The Legacy

I absolutely love this authors books so was so excited to read this one and it most certainly didn’t disappoint. Once I picked it up to start reading I couldn’t put it down. This author has a way of dealing with sensitive subjects in such an amazing way and raising awareness of the struggles that others face. This story is based around the families father dying of MND and the life choices and decisions they must face upon his death when he leaves them to choose their own path in his legacy and to work things out as a family. This book is full of raw and complex human emotion as it describes the families struggle to come to a decision on their dads legacy and also face up to the struggles and difficulties in their own lives and also face their demons as to why they have never got on with each other. This was a gripping read.

Following Jonathan’s death, the family meet to hear the reading of the will. The family consists of three grown up children, one ex wife and one live in lover, not much older than the children. With that mix, it’s never going to go well. Jonathan’s strange request in his will involves them all meeting up at the family home for one weekend to “discuss” his wishes. Naturally, they all have their own agendas and their own opinions about how to divide his estate.

Although the plot is fairly simple and straightforward, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it difficult to put down. There are no surprising plot twists, but I liked the way the story came together, gradually revealing more and more of each person’s story until they all come to terms with Jonathan’s death in their own way.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The Legacy" should highlight to some the importance of a full and fair will as Jonathan Coulter's idea of seemingly leaving matters to chance is fraught with argument and soul-searching. The situation is complicated by the presence of Jonathan's new partner Megan who appears to have been left out of the will. What should the 3 children do about her? And why has a woman he had only known a few months been left a specific legacy? There are so many questions to be addressed and only a short time to resolve them.

This is a powerful and thought provoking book which makes the reader think about the real impact of their death on those left behind. Well written and deserves to be read.

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I will now to be looking to read more of her books.
This is a story of family, of love, of loss and of the devastation that a terminal and debilitating disease has on the patient and those close to them.

When Jonathan Coulter left his wife and adult children for a younger woman the whole family were devastated. Much of the blame landed in the lap of Megan, the new girlfriend. Jonathan’s ex-wife Eloise and her feuding children Liv, Noah and Chloe have complex relationships between themselves and with each of their parents.

A MND diagnosis leaves Jonathan becoming increasingly frail and when he suddenly dies leaving a complex set of instructions for his children to follow, it seems he is looking at them from beyond the grave to heal and decide who will inherit what.

The writing style is excellent and the story carries you along, making you in turn find out about each of the characters and drops small clues about them and why they are the complex people portrayed in the book. As the story develops you find out why Jonathan made his final requests and see how his family adjust to their new roles and try and deal in their own way with his death.

There is also the mention of assisted suicide and although this is not explored fully it is touched upon and towards the end of the story, we see that Jonathan’s carer Lisa may have helped him and others to make their final journey. I felt that this could have been explored a little more and her story expanded a bit further as she was a character I wanted to know more about.

I felt quite an emotional response from reading this book. At a time when we have all suffered with huge changes to the way we live our lives and for many, including myself, the loss of a parent it was a tough but thoroughly enjoyable read and one that I would wholeheartedly recommend to others.

Thank you to Netgalley, Atlantic books, Corvus and the author for the eARC of this book in return for a honest review.

Jonathan planned his post death wishes down to the last little detail. His children can't agree on anything and now they are being forced to make decisions together. What lesson is he trying to teach them? Resentment, jealousy, secrecy and guilt are just a few of the emotions that surface in this novel. Read it and you won't be disappointed.

