The Heart Ladder: A beautifully written twist-packed thriller!

by Elizabeth Macbain

1973, and New Yorker Faith Anderson arrives in England, alone and heavily pregnant. Faith hopes to make a new life for herself and provide a future filled with opportunity for her unborn son. 2003 and Dan has grown distant from his mother, and is a disappointment to himself. Unable to kick-start the stalled nature of his existence, Dan spends his days working in a run-down bookshop, setting the world to rights with his colleague Fiona. At weekends he is often found alone in nightclubs, surrounded by people and life but unable to make a connection with anything he deems important. It takes the arrival of a mysterious and enigmatic stranger to rip Dan from his lethargy; but who is this man and what is his agenda? As truths are dragged into the light and secrets revealed, lives are changed forever. And both Dan and Faith recognise there can be no future without embracing the lessons of the past.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 10, 2016

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started with promise and as the characters developed I was enjoying the story and it flowed well. However the story suddenly got confusing and I eventually realised there was a time traveller theme being introduced. This was quite late in the book and was slow to unravel and also confusing - both for the characters and me as the reader.
I have read other time travel stories and have enjoyed them, but for me in this case , the time travel element spoilt what for me up until that point had been an engaging enjoyable read.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

[Colette Lamberth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off so good that I was a little bit disappointed when we didn't spend more time in the 1970s with Faith and the story moved forward 30 years and focussed on Dan who I didn't particularly care for. I spent much of the book trying to work out what was going on and where we were headed and ultimately it went somewhere I definitely wouldn't have predicted. It is well written and with a different ending would have been a 4 star read for me.

I received a free copy of The Heart Ladder in return for an honest review and my thanks to THE Book Club (TBC) on Facebook and the author Elizabeth Macbain for that.

[Karen Farrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book to read by TBConFB in return for an honest review. This book had great promise. Loved Faith from the off and was really interested in her story, intertwined with that of her son Dan. The writing was lovely and it trundled long nicely. The last 25% took a very unexpected turn, not one I would have imagined at all, and not one that I particularly enjoyed/believed. I was quite disappointed by the ending of the book but can appreciate that it will be an ending that some people love. Definitely a marmite ending! However despite this I would certainly read more from this author as she does have a lovely writing style.

[Betty Almes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was slow go then wham thank you ma'am good ending and very thought provoking

[Claire Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book even though it took an unexpected turn which I was not expecting at all. However, I am not sure if the turn really fit with the rest of the book and it may not be to everyone's liking.

Thank you to TBC on FB for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book meandered along nicely for the first 75% but then I found it became quite confusing. The ending was not as expected. Definitely a Marmite book.!!