Childhood Sweetheart by Wendy Clarke
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 3rd September 2022
Published: 23rd August 2022
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Bang. Bang. Bang. I jump as the knocks on the window crash above the roaring wind outside. Who could it be, at this late hour? I open the curtains and peer outside. ‘Hello?’ But the dark, the rain and the empty lane are all I see.
I thought I'd love him forever. But I should never have trusted him. And I have nowhere to hide.
It’s been eleven years since I last saw Jonah, after his brother died that stormy summer night. And now, without warning, he’s back, living in his old house next door just like old times, on the remote Scottish island that is home. Where I used to imagine we’d stay, together, forever, sharing our lives and our secrets as we always had. But that was before.
Jonah’s not the sweet boy I once knew. His mood is changeable, his behaviour unstable, our brief conversations are forced and awkward. And then the knocks on my window begin. It can only be him, but why, and what does he want? I used to love him. Now I don’t even want to invite him in.
Because after all these years, I see our childhood secrets, the ones we swore never to reveal, in a newly terrifying light. Was his brother’s death truly an accident? Could Jonah’s secrets have been worth killing for? And how safe am I now, on this isolated island, with the man I used to love…?
A totally addictive and twisty psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Housemaid won’t beable to put Childhood Sweetheart down!
MY THOUGHTS:
"You can’t forget your first love…Maybe you should…"
CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART is an atmospheric psychological thriller set on the remote Hebridean island Bray on the North West coast Scotland. The setting was chilling to the point of below freezing, so disturbing it was. And for that alone is probably the reason I stuck with it. I'll be honest, this book is a slow burn that wasn't as glacial as some but it was very slow and confusing at times. It did marginally get better but by then I had already figured out the big reveal that had been blindingly obvious to me. But in all fairness, I was relatively absorbed and engaged enough throughout to keep reading till the end.
The prologue at the beginning was thoroughly confusing and I found it made more sense after I had finished the book and then I went back and re-read it. Only then did it make any kind of sense. Before that, it was so vague and obscure I had no idea what to make of it.
Fast forward eleven years after that, Ailsa and her 10 year old autistic son Kyle live in one of the small cottages of Loch Briona Lodges, the holiday lets owned by Moira Wallace for whom Ailsa works, just as her mother before her. Growing up on Loch Briona, Ailsa's best friend had been Moira's son Jonah, with whom she'd secretly been in love. She'd hoped for so long that her feelings would be reciprocated but when Jonah's brother Callum was tragically killed in a boating accident, Jonah blamed himself and left the island soon after Callum's funeral, never to be seen again. Until now.
Moira is turning sixty and it is her greatest wish that her only surviving son return to the fold to celebrate with just her, Ailsa and Kyle. But the Jonah that returns is not the same Jonah from eleven years ago. He's gruff, weathered and extremely bitter. He continues to blame himself for his brother's death, never moving beyond that one iconic moment in his life. From the moment he arrives at Loch Briona he makes it clear he is here just for a couple of days. He has no wish to relive the glory days or stay there a moment longer than he needs to.
It is clear to both Moira and Ailsa that Jonah continues to suffer great emotional pain that is all consuming to the point it has changed the young man they both once knew. He is a different man now. And he brings with him a secret that has haunted him every day of his life since. But then Moira shocks them at her birthday dinner with an announcement that changes everything.
Over the course of the ensuing days, long buried memories return to the surface bringing with them the pain each of them has suffered since. And since Jonah's return, memories of Callum and their father Hugh run rampant for each of them. Through chapters that take the reader back to the past, we see the relationship between the two brothers and their vast differences like night and day. Jonah was kind and sensitive while Callum was aggressive and a bully like their father. But then Callum died and Jonah was devastated by the loss, blaming himself and fleeing Loch Briona and any memories the place held for him.
But Jonah is not the only one with secrets, with Moira and Ailsa harbouring secrets of their own also. But is now the right time to bring any of them to light and what will be the repercussions should they do? Then just when we think there are no more secrets, Moira imparts a parting secret to Ailsa that has the power to change everything. But who out of them all, has the biggest secret of all? And whose secret could do the most damage?
CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART is an absorbing read that is atmospheric and chilling but it is incredibly slow going. It doesn't just start slow, it remains slow throughout. But the story was enough to hold my attention till the end. But only just. I did enjoy the past timeline that was cleverly interwoven with the present day story but my favourite part that touched me the most was the final lines which brought tears to my eyes...
"He'll say nothing because the girl doesn't want him to...and because he hasn't forgotten what he saw through the window of his caravan all those years ago.
A boy. A girl.
A random act of kindness to his beloved dog.
For him, it's enough."
Overall, CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART is an interesting tale filled with secrets, lies and a few surprises. Fans of slow burns and atmospheric reads will delight in this one.
I would like to thank #WendyClarke, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ChildhoodSweetheart in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Wendy has two children and three step-children and lives with her husband, cat and step-dog in Sussex. When not writing, she is usually indulging in her passion for dancing, singing or watching any programme that involves food!
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