stuckinthebook's Reviews (248)

I went into this book not really expecting much but I was so pleasantly surprised - I fell head over heels for Margaret Small! As much as my heart broke for her, I was also so inspired by her and her tenacity. I absolutely loved the Cilla Black storyline and never expected it to turn out the way it did, how superbly it was written! I also really loved how Neil Alexander highlighted how awful the treatment of disabled people was over 80 years ago. Having read his author notes at the end of the book, it is clear that Alexander did SO much research to make this book as great as it is and it's clear that he put his heart and soul into this book because Margaret is such a loveable heroine. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was that sometimes the dialogue and internal dialogue didn't really match the character of Maggie and I get that Alexander was trying to portray Margaret's voice in the story but it sometimes felt a bit clunky. Other than that, I don't have a bad word to say about this book and I absolutely loved it! Maggie is definitely a character who will stick in my mind for life.

I struggled to get into it at first but after about 50 pages, I was into the story and I felt like I knew who the main character was. I could so vividly imagine the theatre and the main characters hotel room, and I felt like the writing was very poetic. Basically follows an actor who has cheated on his rockstar wife which ultimately leads to the complete breakdown of his marriage. He throws himself into his play but seems to punish himself along the way in multiple ways. Some very spicy scenes and a fair few monologues which became a bit wafflely towards the end but in terms of the story, I liked the exploration of a 'failed' 40-something man and the life of an actor.

I actually LOVED this so much! I absolutely fell in love with every single character and could picture the location and all the characters so well in my mind too. Didn't want it to end and I loved the different twists and turns so much too!