Constance: A Novel - Hardcover

Rosie Thomas is the author of numerous critically acclaimed, bestselling novels, and has twice won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Born in a small village in northern Wales, Thomas discovered a love of traveling and mountaineering when her children were grown. In the years since, she has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, and trekked in the footsteps of Shackleton on South Georgia Island.

Introspective and descriptive writing carry along a shaky plot and dangling ends in Thomas’ examination of a woman searching for her place in the world. Music writer Constance Thorne is living a seemingly idyllic life in Bali. But paradise can’t completely insulate her from the world. She is called back to London to be with her dying sister, Jeanette, a journey that is challenging in many ways. Years before, Constance fell in love with her sister’s husband and ended up not only heartbroken but also estranged from the family. Because she was a foundling and raised by adoptive parents, the rejection hit her very hard. Her solution—to flee to Bali—has anchored her until now. Following Constance from lush Bali back to noisy London, the story line also meanders around Jeanette’s son, Noah, and his girlfriend, Roxana, who is from Uzbekistan and does her own soul-searching. The different characters water down the plot, but some may be interested in the tangles of old family hurts and the potential power of true forgiveness. --Julie Trevelyan