Review | Another Love

Title | Another Love

Author | Amanda Prowse 

Publisher | Head of Zeus

Publication Date | 11th February 2016

Purchase | Amazon             A Page of Love Rating | 5/5

In the early years, she was happy.

Romilly had worked hard for her stunning, modern house in one of Bristol's most fashionable suburbs. She adored her gorgeous, gap-toothed daughter and her kind and handsome husband. Sure, life was sometimes exhausting - but nothing that a large glass of wine at the end of the day couldn't fix.

But then, as deep-buried insecurities surfaced, everything started to unravel. A glass of wine became a bottle; one bottle became two. Once, Romilly's family were everything to her. Now, after years of hiding the drinking, she must finally admit that she has found another love...

Another Love by Amanda Prowse is a book that will be etched in my memory forever. It rendered me speechless from start to finish with the superior talent of Amanda Prowse's writing as she documented a very realistic story involving alcoholism.

I have never read any of Amanda's previous books I admit rather shamefully, but I do have a couple on my shelves - which I will undoubtedly read now that I have been touched soul deep by her work. I looked forward to sitting down and turning another e-Page on my Kindle each night to read more and more of Another Love. 

The book shares the story of how alcoholism impacts family from two perspectives; Romilly and her daughter Celeste. We also catch the impact and raw emotion of her husband David, which at times left me wanting to reach out to him and just let him know that I understand - I can see what he sees - but due to Amanda's brilliant writing, I could also see it from Romilly's perspective. Alcoholism, really brought out the worst in Romilly, and the heartbreaking scenes left me wondering if I could bare to discover their fate as a family.

Romilly, a successful graduate with a fascination for the May Fly, just found that by having a drink it helped her open up, lighten up, relax a little more in social situations. Slowly, as the years passed Romilly became more dependant on alcohol and as one love grew, one love had to fade.

The situations which Romilly finds herself in are raw, emotive, gut wrenching, even nauseating at times. There's a few points where you simply want to grab Romilly, and shake her until she sees sense, sees what she's doing to her family, her beautiful girl, and even herself. It really is vile. The disease of alcoholism, and the acts involved. But, sadly, they are the situations that SO many people find themselves in as alcoholics.

I loved how the book ended, it didn't end how I expected it to, or how I wanted it to - but in all honesty, it ended the best way possible considering that the book is so on par with reality rather than escapism fiction. This book is raw, it touches you in ways you never knew a book could, it stays with you, the characters pop into your head and you want to say, "hey, how are you doing now?".

Another Love is an on point novel of the destruction and havoc alcohol can cause, it documents the journey so intrinsically well, that I simply cannot fault it. I want to walk into shops when this hits the shelf, and place these books in the wine aisle with a placard saying - "This is what having that one drink to relax followed by another, and another, and another - until you depend on it can do to you!"

I can't praise this book highly enough, and right now it is DEFINITELY going to be in my top 10 (Top 5!) books of 2016. This book deserves to win awards, and if it was made into a TV drama series, and followed the exact book to perfection, it would make award winning, phenomenal viewing. Which is why, I absolutely, without a doubt, award Another Love 5 out of 5 Page of Love Hearts.