Tag Archive | Laura Pearson

The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up by Laura Pearson

Oct25

Beautiful

The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up by Laura Pearson is a most beautiful contemporary novel that I really enjoyed.

The novel is written in two time periods – ‘then’ and ‘now.’ It is in the first person of Shelley Woodhouse. The reader gets to know her intimately from the age of six. We see how she functions. She is a very likable and believable main character.

There is an ethereal beauty to the novel despite the difficult theme of domestic abuse. Laura Pearson presents it with sensitivity. We see some of the abuse through the eyes of a child. “I sat in my bedroom wondering whether my mother might be dead.” There are some heart-breaking themes as well as some beautiful ones as we see Shelley Woodhouse being loved and protected by her grandmother.

Our upbringing shapes us. “Dad left and I don’t want to risk anyone else deciding to go.” Shelley Woodhouse aged six, has decided that she must be a ‘good girl’ so no one else ever leaves her. It is a motto she lives by.

Continue reading →

The Beforelife Of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson

Oct10

Whimsical & Beautiful

The Beforelife Of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson is a very unique and beautiful contemporary offering that I read in just two sittings, pausing only to sleep.

The novel surrounds four siblings in the beforelife. The reader gets to know them as the tale is told through the eyes of one of them. We witness the love and the rivalry. We see their desire to exist and their questions about what happens if they are never born.

This is a novel about love. It is not your conventional love story but it is a love story as we witness the ultimate in sacrificial love. This reminds the reader of Jesus’ words, “Greater love hath no man but that he lay down his life for his friends.”

This is also a book about parental love – and the lack of it, in some cases. Some people just do not have the capacity to love, treating their offspring with indifference at best, verbal cruelty at worst. The children are forever left wondering if the lack of love was their fault. This persists into adulthood as a grown up character says “all I needed was for you to be there.”

In contrast there is a father who loves deeply. His pregnant daughter asks for advice on parenting. “How did you get it so right?”… “I just loved you… I loved you more than anything else.” Her father expands further. “Making one decision after another, but if you base them all on the love you feel, I don’t think you can go far wrong.” Good parenting is nothing to do with the size of a bank balance but it is all about the love in our hearts.

Continue reading →

The Last List Of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson

Nov27

Beautiful

The Last List Of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson is the most beautiful contemporary novel that I just could not put down.

It was about love, life and friendship. Following the death of her husband of sixty two years, Mabel Beaumont is lonely but her life is about to open up in so many ways.

This is a book that celebrates friendship as four women, of various ages, enter Mable Beaumont’s life due to extraordinary circumstances. All have secrets. All are grieving something. All support each other.

We hear of lost loves, forbidden loves and family breakdowns. There are regrets. There are tears. There are chances to start again. Mabel Beaumont proves you are never too old to have a fresh start.

Continue reading →