Haldane to search for the daughter she gave up for adoption in 1983.Will this terrible secret that Justine carries close to her heart threaten her art career?

I’d like to thank Sandra Danby for the opportunity of reading such a gem. I'm not sure why but I had been putting off reading this book for months, and I am of course now kicking myself, as its an amazing book.I did not know what to expect of this book in the beginning but it has had everything I wanted from a a great read in the end. I quickly found out that Sandra has a very compelling style of writing peppered with a healthy dose of love, betrayal, secrets, regret, grief and loss and adoption mixed with engaging characters that keep you turning page after page. Sandra Danby’ gorgeous writing and the intriguing format the story is told in really did make this a special kind of novel. The story is told mainly through Justine’s viewpoint, flitting effortlessly between present-day London’s art world to isolated Yorkshire, and the hot streets of Málaga, Spain in the early 80s, where Justine went to study art. Danby definitely added a nice flavor of London, Yorkshire and Málaga. Even I don’t know all the cities I could not help but feel enveloped in each city's atmosphere and aesthetic background. Not only were the settings in this book researched well, also there are lots of information of art as it plays a hugh part in this novel. This is a novel that I found hard to put down as it swept me along on a roller-coaster of an emotional ride. I had to pull myself together not to burst into tears. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy a very well-written story about a family saga.

There is one thing that actually bothered me. During Justine‘s collage years in Málaga there were a lot of words written in spanish when she spoke to a friend. The spanish words were not translated I had to actually look up all the words to understand the main message of the conversation. Thankfully my kindle has a translation function so it was not too much trouble for me.