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Surfacing

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Isobel's life has changed. All but destroyed one sunshiny day; just like that, when

she wasn't looking. She needs to wake up and realise that unless she starts

swimming, the waters might close completely over her head.

308 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2015

1 person want to read

About the author

Nene Davies

9 books40 followers
Born in England to Welsh parents, Nene was raised in beautiful Pembrokeshire, West Wales. In 2002 Nene, her husband and three children emigrated to Australia and now live at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Nene's debut novel, Distance, was published in 2013 and she has gone on to complete the trilogy with Further and Surfacing.
Redhanded was published in November, 2016 and Whitethorne in 2018. The Narrows was published in 2020. Nene has a coffee shop,Chapter, and a bookstore, Hannah Jones. She is the founding director of the Capricorn Coast Writers Festival.
http://www.nenedavies.com
@nene_davies
@nenedavieswrites



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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Simone.
112 reviews18 followers
December 23, 2015
Having first met Isobel and her family in Distance and followed them through Further, it was lovely to round out the trilogy with Surfacing. There is a larger time gap between the second and third books, with Surfacing taking place several years after Further.

With her kids out of school and off her hands this should be a great time in Isobel's life, but sadly life has conspired to make it very challenging. While she is doing her best to put on a brave face, Isobel is slowly crumbling under the weight of grief and emptiness and is even questioning if staying in Australia is the best thing for her.

As with the other two books in the series Nene Davies takes the reader on quite a journey with well drawn characters and vivid descriptive prose that draws you right into the story. Many different themes are explored in a realistic way, in particular the important (and often ignored) issue of mental health as well as the difficulty of having a loved one serving in the armed forces.

It has been great to see Nene's development as a writer over the span of the series and I do feel a bit sad that Surfacing is the last we will see of the Richardson family.

If you have read the other two Distance series books, you have to finish with Surfacing. If you haven't yet embarked on the trilogy jump aboard and know you have three great books to look forward to.
Profile Image for Maggie.
Author 56 books145 followers
November 24, 2015
Davies’ descriptive phrases and well-rounded characters set her apart from the run-or-the-mill writers. In Surfacing, her third novel of the Williams family who left Wales to settle in Australia, Davies’ protagonist, Isobel, is once again fraught with family challenges. Davies takes the reader though a rollercoaster of emotions as Isobel seeks to deal with the challenges she faces with her life and her children, while coping with her own grief. The reader empathises with Isobel as she struggles to come to terms with the barbs life has thrown at her and seeks to emerge with a positive vision for her future.
Profile Image for Helen McKenna.
Author 9 books35 followers
February 9, 2017
Surfacing is the third installment of Nene Davies' trilogy about the Richardson's, a Welsh family who created a new life for themselves in Australia. Having come the know the characters well in the first two books, it was great to see how their journey finished up in Surfacing.

Right from the get go, Isobel is familiar, yet different. Tragedy has rocked her life and she is still very much treading water - functioning on a physical level but still emotionally at sea. With her children grown and gone Isobel is struggling to re-discover herself and her place in the world and is questioning if her adopted home of Australia is where she really wants to be.

As with the first two books of the series, Surfacing delivers well developed characters and a plausible storyline that most of us would be able to relate to. There is plenty of drama and many scenes that will have you reaching for the tissues. But on the flip side there is also a realistic exploration of several issues, such as depression, and a lovely sense of healing and hope.

Surfacing rounds out the Distance trilogy nicely with satisfying wrap ups for each of the characters and no loose ends to leave the reader hanging. I look forward to reading more of Nene's books in the future.
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