Today, I’m posting my review as part of The Write Reads book tour for Never Closer by Margot Shepherd. Thanks to The Write Reads gang for asking me to this particular party and for the gifted paperback for my honest review.
On an ordinary day in 2017, Jo receives a phone call about her 18-year-old daughter, Jessie. It is the call that every parent dreads. In 1940, 17-year-old Alice ties on her facemask and enters a laboratory to harvest a potential new miracle drug called penicillin. The lives of these women become entwined when Jo finds Alice’s diary in a vintage handbag. Past and present overlap and merge as life-changing events resonate for them all across the gulf of time.
This is a story about a diary opening a door on the past, chronicling a young woman’s determination to succeed against all odds, while unknowingly inspiring others to step into a better life. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, the infancy of antibiotics and a modern medical emergency and its consequences, it not only reminds us how fortunate we are to live now, but also serves as a stark warning about the fragility of life and the dangers of complacency.
My Review
A dual timeline novel that takes the reader on a journey so seamlessly. Set in 1940 and 2017, we are introduced to Jo, who has received terrible news about her daughter. She discovers a diary that belonged to a young woman in 1940. Alice is one of the ‘penicillin girls’ of the time who worked on the penicillin trials. I have always said that historical fiction always entertains and educates me. This story definitely did that!
It was a debut novel that had me so interested from the first page. One thing I know almost nothing about is the work that went into discovering everything needed to know about penicillin. Margot Shepherd has woven this story in such a way that it takes the reader right back in time so vividly. She has intertwined the timelines so well that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with both Alice and Jo.
The research for this novel was that thorough that Alice’s diary felt so authentic. I wasn’t so sure where the facts joined the fiction. I was so immersed in both women’s stories that I had to keep reading until I turned the last page.
A very well written historical fiction novel that has characters who are well crafted and multi layered too. Such a great read!
Book Links
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202193689-never-closer?
Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Closer-Novel-About-Diary-ebook/dp/B0CNDGC2WX/
Author
Margot Shepherd is a British author who was born in Yorkshire where she spent her childhood. She now lives in rural Sussex with her husband and Springer Spaniel, Genni. When she’s not writing she works in medical research at the University of Surrey. She writes about family relationships with a particular emphasis on women and science from a female point of view.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 