I’m so excited to bring hosting a stop on the book tour for Reservoir by Livi Michael. Published on the 15th March by Salt Publishing. Thanks to Helen Richardson for my invitation to the tour and Salt Publishing for the gifted book in exchange for an honest review.
At the International Conference Centre in Geneva, Hannah Rossier, formerly Annie Price, comes face to face with Neville Weir, someone from her childhood whom she never expected, or wanted, to meet again. As Neville’s reasons for attending the conference become clear, the dark waters of Hannah’s past start to rise. Hannah is a psychotherapist,with a specialist interest in memory and how connections are made between past and present. She has reinvented herself successfully, moving from a small northern town in England to Lucerne, Switzerland, with her husband, Thibaut.
Nobody, not even Hannah, knows the full truth about herself. Her ‘memories’ consist of glimpses of the place where she played in childhood, known simply as ‘The Wild’. Over the three days of the conference, she has to decide whether she can avoid Neville, or whether she should submit to an encounter with him and with her past. And in her keynote lecture about the neuroscience of memory, how much to conceal or reveal. But can her specialism save her from drowning?
Reservoir is a tense psychological thriller from an author who, before this book, was unknown to me. Now, after reading this, I am definitely going to read anything she has written.
It’s a very immersive and mesmerising story from the start. I had questions just from reading the blurb of Reservoir. I wanted my questions answering as soon as I possibly could.
Hannah, the main character, is an intriguing woman. On one hand, a woman who helps others as a psychotherapist. On the other hand, she has a past that even she only remembers bits of. Then there is Neville, it’s clear, he has his own agenda, but what that is, Hannah clearly wants to avoid.
Reservoir brings the questions of how to deal with a past that is painful. It’s so well written by Livi Michael. I could feel every emotion playing out in this story. Hannah’s emotions almost emanate from the pages.
It’s superbly written with vividly detailed characters. Hannah felt like she was so multi layered that it felt like I was peeling away layer upon layer.
This was a book I didn’t realise I needed to read until I read it. I found myself thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it and when I finished it, I was still thinking about it. Reservoir is a book that raises questions I have never even had to consider. A truly tense, well paced, and intriguing read!
Author Bio
Livi Michael is an award-winning writer of novels for adults, young adults and children. Her short stories have been published in several magazines and anthologies. She was educated at the University of Leeds and teaches Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
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