Romantic fantasy in a real-world setting is not my usual pick but this is a good one. Benjamin Haymond‘s debut self-published novel is a slow burner. It starts off with what seems like unconnected stories about people who are linked in only a small way but keep at it and you start to see the red thread running through these stories and the bigger story which holds them together.
Haymond has taken the age-old idea of a red thread linking people across vast distances to another level, adding a beautiful love story and a thousand-year-old curse into the mix; building more layers into it. Setting the story in real-world locations grounds the tale and makes it more relatable.
Lewis and Katie are our lovers in question, Hildegard, an elderly woman in a care home, has known their story through the ages and Diane, Lewis’ best friend, who has (in my opinion) a slightly complicated relationship with Lewis, tries her best to help. Through these characters, the story unfolds in a rather unusual way; it’s not your normal linear storyline and that’s what keeps you reading; your brain is engaged in their story.
I won’t give any more details away. I will leave you to read it so you can enjoy the revelations for yourselves.
The book did leave me with a few questions but it doesn’t take away from what is, at its core, a wonderful story about love and what one would do to find it and keep it.
Happy Reading.
syc
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