The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood

Slow to start but finishing with a bang, this novel has left me broken. As a mother, this telling of Leah's story really struck a chord. Usually reading YA and science fiction, this was a departure from my norm but it was well worth it.

First off, from the beginning it was obvious that something was 'off' with Leah. Having lost her husband, in a tragic turn of events, her life is turned upside down. In the aftermath, the full extent of the situation is realised when she discovers her husband secretly parented a child while she was locked away receiving treatment.

I found the changing of timelines distracting at first. however by the end, the crescendo of both timelines really packed a punch.

The character building was better than average, although I didn't particularly start to relate to Cornelia until around half way through when the truth about her babies was really beginning to be told. I felt that Diane could have had a little more involvement earlier on so as to introduce her prior to Leah's fall from grace. I could feel Leah's isolation, her frenzied thinking in the final pages

Setting the story in a quaint English town felt right for the narrative. - had it been set somewhere larger such as Manchester or London, the story would not have been able to take the same course. The small setting allowed a the reader to really feel Cornelia's isolation and made the close proximity of Cass and Oliver logical.

Overall, I felt this novel was well written and gutwrenchingly accurate to a mother's plight. With character's that draw you in and a heartstopping ending, I will definitely be recommending it to my friends and family. I wish i could give half stars to make it a 4.5 but alas I cannot - the half star loss is due to me almost giving up around 1/4 of the way through from feeling like it was just dragging.

This book draws you in from the very first page and keeps you in its grip until the very last paragraph. Cornelia now known as Leah is gradually rebuilding her life after a family tragedy. She is happily married to Adrian who is her best friend and soulmate. Tragedy then darkens her door once again when Adrian is killed in a car crash and the worse tragedy of all is that he lied to her about his whereabouts on the day of his accident. As she begins to unravel his secret she is drawn down a path that she knows in her heart she should not follow but is unable to resist which in turn makes her revisit the event that changed her world and caused her to change her name and identity. This is a gripping story of love, loss and loneliness and how we can make damaging choices when pushed to our emotional edge.

Leah seems normal enough, getting back to her teaching job while coping with an old back injury. However, Leah hides her past from those around her, a past which holds tragedy. A new tragedy triggers a wave of events which threaten to break her and everyone around her. At times gripping and raw, this was a pacy compelling read.

***Trigger warning - death of a child & post partum phychosis***

This book is brilliantly written, it's going to take me a while to be able to shake the story. It's unbelievably raw & takes you on a harrowing journey through the events of Leah.
I feel like I haven't blinked for the last few chapters & definitely need to have a huge cuddle with my child.
I don't write spoilers in my reviews, but this is an excellent read. Extremely fast paced & raw.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

This book is very different from what I expected from the blurb and rather beautiful cover: it feels like a mash-up of all the trending topics in 'women's fiction': a then-and-now alternating narrative, a woman consumed by pain who can't stop talking about her props of painkillers, alcohol and cigarettes, and the usual obsession with babies and motherhood. I felt like I've read the same story before multiple times - and it doesn't help that the author herself admits in her afterword that the scenario of the book 'is an extremely unlikely one'.

Not for me, but if you like 'maternity madness' books then this might be for you.

After reading the description on Netgalley, this novel is a very different novel than what I expected.

Leah is widowed very early on in the novel. She has to dealing with pain and loss, but seems to be ostracised from her neighbours, and has no friends. She is an alcoholic and chain smoker, trying to get back to work after an accident that has left her physically and mentally debilitated.

Leah comes across a puzzling email in her husband’s email account. She sets about investigating the puzzle which sets her off on a very different road than what I thought. Leah turns into a psycho. She befriends Cass and her son Ollie, but as good psycho books go the friendship doesn’t go as Leah hoped it would, which de-stabilises her.

I found this book thoughtful, I really felt for Leah with her accident, and grief of losing her husband, and trying to find normality afterwards when everyone expects you to ‘get on with it’.

As I said its nothing like the description on the cover, but this didn’t stop my enjoying it.

