Good Reads: Completing the Puzzle

I absolutely devoured Amanda Egan’s first two books. The story of Misfit Mummy kept me in thrall: I definitely identified with the school-run-mum wondering if she would fit in, trying to make friends, be involved with the school and do the best for her child. I felt her pain too, and delighted in her victories. She left a little Mummy-Misfit-shaped hole in my life when I was finished.

Imagine, then, my joy when Amanda Egan released Completing the Puzzle, delighting her fans with an altogether new set of characters. The themes of family and raising children were still there, but the premise was totally different. Again there was a lot to identify with: the mum juggling three generations of family, friends, work and still trying to find a minute to herself. I loved Fee’s personality: feisty but loving, sarcastic, slightly out-of-touch but the kind of person you know you would enjoy spending an evening with.

Fairly quickly it is apparent that all is not well with her life: she has a lecherous boss, a miserable husband, two grown boys who take her for granted and her live-in Dad who has a thing for the dreadful cleaner. And then there’s her best friend…..

All the characters are well-rounded. You hear their voices in your head as you read. You conjure an image of what they look like. You get drawn in to the tale of Fee and her search for a dog (and let me tell you, that dog was a stroke of genius!) and her woes and her triumphs. You feel utter delight, and not a little bit of jealousy, at some points and absolute frustration at others (Men!)

But the best thing about the book is the warm fuzzy feeling it leaves you with; the determination you feel  to be just a little bit nicer to your friends, a little more understanding of those around you, a little more grateful for the family that you have around you. That’s the gift of a good writer: that the story stays with you after you read the final sentence.

Completing the Puzzle by Amanda Egan: read it.

Amanda Egan is the author of ‘Diary of a Mummy Misfit’ ‘The Darker Side of Mummy Misfit’ and ‘Completing the Puzzle’. Her books can be bought on Amazon for Kindle or in paperback at Lulu.

She blogs at Mummy Misfit  and can followed on Twitter @mummy_misfit

*disclosure: I was given a free Kindle download for the purposes of the review. Little did the fabulous PR know that I would have paid actual money for it 😀 All opinions are mine.