Friday, August 16, 2013

Book Review - The Other Half of Me - Morgan McCarthy

The Other Half of Me: A Novel
Title:  The Other Half of Me

Author: Morgan McCarthy

Review:   I started this book and read the first ½ in one setting, but life called and so I put it down and then lost it for a time.  When I found it I picked up right where I left off and finished it.  SPOILER ALERT ***  I cried, not just at the end, but at many parts in this book.

I enjoyed the story of this brother and sister who had little in the way of maternal or paternal love.  Being wealthy isn’t all it’s cut out to be.  I think the author did a great job of pulling the reader into the story and making you part of their lives.  Nothing big or flashy happens, just life….like with all of us.  I really felt of Theo and I also felt for Jonathan.  Having a sibling who cannot get it together is not an easy road, he made mistakes and she made mistakes along the way and mental illness is never easy to live with. 

The ending will stay with me I guess you could call his book haunting, but not in a bad way at all.  I loved the last few pages and the realization that Jonathan came to…we all need to come to this at some point in our lives.  The author did a great job making you want to know even the mundane of their lives and celebrate the victories and cry at their losses.

Published:  Published September 4th 2012 by Free Press(first published 2012)
ISBN: 9781451668230
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 336
Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)
Where I Obtained the Book:  Sent by the publisher for review.

Synopsis:  “What good can the past do the living? What harm?” Growing up in their family’s ancestral home in Wales, Jonathan Anthony and his little sister, Theo, are inseparable. Together they explore the wild acres of Evendon, inventing magical worlds and buttressing each other against the loneliness of life with their alcoholic mother, Alicia, and a shifting cast of gossiping cooks and maids. When a family tragedy brings their glamorous grandmother, Eve, home from America, Jonathan and Theo are initially elated by the attention she lavishes on them. But soon it becomes clear that there is more to the Anthony family history than either Eve or Alicia will acknowledge, trapping Jonathan and Theo in a web of dark secrets that have haunted Evendon for generations. Written in luminous prose, with richly endearing characters and a profound appreciation for the rustic beauty of the Welsh countryside, The Other Half of Me is a darkly wise coming-of-age novel and a masterful portrait of a family and the burdens of the past.
 Morgan McCarthy
Authors Information:  Morgan McCarthy was born in Berkshire, UK, where she still lives. She has worked in a supermarket, a small independent bookstore, and, most recently, as a media analyst.


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