This book is totally different from what I expected. The chapters alternate between the past and present day. I was totally gripped by Leah's story. Chronic pain is described so well. I think that is what made me empathise with it at the start. Everything is written about sympathetically. This is a memorable book that will stay with me for some time. Post partum depression and chronic pain need to be talked about more in the hope that they can be understood.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

Fabulous gripping and heart wrenching book! The main character is somewhat questionable at times and yet I never stopped feeling for her and hoping she would be happy. Highly recommemded

**Please note: This book may be distressing to anyone suffering with mental health issues, or any who have experiences miscarriages or any child mortality.**

I admit, it took me a while to get into this book; but once I did, I couldn't put it down.

Leah is a woman struggling with pain daily, due to an accident, who is slowly trying to recover in her life. She deals with so much loss in her life during the unraveling of her story, that you can't help but feel like you too are drowning. This story is a hard-hitting one, and not for the faint of heart.

I’m not often hugely swayed by covers, but this one is gorgeous and immediately attracted me to the book. The title, too, was intriguing.

(The title refers to Cornelia Blackwood, but the main character is known to all as Leah - the name Cornelia isn’t even mentioned at all until a long way into the story, and this did feel a bit confusing. It isn’t really a secret that Cornelia and Leah are the same person, so I’m not sure why it took so long for her “other name” to be mentioned.)

The story is told in two timelines - present day and not-that-distant past - both narrated by the protagonist, Leah. While this initially felt a little confusing I quickly adjusted to it. So we hear about Leah meeting and marrying her husband, Adrian, and subsequent events... and we hear about Leah in the present, when she is ostracised by many of her neighbours due to some clearly horrendous thing she’s done. Of course, it takes most of the book to find out what the horrendous thing was, and this has the inevitable side effect which I think of as the “‘Casualty’ Syndrome”, whereby you’re on constant tenterhooks waiting for something awful yet inevitable to happen. However, for a long time I did not predict what it would be.

Despite this constant impending doom I found The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood a very compelling, if often distressing, read, very well told with genuine insight and sensitivity. My heart often broke for Leah as I read - I think you’d need a heart of stone not to feel for her. And the ending.... well, it left me in pieces.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster UK Fiction and the author, Susan Elliot Wright, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I first requested to read this novel because I was drawn both by the cover then the premise of the story. .I sit here now stunned having finished the whole book. Leah's story is so heartbreaking. I had to read this book in one sitting asI found I could not put it down until I reached the tragic conclusion.
The characters were engaging and realistic and the storyline was beautifully written.
Definitely well worth a read. I will certainly be reading more from this author.

When Cornelia's husband dies in a car crash she is bemused as to why he was on that stretch of road in the first place. As she digs further she discovers some rather unexpected secrets. When she finds out another woman has borne his child, she works her way into their lives with disasterous consequences. But what is she hiding, why aren't her friends and neighbours talking to her, and what happened to her children.

A heartbreaking portrayal of post-partum psychosis, this was an upsetting read in some parts, especially with my own memories of post natal depression and the pressure on mums to get things right.

The writing in this novel is lyrical and evocative but I felt the pacing was a little bit off and hence it just didn't quite hit the spot for me. However I would be keen to read more from this author.

Leah struggles with the aftermath of tragedy when her husband is suddenly killed. He was only 10 miles from home at the time of the accident yet he told her he was at a conference. As Leah digs into the mystery of what her husband was doing on that fateful day she finds herself slipping deeper and deeper into a situation she can't break free of however much she knows it's wrong.
As a mother, Leah's story broke my heart. Susan Elliot Wright has written a gripping story about a subject that isn't often talked about, postpartum psychosis. A dark tragic tale but thoughtfully written.

Heartbreaking tale of loss, grief and loneliness. A story where when you piece together what is going to happen you really hope it doesn't as it is so unimaginably sad.

One of the many recent books told in a split time frame; an interesting device but very much in danger of being overdone. A good read although I think I need something upbeat now to cheer me up!

The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood is a dark tale that explores how grief and mental illness can colour a parent’s judgement and result in a series of tragic events. I felt for the troubled protagonist, Leah, and wanted to know how her past accident occurred. At the same time, I had concerns about the way she ‘groomed’ Ollie and his mother into being friends. A fascinating well written plot.