Angela Jackson – The Darlings

‘The Darlings’ by Angela Jackson is a story that is such a deep and thought-provoking one. Angela Jackson has portrayed the frailty and reality of people and their lives with such meaning in this book. She has turned the usual infidelity story on its head and told it from the adulterer’s point of view.

Mark Darling has everything. A baby on the way with his beautiful wife, after having IVF due to troubles getting pregnant. As we discover not everything is as it seems. When Mark was fifteen due to a freak accident he killed his best friend. This has haunted him since that day. Sadie, his wife has been his comfort, hope and the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Then he reconnects with Ruby, a woman that was at school with him and remembers the Mark he was. This gives him a sense of normality that Sadie is unable to.

I really felt for Sadie, the woman who got him through, has done her utmost to help and support him and he goes cheating on her. As the story developed and I understood more and more, I began to sympathise a teeny tiny bit with Mark and the big problem he now has. His wife, Sadie pregnant with his child or Ruby, who knows the ‘real’ Mark…who will he chose? What will he do?

Angela Jackson has done an excellent job in creating these characters. They are so developed and real my empathy was overflowing for them all! She has given us a portrait of life and relationships that highlights just how complicated they are. She shows that actions and decisions taken all have consequences, some more than others. With the seriousness of this story, you wouldn’t expect the humour she has injected throughout, but Angela has managed it. Making it a sharp, heartwrenching, funny and entertaining read that I would recommend.

Thanks to Emma Welton at Damp Pebbles Blog Tours and Angela Jackson for the copy of the book.