Portobello Book Blog

Review copy from Netgalley

How can a memory so vivid be wrong? In the summer of 1986 Robin and Izzie hold hands under The Faerie Tree and wish for a future together. Within hours tragedy rips their dreams apart. In the winter of 2006, each carrying their own burden of grief, they stumble back into each other’s lives and try to create a second chance. But why are their memories of 1986 so different? And which one of them is right?

This is such a beautifully written book about love, loss and grief. Robin and Izzie are coping with bereavements in very different ways when they meet again after twenty years. Their memories of what happened to separate them all those years ago are very different. Through chapters told from their different perspectives, we begin to understand what has happened to them in the intervening years as they begin to rekindle their relationship. The author deals with themes of grief and depression in a very sensitive way. The emotions and deep connections between the characters are really well depicted.  Robin and Izzie are both damaged, fragile and flawed but each can help the other to heal. The faerie tree plays a central part in their past and by returning to it, they begin to unravel which of their memories are true. It is a place where children, and adults, have expressed their hopes, dreams and wishes throughout the years and it is where hope for Robin and Izzie begins again.