Lynne McVernon – Jigsaw Island

‘Jigsaw Island’ by Lynne McVernon is a book that is beautifully woven together in a way that you would never expect.

It is written in two parts, the first revolving around Annie Buchanan with her time in London being the main focus. She was only sixteen when she decided that she had had enough of the atmosphere at home. Annie left a note and headed for the bright lights of London, and we all know the gravity of the situation for runaways in London.

Annie’s story is one where time slips back and forth. We see her back up Scotland with a son, Jude, who is struggling with racial abuse and has retaliated. Annie is close to Jude, but at a loss of how to handle this situation She decides to bring forward their trip to her brothers in Symi, a gorgeous Greek Island in order to, hopefully for Jude to gain something positive with a male in his life again.

The Greek settings of this book, Symi and Leros, fired my imagination so much, Lynne has written in such exquisite detail I could imagine myself there. Not too hard to do when I love Kos anyway. I could imagine Annie, settling into this colourful, calm way of life after the years spent in dire need and in the grimy places in London and Scotland.

In the second half of the story, everything seems to piece together from Annie’s past and it becomes rather clear she is unable to trust and the only feasible way she can get past this is by going through her past and protecting what she needs to in order to move forward. A story that seems quite innocent at first soon turns into more than it seems, a more psychological element is introduced.

A great book, which deals with various issues that are more than usually swept under the carpet. Among many of these issues are the refugees. Any book set within the Greek Isles in this day and age has to include the presence of the desperate refugees that flee that way, Lynne has done this in Jigsaw Island and we see the stark contrast between the tourists and the refugees who both, in their own ways leave a mark on the islands. A book that has actually left me feeling warm with the human connections and compassion within the story. Thank you to Random Things Tours and Lynne McVernon for the ARC of the book.