One of the things I love most about Caroline Bond’s writing is the fact she places her characters in often controversial situations, their behaviour affected by the moral dilemmas they face which always makes for a thought provoking read. In The Legacy she tackles a most tricky subject, that of inheritance, which can be a difficult topic to broach with your nearest and dearest, especially when the family in question no longer exists in its original form. It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption to make that in this day and age many families are going to be of the blended variety, making the passing on or dividing up of assets fraught with complexities. In the Coulter’s case, husband and father of three Jonathan has remained living in the family home, The View, with partner Megan,until his recent demise from motor neurone disease. At the time of his split from wife Eloise, all three adult children cast Megan as the cuckoo in the nest, solely blaming her for embarking upon an affair with a married man which sounds the death knell for their parents marriage. The novel opens with the reading of Jonathan’s last will and testament with Olivia, Noah, Chloe and Megan in attendance, a scene that is excruciatingly awkward and tense given their open hostility towards their late father’s partner. However, things are about to get even more awkward when realisation dawns this is by no means a straightforward case of splitting everything three ways. Instead, Jonathan shocks them into stunned and quiet disbelief with his statement of wishes in which no provision has been made for his current partner nor ex wife, stipulating that his funeral should not take place until all three siblings have agreed on how to divide up his assets, whether that be fairly and squarely or not! His legacy is left in their hands, to do with as they see fit. This unexpected revelation is guaranteed to set the cat amongst the pigeons, a sign sent from beyond the grave that death doesn’t prevent their father from testing their mettle one final time.

Naturally you can expect a certain amount of fireworks between Liv, Noah and Chloe as they invade Megan’s space for a weekend spent thrashing out an agreement as to the best way forward. If you’re already familiar with this author’s writing then you’ll know that in no way will she treat this matter in a sensationalist manner. Instead this novel is a thoughtful, sometimes beautiful, sometimes poignant, honest but never overly sentimental portrayal of a family in the throes of a crisis, each member dealing independently with their grief as well as any other problems that may exist in their personal lives. Caroline’s understated, eloquent approach to this sensitive subject combined with her depiction of every character affected by Jonathan’s sudden death, trapped in a state of heightened emotions, contributes to the powerful impact the narrative has on your own thoughts and feelings. As the author exposes individual flaws and the complexities in the relationships between each sibling and their father and with each other two things really struck me. Firstly the fact all three siblings honour their father’s statement of wishes, given that it’s not legally binding and secondly that by coming together in one household they automatically revert to their childhood selves and the roles they adopted as youngsters. How many of us will recognise this bizarre state of affairs in our own sibling relationships?!? The author has a keen eye for the nuances of family dynamics, an astute observer of human nature and it’s fragility so you can expect nothing less than believable, realistic characterisation. You wouldn’t think they were adults at all but all three children play their allotted roles to perfection as do the much aligned Megan, aloof, indifferent ex wife Eloise and the calm, unflappable carer Liz. Liv as the eldest, uber organised, juggling motherhood with a demanding job as an A & E consultant, naturally takes control of the situation, whilst baby of the family Chloe lives up to the low expectations held by her siblings as aimless, helpless and frankly useless, content to fade into the background. Middle child Noah in my opinion is the most complex of the three siblings and I couldn’t help feeling his outbursts and selfishness hide an inability to cope with his true feelings surrounding his father’s death. As the narrative progresses you can form your own opinions regarding these characters personalities and the way they conduct themselves but for me it is Megan who steals the thunder in terms the dignified way she copes with the Coulter family descending en masse and their evident hostility towards her.

To read The Legacy is akin to slipping into a warm heavenly scented bath, sinking into a state where you can allow all these characters emotions to percolate and seep into your consciousness. Every conceivable emotion is enmeshed in their behaviour, from petulance, resentment, bitterness and rage to secrecy, jealousy, blame, guilt and denial which makes this a very human novel, a novel to luxuriate in. Perhaps the most poignant aspect of this storyline are the snatches of conversation the author treats us to between the dying Jonathan and his lover relating to his illness and the ravaging effects it has on his body and their relationship in general. Moving, brutally honest and sincere the prose speaks volumes about the dying process, death and grief; grief which manifests itself in all manner of ways and every character present is living proof of that.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter whether you like or dislike these individuals because Caroline has excelled herself, yet again, in creating perfectly imperfect characters, all of whom undergo transformations throughout the course of their weekend together and in the aftermath of Jonathan’s death. In many ways, they are unrecognisable from the group of people we first meet in the solicitor’s office and it’s impossible not to wish them well. Perhaps that’s the real legacy Jonathan has left behind for his loved ones. A first class read and one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read.

Really enjoyed this book! The plot was interesting and so where the characters. This is a new author for me and I wasn't disappointed.