The Woman Who Came Back to Life – ARC Book Review

Pearl Flowers has been hiding away for so long that she has forgotten what real life is like. Her quiet routine in a woodland cottage in France is a sanctuary, far away from her past life running a beauty salon. But even when she is sitting at the foot of a beech tree with her drawing pad, surrounded by birdsong, her mind is never still. If she keeps herself distracted and far away, her past can’t hurt her… can it?

But then an unexpected phone call throws her calm world into chaos. Back in the UK, her estranged father Francis is dying. She hasn’t seen him for decades since he pushed her away and destroyed their family. And on his death-bed, Francis leaves her a gift – a diary, written in a code that only Pearl can understand.

As she begins to read her father’s diary, Pearl discovers that for forty years he had been thinking of her almost every day. And as she reads on, secrets begin to emerge from the pages causing her to question everything she thought she knew.

Reeling from the diary’s revelations, Pearl realises that the only way to heal and find true happiness is to face the past. But is she ready to confront her deepest secret, the one she’s been running from all this time?

This utterly tear-jerking and heartwarming novel is for anyone who knows it’s never too late to find happiness. Fans of Matt Haig,Mike GayleandCamille Pagán will fall in love with this beautiful, feel-good story.

This is the book that has all the family drama and that will make you laugh out loud and cry at the same time and that will make you not put the book down.

Pearl receives the news that her father has died and so she and Denny flies to London to attend the funeral from France. Her father has left her his diary, which was written in shorthand–something that only Pearl knows. With her father’s wife demanding to give the diary to her as she firmly believes that it belonged to her, And as Pearl reads her late father’s diary, she gets to know more about her and realizes that he knows more about her despite the fact that they didn’t have a good relationship with each other. Meanwhile, Pearl gets a surprise visit from someone.

This book is written in two perspectives–Pearl and Carrie. You will soon get to know who Carrie is by the middle of the book. The story is beautifully written with the author doing a good job of drawing the reader into the story. This book actually reminded me the likeness of Jodi Picoult, Heather Webber where this book in fact talks about the complications within the family and the relationships between the family members in general. I do like the part where the relationship with Pearl and Carrie were a bit estranged but eventually, it started growing as they both grow into understanding with each other. Overall, I actually enjoyed reading this book. There were some tear jerking moments, some funny parts as well that will make you laugh out loud and also overall, an intense family drama that is well described in the book.

Worth full five stars in my opinion! Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.