‘The Ex-Boyfriend’ by Rona Halsall is a psychological thriller that plays on every parent’s weakness, their children. Becca Thornton is married to Dean, they live in Wales and Becca is a District Nurse. They have a three-year-old daughter, Mia. Becca is at a point in her life where her marriage seems to have seen better days, she feels like her sister, Kate is the one mainly caring for their dad. Their mum passed away years previously, and she is truly letting every role she plays in her life down.
She begins to worry about who she can trust even down to Ruth, Mia’s childminder. Ruth usually is her go-to for support, but the doubts Becca has, have made her so vulnerable, she second-guesses everything and everyone around her. At this moment an ex gets in touch, from Australia by way of twitter. Becca knows that answering would be wrong and really attempts not to reply. She is so torn between the wonderful possibilities from the past and the emotional marriage she is clearly struggling with.
While Becca is having her emotional struggles with her own self, Mia begins to suffer from vomiting and diarrhoea, really bad ones but not for a long period of time, intense and frequent they may be but only briefly. This is added to Becca’s emotional state. As every parent does, she worries about what it could possibly be, preying on her mind, along with all her other issues.
We are witness to the unravelling of Becca’s life from every angle, once it begins she can’t stop it, we travel a breakneck speed watching the threads snap one by one. Rona Halsall, at this point, has created a marvellous piece of writing that causes us as the reader to be as confused and worried as Becca, still attempting to find the root of Mia’s health problem. I was literally dying to know what was wrong with Mia and that is created by an excellent storyteller.
This is a story that has been excellently written. I was pulled into Becca’s world with such ease. I admire her skill in creating characters that are relatable and also realistic, Becca was never far from my mind when I couldn’t read. The shock at the end of the story was not expected, I can say that definitely.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the copy of the book for my review today.
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