by Moa Herngren
SYNOPSIS
There are two sides to every story. Which one will you believe?
Together for more than thirty years, Bea and Niklas live a comfortable life in Stockholm. But one evening, following a trivial argument, Niklas disappears. Weeks pass before it emerges that he has met someone else. To Bea's horror, he insists they must divorce.
But is this divorce really coming out of the blue? Is the person who does the leaving always the one at fault? What emerges once you begin scratching the surface?
REVIEW
As someone who mainly reads Crime Fiction this book might seem like a strange choice. However, my favourite sub-genre of Crime is Scandi-Crime and over the years I have developed a love for everything Scandinavian. There's just something about the writing style that appeals to me and the concept of seeing a couple divorcing from two different perspectives sounded really interesting. What did surprise me is just how much I loved The Divorce. I am completely obsessed with this book and it is definitely making my Top 10 reads of the year so far.
The great thing about this story for me was that it kind of played out like a thriller - there was so much tension and so many unexpected turns that it didn't really feel too different to a more typical domestic thriller. But, the background and the secrets and the decisions that all led to the 'divorce' were explored beautifully, the relationships examined in such minute detail that, at some points, it felt more like a non-fiction account of a relationship coming to an end.
When I read Part 1 which looks at the situation from the perspective of Bea, I have honestly never felt so involved in somebody else's relationship. It was heartbreaking to read, I felt every missed call, every unanswered text, every betrayal like a stab to the heart. I felt such an intense hatred towards Niklas for the way he treated Bea that I didn't even want to read his section of the story! What I can't get my head around is how the author was able to write such a convincing and compelling version of the events from the perspective of Bea, and then switch to Niklas and completely change my opinion on their situation. Bea's story felt so real that I couldn't believe that the same person would be able to write that same story in such a different light. Part 2 was a real eye-opener. The relationship felt so suffocating from his point of view and it was almost claustrophobic to read. It's probably the most shocking part way through a book change I've read since Elizabeth Day's Magpie.
I would never have believed that a book about the breakdown of a marriage could be so captivating. I usually stick to thrillers because I need a story to keep my interest the whole way through and this is honestly one of only a handful of non-crime books that have managed to do that for me. Absolutely brilliant, The Divorce is a book that I will be recommending to EVERYONE this year!
Thanks to Anne Cater - @RandomTTours, Moa Herngren - @moaherngren and Manilla Press - @manilla_press @bonnierbooks_uk for the opportunity to read and review.
Publisher: Manilla Press Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-1786583741
Pages: 400pp
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