Book- After you'd gone, Maggie O'Farrell

I thought this book was brilliant- incredibly moving but without being soppy and overly sentimental. The story is about three generations of a scottish family, focussing on Alice who is in a coma after what is either an accident or attempted suicide. The stories of Alice and her mother (Ann) and grandmother (Elspeth) are cleverly told in fragments so that their histories are gradually pieced together and we find out how they came to this point.

Unfortunately, there are some clichéd details in the book (for example, Ann and her other two daughters are very fair while Alice has a dark complexion. We later learn that Ann had an affair... surprise, surprise). However, the focus here isn't really the scandal and mystery, it's about life and the impact of our decisions on both ourselves and other. Love is also a major theme, but this is NOT just trashy chick-lit with a fairy tale ending!