His Other Woman by Louise Voss
Genre: Contemporary fiction, Women's Fiction, Family drama
Read: 1st July 2021
Published: 2nd July 2021
★★ 2.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
What would you do if the love of your life forgot you… and met someone else?
I waved my husband goodbye at the airport, and he vanished without a trace. I sat awake, night after night, looking at photos of our family. I knew he would never leave us.
And then I found him.
Now he lives with the younger, beautiful woman he thinks he loves. And he doesn’t even recognise me.
Who will he choose? Can I forgive him? And will I ever be able to look into his eyes without thinking of his other woman?
From the bestselling author Louise Voss comes a heartbreakingly emotional story about family and forgiveness, that will make you cry and hold on tight to the ones you love. Perfect for fans of Nicole Trope, Kerry Fisher and The Silent Daughter.
MY REVIEW:
Ok so this book was not what I was expecting. I don't usually read women's fiction unless it's an author I like who writes across genres and given that this author has co-written several thrillers with Mark Edwards, it's my fault entirely for requesting a book I assumed to be domestic thriller or suspense. However, I plunged in as the premise sounded engaging and promised an interesting story. And it was...to a point. But it lost it somewhere about 60 % through and left me feeling what was the point.
After losing his twin brother to suicide and placing his mother who is suffering dementia into a home, Liam Lodge is encouraged by his wife and children to embark on a three week break trekking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. But once he arrives in Madrid, a poster advertising skiing invites him to make a snap decision to change his plans and travel to Les Gets in France to spend a few days skiing before continuing on his planned route. He texts his wife Alandra to let her know he has arrived in Madrid but decides to say nothing of his change of plans until he arrives at the ski resort. Having taken out a new credit card for his travel expenses, he resolves he has enough for a few nights' stay and hire of ski equipment.
And then he disappears.
Back home in England, Alandra is beginning to worry when she has heard nothing more after his text from Madrid and soon the hours turn into days and then weeks as the family now worry for his safety. Liam is usually so predictable that it is not like him to not keep in contact and let them know he is safe and well. No updates, no nothing. They report his sudden disappearance to the police who send them a Family Liasion Officer, PC Harding, who Alandra's son Jake nicknames "PC Laptop" due to his small stature making him a small PC. However, the family feel the police are not taking Liam's disappearance seriously, believing him to have run off and left his family. But Alandra knows Liam would never do that. Particularly with youngest daughter Heather's wedding coming up, which ultimately goes ahead without her father and brother Jake walks Heather down the aisle in his place.
When the weeks turn into months with still no clue as to Liam's whereabouts, Jake starts a social media campaign on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms in the hope that someone somewhere has seen his father. And then one day, a promising lead gives the family hope that maybe Liam is still alive.
Meanwhile in a hospital in France, a man wakes with his leg in traction and plastered from hip to foot. He has no idea who he is, where he is or what happened to him. The hospital have named him "Jack" but know nothing else about the man who was found on the ski slopes having crashed into a tree. He had no ID on him, no phone, no wallet - nothing. No one knows who he is...not even him. Each day he sits in his hospital bed watching the hustle and bustle of the ward. And then he meets Katya.
On sojourn from her complicated life in London, Katya is visiting her sick uncle when she notices the man in the bed opposite is struggling to communicate with the staff, some of whom don't speak English. She translates for him as needed and before long spends time talking with him whilst her uncle sleeps. When her uncle passes away suddenly, Katya has no reason to continue visiting the hospital...except that she does...to see the man they call Jack. He has no family and no idea who is so therefore no one visits him. Over time, the two become close and when the day comes that Jack is finally to be discharged, he has nowhere to go. So Katya offers him the spare room at her uncle's flat where she has been staying...at least until she prepares it for sale.
Katya and Jack grow closer and, although she knows he probably has a family somewhere and that his memory will one day return, Katya cannot help but seize the moment and relish what she now has with Jack. It isn't long before they become a couple and in the weeks after, Katya announces that she is pregnant. Jack is over the moon and Katya is thrilled to discover his excitement at the prospect of becoming a father. The couple know Jack more than likely had a life before her but he promises her that what they have now in this moment is what matters and that he loves her.
And then Katya receives a phone call. Jack has been identified and his wife is looking for him. Katya knew this would all come to an end...but she holds on for just a few more days before telling him. But she doesn't get the chance. A knock at the door one evening while they are sitting down to dinner brings an unexpected visitor.
And Jack's past comes flooding back as soon as he sees the woman standing at the door.
What ensues is a complicated journey for Alandra, Liam and Katya as they navigate the new reality of their situation. For Alandra, she thought once she found Liam everything would be straightforward and they would return to their lives back in Salisbury, England. For Katya, she hoped life with Jack would be her new beginning despite knowing that one day it could all end. For Liam, he finds himself in a quandary of being in love with both women and not wanting to hurt either of them. But he has a three decade history with Alandra and three children he adores. With Katya he had something new and different, even if it wasn't quite real. So which road does he choose? And how does he tell Alandra of the new life he is expecting with Katya?
Up to this point, I really enjoyed the story. It was heartfelt and tragic as the search for Liam ensued while his life was beginning again as Jack, suffering retrograde amnesia, with the beautiful and younger Katya. While it is a mystery for his family, the reader knows exactly where he is even if neither party knows what's happened. And yet there is still an element of mystery to the story to come which is revealed later and I was shocked, and not in a good way.
The journey from here on in became annoying and irritating and left me shaking my head at the ludicrousness of the situation. I could not believe after all that the direction the story then took. I don't think Liam was the only one suffering a mid-life crisis as it was utterly ridiculous the decisions and directions taken in the wake of his return. There was a lot of eye-rolling and disbelief that plummeted this story from the 4 stars of the first half of the book to a disappointing 2 stars by the end.
It only takes a split second to make an impromptu decision...and everyone in this story has to live with the consequences of their stupid and selfish choices. Sadly, mine was to choose this book without first checking its genre because I think it would have made a far better tale as a thriller than an exploration into stupid decisions.
I would like to thank #LouiseVoss, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #HisOtherWoman in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Louise has written thirteen novels in total, seven solo and six co-written, across psychological thrillers, police procedurals and contemporary fiction.
Social Media links:
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