‘The Two Lives Of Maddie Meadows’ by Sharley Scott is a story of a single mother living on a rundown council estate, who works for the council as a neighbourhood manager. At work, she is Madeline, at home and in her life she is just Maddie, with strong family ties. Her father and brother living on a neighbouring council estate. Her father is not working and has had cancer treatment and is being monitored to make sure it doesn’t return. Her younger brother, by two years, has Down’s Syndrome. She does all she can to help them as well as sorting her son, Josh and now her demanding job.
The story is told from Maddie’s point of view and we get to know her and her life. I really liked Maddie and being from a rundown council estate myself, I understood why she separates her life. The preconceived opinions of others can muddy the way if they want them too. Maddie is very happy in her life and thinks she doesn’t have time or even need a man. The only thing is her friends think otherwise and don’t mind doing their best to find her one, even if they have to do it on the sly!
Maddie loves her new role at the housing, it gives her a renewed sense of responsibility and thrives in it. She soon discovers that not everyone is as nice as she thinks they are. A work colleague, David, thought her job should be his and does his best to bring her down with his own agenda.
I think this book is a really good portrait of life for some people in today world. I saw a lot of myself in Maddie, maybe because we come from the same world, she is a good depiction of the worries people from the lower end of life feel of, or when they ever get the job they wanted. It is a story of everyone in their normal lives, Maddie’s brother just wants a girlfriend, her dad is not working and worried sick about the cancer returning. These are everyday happenings, to the point that my mum is just like Maddie’s dad, on the cancer front. This book resonated with me on so many levels, for different reasons. A fantastic, funny lighthearted but yet emotional story for me.
Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for the copy of the book for the blog tour today.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 