8 December 2014

Review #99: Tiny Acts of Love by Lucy Lawrie



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It is sometimes difficult to reconcile the fantasy of what you thought motherhood would be like, and what you thought you would be like as a mother, with reality.
----Debra Gilbert Rosenberg, LCSW, a nationally recognized psychotherapist and motherhood expert

Lucy Lawrie, an English author, penned her debut novel called, Tiny Acts of Love based upon joys and downfalls of motherhood, sacrifices and love to hold a family. This is a very sweet story about how a woman makes her choices selflessly regardless of her own feelings.

Synopsis:
Surviving motherhood? It's all about having the right network. Lawyer and new mum Cassie has a husband who converses mainly through jokes, a best friend on the other side of the world, and a taskforce of Babycraft mothers who make her feel she has about as much maternal aptitude as a jellyfish. Husband Jonathan dismisses Cassie's maternal anxieties, but is he really paying attention to his struggling wife? He's started sleep talking and it seems there's more on his mind than he's letting on. Then sexy, swaggering ex-boyfriend Malkie saunters into Cassie's life again. Unlike Jonathan, he 'gets' her. He'd like to get her into bed again too... And on top of all her emotional turmoil, she finds herself advising a funeral director on ghost protocol and becomes involved in an act of hotel spa fraud, never mind hiding cans of wasp spray all over the house to deal with the stalker who seems to be lurking everywhere she looks. Marriage and motherhood isn't the fairytale Cassie thought it would be. Will her strange new world fall apart around her or will tiny acts of love be enough to get her through?


The book opens on a funny note when Cassie's husband, Jonathan sends the picture of Cassie breast-feeding her newborn girl, Sophie to everyone in Cassie's email contact list, including the director of her Law firm! Can you imagine the situation? I was already rolling on the floor with this event, but also felt sorry for Cassie. Poor Cassie!

As Debra Gilbert Rosenberg quoted about being a new mother, similarly, Cassie too never expected that motherhood could be very difficult. Cassie started having doubts about her own relationship with Jonathan and eventually she detached herself from the cocoon of love and care that Jonathan created for her and Sophie. Cassie's ghosts from the past came alive when her ex-boyfriend, Malkie joins her Law firm. Malkie's arrival catalyzed Cassie's doubts about her life and relationship. But what I loved best about Cassie was that she honestly confessed about her second thoughts to her husband and in return, Jonathan told her that maybe she was facing post-pregnancy issues. However, eventually Cassie catches herself on the crossroad of either choosing her family or having a chance with Malkie, and now it is entirely Cassie's choice to make the right decision for her daughter, Sophie, her husband, Jonathan and her once-upon-a-time-lover, Malkie.

The author made the story into a fun-ride for her readers- filled with lots of anecdotes here and there and with lots of TROLL moments. What I loved best about this author is that most of the time I felt like I was standing right beside Cassie and she is narrating me the story- more like a friend confiding in her best friend! Moreover, the author told the story in a realistic manner. The problems that are addressed in the book are very real and can be compared with our every day household drama.

I'll advice all the newbie mothers to read this story, since it'll only inspire and enlighten them, and tells us how not to sometimes listen our delusions inside our head!

The characterization is quite strong and reading about these characters will strike you as someone you happen to know in your everyday life- thoroughly believable. Cassie is a strong-willed woman and a loving mother, who puts her family before her own whims and fancies. Jonathan cannot be a more sensible husband- he is caring, loving, and responsible, always gives the opportunity for his wife to take her own decisions, and never ever jumps to any surreal conclusions. Both Cassie and Jonathan's mothers are very nice and warm women, who really know how to shine light on their children's path when they are stuck in darkness.

For a first time author, the writing is fresh and the narration is very free flowing. Moreover, told in such a way that you can easily see the scenes unfolding right in front of your eyes. Moreover, Lucy has constructed this story with right kind of emotions poured in the right moments. Moreover, I was lost in her tale emotionally and mentally!

Verdict: You can't miss this beautiful family story and I'm definitely looking forward in reading more of this promising author's books in the near future.

Courtesy: I'd like to thank the author, Lucy Lawrie, as well as her publisher from Black and White Publishing, for providing me with a copy of Lucy's book, in return for an honest review. 
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Author Info:
Lucy Lawrie grew up in Edinburgh in a house overflowing with books, and she spent most of her childhood either reading or scribbling in mysterious notebooks. 
After studying English literature at university, she returned to Edinburgh and worked as a commercial lawyer for several years, specializing in employment and pensions law. But it was motherhood that propelled her into writing, generating ideas that she wanted to explore through stories. She started writing her first novel, just to see what would happen, and then found it impossible to stop.
It took her a few years to work out what she was doing, but Tiny Acts of Love, the very same novel that she started as a new mum, has now been published! She is now writing her second novel, when permitted by her two small daughters.

Visit her here 

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2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this wonderful and thoughtful review, Atiti! I'm so pleased you enjoyed Tiny Acts of Love. I'm particularly pleased that you felt Cassie was a friend who was talking to you and telling her story - that's exactly what I was hoping to achieve. And what an interesting quote from Debra Gilbert Rosenberg - fits the story perfectly! Thank you :-)

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    1. Thank you so much! And I'm glad that you liked my review.
      It was entirely my pleasure :)

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