It’s such a pleasure today to be joining the blog tour and sharing my review of The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine, the latest book from Laura Pearson: published on 20th September by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an ebook (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. Many thanks, as ever, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
Having so enjoyed Laura’s writing back in 2018, when I read Missing Pieces (you’ll find my review here – and the book was republished by Boldwood on 27th February this year), I was delighted to rediscover her writing with The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up. It was such a very special book, an intense and powerful read, emotional and disturbing at times but also quite beautifully written, entirely compelling, and impossible to put down until I’d read to its perfect end (you’ll find my review of that one here). And no, I sadly still haven’t managed to read her first new book with Boldwood, The Last List of Mabel Beaumont – it was such a massive bestseller, and the reviews have been wonderful, so I really must try it when I have my next “read whatever I like” break. But this is another new book – and something very different…
You’ve heard of the Afterlife. Welcome to the Beforelife.
There are four of us: Samuel, Lucy, Thomas, and me – Eliza.
We came into being the day Becca Valentine was born. We’ve been by her side ever since. What she doesn’t know yet, is that one day she might become our mother.
Then two men come into her life. Both seeking her heart. And then we realise: everything rests on Becca’s love story. Because one of the men is Lucy and Thomas’s father. And the other is mine and Samuel’s. And there’s simply no way we can all be born.
We all want her to make the right choice. We all want to be born. To hold her hand one day. To feel her stroke our hair. To call her our mother.
Then we discover there is something we can do. We can change Fate. But we only have a single chance each. How would you make sure you were born? And what if doing that isn’t what’s best for the person you already love the most in the world – your mother?
This was a book with an entirely original premise, and one that required a considerable suspension of disbelief – but that was something I didn’t find difficult for an instant, and it took me on an emotional journey unlike any other as its beautifully written story unfolded.
Imagine the notion of a beforelife – the children we might have, assigned to their mother at her birth, awaiting their own conception. Or not – as they watch her relationships develop, the choices she makes, they might always only exist on a different plane, never be born and destined to disappear from her life. But each of these “almosts” has the opportunity to make one intervention by manipulating things – hoping to ensure they have their opportunity, although the outcome is never guaranteed.
Becca Valentine has four “almosts” – Samuel, Lucy, Thomas, and Eliza who tells the story. Their relationship is that of siblings – very real despite their situation, with greater closeness between some than others, and all the competitiveness and vying for position and falling out you’d find in a real world family. And they know who their fathers will be – and know there’s very little likelihood of them all being born. Becca herself has a fragmented family – a father who really cares, a mother who isn’t there for her – and, from a relatively young age, faces the choice between two would-be partners. And, her actions having their consequences, that choice proves immensely difficult – one might be far more stable and suitable, but her situation sometimes forces her down a different route. And as she makes her difficult decisions, she’s watched by her maybe children – each one knowing that the course her life takes will decide their future too.
The characters are wonderfully drawn – the “almosts” entirely real in every way, with complex personalities, hopes and fears, and a love for their mother that’s already fully developed. And Becca herself – I so often ached for her, desperate for her to find some measure of happiness. The author’s emotional touch is absolutely perfect and I found myself so involved in her story, always aware of the impact of her choices on the individuals hoping to enter her life.
I’m conscious that some might think that the whole premise might make this a book they wouldn’t enjoy – I had my own initial doubts, but I really couldn’t recommend this special book more highly. As well as making you feel – and very deeply – it makes you think, about the whole nature of families and motherhood, the consequences of following different paths through life, and the sacrifices we’re sometimes forced to make. At times, it’s totally heartbreaking – but also a book filled with love, and one I’ll never forget.
About the author
Laura Pearson is the author of five previous novels. The Last List of Mabel Beaumont was a Kindle number one bestseller in the UK and a top ten bestseller in the US. Laura lives in Leicestershire, England, with her husband, their two children, and a cat who likes to lie on her keyboard while she tries to write.
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