From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a story that asks: how do you forgive the family that lied to you, and love the mum you never had?
When her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother … funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead.
As the two women get to know each other and Victoria begins to learn more about her past, it becomes clear that her beloved grandmother had been keeping life-changing secrets from her. Desperate for answers, she still struggles to trust anyone to tell her the truth.
To live a full and happy life, Victoria knows she must not only uncover the truth, but find a way to forgive her family. But after so many years, is trusting them even possible?
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For her entire life, after her mother’s death, 18-year old Victoria’s life revolved around her wonderful, mischievous grandmother Prim. When Prim suddenly dies, Victoria is devastated. She’s now alone in the world and totally unprepared. Or is she alone? A woman who says she is her mother enters her life and Victoria must come to reexamine her life and her future based on what she learns from her.
Through the heart wrenching examination of lies, guilt, love, re-evaluation, Victoria makes her painful journey from a naivety to maturity. I wasn’t sure how the story of a teenager would appeal to me, but the more I read, the more I realized that, while Victoria was young, a lot of what she was experiencing was applicable to anyone at any age. Not the details, but the emotions and examination. I cried along with Victoria and smiled along with her and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.
The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse is kind of a coming-of-age story. Victoria has been raised by her grandmother, mostly. Her grandfather had died when she was nine. Her parents had both died of drugs overdoses when she was a baby. She’s almost 19 now and planning a six-month long trip to The Far East and Africa with her best friend, Daks. Daks will be off to university when they returned. Victoria did plan to go on to school, but then, who knows? It was a day like any other day. Daks and Victoria had gone to the coffee shop to check Victoria’s schedule. One the way home, Victoria had taken the long way, passing by a sporting goods store where the boy she liked worked. She got home and ran to find her grandmother. She found her, dead on a lounge chair on the patio. Thus began the worst weeks of her life.
During this story, Victoria, goes from irresponsible, protected teen to a more mature and understanding young adult. In her grief, she made some mistakes but seemingly learned from them; had her first sexual experience; and learned to love people who were flawed, as we all are. She started off gullible, sad, and often thoughtless…typical for the age. But, she had more problems to solve than most 18 year olds. And she managed to solve them, mostly because she had people who loved her available to help. This story is a real-life tragedy, the kind many of us have in our lives, although hers piled on in a very short period of time. It was heart-breaking and heart-mending. A terrific characterization. A very gripping read. I recommend it.
I was invited to read an ARC of The Day She Came Back. by Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #thedayshecameback
The Day She Came Back was truly lovely story by Amanda Prowse. I can’t imagine being in the shoes of Victoria, Prim, or Sarah. To realize your life had been a lie and to not be able to confront the one who lied and to find a way to forgiveness both for the lies and for being left is unimaginable. Amanda Prowse writes in a way that help you connect with her characters and you are invested in the outcome of their story. I would definitely recommend this book.
Victory is yours for 180 kisses: emotion-provoking gem
What can I say other than fantastic, full of tears and frustration: such a rollercoaster of emotions as 18 year-old Victoria finds her whole existence upended. Yes, she does some cruel, neglectful and even stupid things when she can’t cope. She has trouble distinguishing those who care for her and support her versus those who would exploit her in her grief. At times I really did not like her but, then, I’ve never been in her shoes.
I am a big fan of author Amanda Prowse whose work I just discovered in 2019.
Her novels are just that much more poignant and thought-provoking so that they rise above the typical well put together novel. They pull me in and, as they draw to a close I feel lifted somehow. I loved this story despite the hard lessons it teaches and the heart-wrenching choices made all in the interests of an innocent child’s welfare. And the ending is the perfect cherry topper to this literary treat.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
This is a moving story about the impact of lifelong lies and how they affect the life of a young girl and turn her life upside down.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was my first book by Amanda Prowse and I’m not totally sure how I want to review it. I struggled with it a bit at times (staying into it), but the fault may be totally mine. I’m more than a little distracted right now.
Having said that, the characters were interesting and the premise of the book was good. I think my main problem with the book was that Victoria was so young. It would have had more impact for me if she had been slightly older than her eighteen years and matured more while still missing her mother. I did think that the things revealed in the letters between her mother and her grandmother at the very end brought a good conclusion to the story. Extremely well done.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.
This is an emotional story of family secrets, love and forgiveness, addiction, grief, loss. It is also a story with characters of depth, hope, and moving forward. This was the first book I’ve read by Amanda Prowse – I found it captivating and moving, and I look forward to reading other books by this author.
