Reviews: Never Say Goodbye by Susan Lewis

How would you cope with the threat of losing someone you love? Josie Clark is a loving wife and mother. She and her husband Jeff don't have much and it's often difficult to make ends meet. But Josie will do anything to protect her family and keep them safe. Bel Monkton is a successful property developer, living in a beautiful house by the sea. She seems to have everything going for her, but she's lonely. And she's let the shadows from her past cloud her future. Josie's life couldn't be more different to Bel's. But three years ago, tragedy tore Bel's life in two. Now it's happening to Josie. And faced with uncertainty and heartbreak, they come to treasure their growing friendship.

Never Say Goodbye by Susan Lewis is not  her typical brand of novels as it is different in a good way but it is just  as enjoyable as her other novels. It is a heartbreaking novel which explores family and relationship between friends. It is a sensitive and compassionate portrayal of people living with an illness and the reactions of their loved ones. This is a story which will make the reader pause and think .

This book is filled with high emotions and sharply drawn characters for the most part but it falls a bit short on the melodrama that some of them engage in. The writing is crisp and well done; no issues with the quality of the author's prose and story telling abilities. If I must make a criticism it is that some of the actions some characters take are just a bit too melodramatic to seem plausible. However, that did not distract from my overall enjoyment of this page turner. There is an interesting cast of secondary characters in the story and despite the generally dark tone of the book, there are, through these secondary actors, some chinks of light for the future. Never Say Goodbye is definitely entertaining and gripping and a good read. As usual Susan Lewis has written a thought provoking novel