#Review: We've come to take you Home by Susan Gandar

Book length - 234 pages
Publisher - Matador 
Book Depository - www.bookdepository.com
Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk
Amazon US - www.amazon.com

​ABOUT THE BOOK

"A stirring reminder of the horrors of war and a distinctive take on the timelessness of love." - Kirkus Reviews

It is April 1916 and thousands of men have left home to fight in the war to end all wars. Jessica Brown's father is about to be one of these men. A year later, he is still alive, but Jess has to steal to keep her family from starving. And then a telegram arrives - her father has been killed in action. 

Four generations later, Sam Foster's father is admitted to hospital with a suspected brain haemorrhage. A nurse asks if she would like to take her father’s hand. Sam refuses. All she wants is to get out of this place, stuck between the world of the living and the world of the dead, a place with no hope and no future, as quickly as possible. 

As Sam's father's condition worsens, her dreams become more frequent - and more frightening. She realises that what she is experiencing is not a dream, but someone else's living nightmare... 

We've Come to Take You Home is an emotionally-charged story of a friendship forged 100 years apart.

MY REVIEW
​
I am writing this now with tears rolling down my face as I have just finished the last sentence of this beautifully heartbreaking story. There are so many stunning components in this novel that combine to make it truly spectacular - the rich detail of both past and present, the compelling characters that you long to help, and the depth of emotion that will make you ache, naming just a few.

It is the First World War and Jessica Brown's life can be neatly split into two parts - before the war when she was blissfully happy, growing up surrounded by the love of her parents and her little brother with little to worry her, and life since the war began, changing everything for her in the harshest of ways. But even during this desolate time, tiny fragments of happiness begin to shine through, but can they last...

In the present day, Sam Foster's life is turned upside down when her father is involved in a serious accident. Terrified of what the future may hold, Sam struggles to remain calm, and to make things more complicated, she keeps finding herself slipping into the dreams of another person's life and memories without her control. With fear for her father and what is happening to herself, can Sam find a way to figure out what these messages are trying to tell her?

WE'VE COME TO TAKE YOU HOME by Susan Gandar is a thought-provoking story of love, despair, and hope, and I read this book in two hours as I could not put it down. The harsh reality of war, poverty, and life at that time for so many, is effortlessly woven into this tale, and my eyes teared up as the descriptive narrative made it all come alive. And the last line left me blubbering like a baby!
All of the characters are expertly crafted but Jessica was by far my favourite character as her strength and spirit shone through in every situation. 
WE'VE COME TO TAKE YOU HOME by Susan Gandar is an excellent story, full of depth and emotion, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
 
Author Bio:

I grew up surrounded by stories and storytelling. 
My father, John Box, was a film production designer, working on ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, ‘Dr. Zhivago’, ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘A Man For All Seasons’ and the musical ‘Oliver’. (Click here for more on John ) Our house was always filled with people, usually eccentric, always talented, invariably stroppy, discussing stories. My mother put my father’s four Oscars to good use as toilet roll holders, doorstops and hat stands.
A major chunk of my childhood was spent loitering around on film sets. Who needs an ‘English education’ when you have the marble-dusted streets of downtown Moscow, ten miles outside of Madrid, to explore?
But then the years of ‘Who Will Buy My Sweet Red Roses’ came to a rather abrupt end. Reality knocked on the door in the guise of the Metropolitan Line to Shepherds Bush and the BBC. Working in television as a script editor and story consultant, I was part of the creative team responsible for setting up ‘Casualty’. I became known for going after the more ‘difficult’ stories at the same time successfully racking up viewing figures from 7 to 14 million.
I went on to develop various projects for both the BBC and the independent sector. The period I enjoyed most was working with Jack Rosenthal, a wonderful writer, on the series ‘Moving Story’ – ‘That’s a situation, a good situation, but now you need to make it into a story.’
Martin, my husband, was made an offer he couldn’t refuse and we left England to live in Amsterdam. ‘Ik wil een kilo kabeljauw, alstublieft’ will, if all goes well, buy you a piece of cod – I decided to concentrate on my writing rather than my Dutch pronunciation.
My debut novel, ‘We’ve Come to Take You Home’, set in the present and in 1918, a crossover aimed at the adult and young adult women’s fiction market, was published in the Spring of 2016. For more information:
Website - susangandar.com
Twitter - twitter.com/Susan_Gandar
Facebook - www.facebook.com/susangandarauthor/

*I want to thank the author Susan Gandar for providing me with a review copy of this beautiful novel.