Title: The Man Who Didn’t Call
Author: Rosie Walsh
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

[Synopsis]

Imagine you meet a man, spend six glorious days together, and fall in love. And it’s mutual: you’ve never been so certain of anything.

So when he leaves for a long-booked holiday and promises to call from the airport, you have no cause to doubt him.
But he doesn’t call.

Your friends tell you to forget him, but you know they’re wrong: something must have happened; there must be a reason for his silence.

What do you do when you finally discover you’re right? That there is a reason — and that reason is the one thing you didn’t share with each other?

The truth.

[My Review]

I didn’t expect this novel to be so emotional – I’d assumed it would be more of a light and fluffy read, perhaps partly due to the cover, but once I started reading I realised that this is a truly gripping, absorbing and really well crafted.

The characters are believable and convincing, with main protagonist Sarah coming across as a likable and someone who doesn’t fit into a typical ‘category’ of person. She isn’t someone who’d usually become so obsessed over a one-week ‘fling’, but as we hear it all from her point of view, we’re right there with her and we have the chance to understand why she feels the way she does about Eddie.

I read this book in almost one solid sitting, and really wanted to know why Eddie had suddenly disappeared from Sarah’s life. I swung from hating him to suddenly feeling confused, and though I guessed part of what had happened, this wasn’t at all the actual correct conslusion, which I felt really satisfied with.

There’s so much more to this story than just your average contemporary romance/ ‘chick-lit’-style read; it’s so much deeper than that. There are some truly emotional parts and some real surprises along the way.

Rosie Walsh has written a fantastic debut here, mixing elements of romance and relationships with modern-life dating and the many ways grief can take a hold of someones life. It’s punchy, emotional, and heartwrenching – an absorbing read!

[Rating: 5/5]