The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse
As always, Ms. Prowse wrote a story that grabs you from the first page. Death is a hard thing to deal with. Victoria has dealt with a lot of it in her young life. First her mother, then her grandfather and now the grandmother that raised her. How much more can an 18 year old girl take? As much as we thought we knew at 18 years old, we really didn’t know that much. Are we truly ready to “adult” and all the responsibilities that go with it? Inheritance can bring “friends” and “relatives” out of the woodwork. Can you decipher the good from the bad? And what happens if one of the so-called “relatives” is back from the dead! How does one accept this? How does one deal with the lies and betrayal? How does one move on from here?
Well done Ms. Prowse. Well done!
This author has a way of making the characters in her books so vivid, that one cannot, not get immersed in their lives.
Just before turning eighteen, the unthinkable happens and Victoria’s grandmother Prim dies, her only living relative.
Victoria was raised by her grandparents, after her mother as she was told, died of an overdose shortly after she was born, and her father had also died.
Prim, the main and most important person in Victoria’s life alongside her best friend Daksha, are everything to her, and the loss of her grandmother, and alone for the first time in her life, brought about many fears and questions, particularly after seeing a woman at the funeral who she did not know, yet somehow felt familiar.
This books presents you with a lot of emotions as Victoria, mourns her grandmother and tries to find her way in life, now that she is alone.
We follow her through many mishaps, doing things she never would have done, had her grandmother lived, the wonderful and close bond she and her best friend Daksha had, and the many other people who were trying to be there for her.
Trying to come to grips with a discovery she has made, Victoria takes a trip to s
Sweden to pursue what she has found out.
This is becoming one of my favorite authors, for her in depth characters and story lines.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the copy of this book.
One of the most powerful books I’ve read in a long time. The “drama” starts right in the beginning – chapters 2 & 3.
The writing highlights Victoria’s raw emotions as she learns elements of her past were a lie and she is left reeling with these discoveries. The author captures perfectly this confused 18, almost 19 year old who was used to a life with an 80+ year old, her grandmother’s ways, habits etc and suddenly has to find herself and find understanding of the circumstances of her birth amidst the chaos she finds herself in.
Her mini “rebellion” is captured perfectly and you feel every emotion she is experiencing so keenly. Her anger, her confusion, her feelings of betrayal and heartbreak.
Its such an emotional read and one that should not be attempted without tissues or plans to only read a few pages at at time. Hands down this must be in my opinion one of the best, if not the best, works to come out of the pen of Ms Prowse.
PS I especially loved Victoria’s “revenge” on Courtney and Flynn’s kind of confession at the end.
A beautiful book.
I throughly enjoyed this book, we’ll written. You actually could put yourself in the characters position. A woman who gives up her child to her mother. Having no contact with her daughter for 19 years. The mother and child go through a lot in those 19 years until they finally come together and tell each other their story. Heartbreaking to go through.
I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. I loved this book because the author showed us many sides. Victoria was raised by her grandmother Primrose who told her that her Mum was dead. Upon Primrose’s death, a lady showed up at the funeral and she was Victoria’s Mum. Victoria had so much to come to terms with. The story deals with all she had to go through and the best part for me was the letters. that Victoria’s Mum and her grandmother wrote to each other before Victoria was born. The letters were written so well that as Victoria was reading them, you could feel the pain they both was in. Victoria’s Mum, Sarah was in such a bad state when she was pregnant but she did what she had to in order to deliver her daughter but the pain of all that she had been through was just too much for her. She asked her mother to raise her daughter because she truly believed she was going to be dead. She was an addict and she didn’t want to take her daughter down that road. The story is written so well that I felt the pain they were going through, the emotions of the choices they made, and figuring out what are they going to do now.
This is the first book I have read by Amanda Prowse but it definitely won’t be my last. What the story did to my heart was a shocker. This book has such an effect on me and I hope lots and lots of people will pick this book us and read it. After finishing the book I thought the author gave me everything she had plus more.
So good!
I do not want to give away too much, so I will say this: This is a beautifully written, heartfelt story of family, loss, distrust, life, love,and reunions.
*Beware*- You will definitely need tissues as you meet and become friends with Victoria’, Prim, Daksha, and Sarah. .You will learn how their lives intersect. Will they ever move forward and let go of all the hurt and lies?
I loved each and every person in this novel, but my very favorite is Sarah. A person stronger than she even realized that once upon a time did the right thing for her daughter.
Amanda Prowse never disappoints and this is most definitely a book that you will love!
Set aside a day to do this!