Review + Giveaway: Walking in the Rain by Julia Ibbotson

Walking in the Rain by Julia Ibbotson

Series: Drumbeats Trilogy #2

Release Date:23rd March 2015

Genres: Contemporary Fiction

How do you cope when your worst nightmare comes true?

Jess happily marries the love of her life. She wants to feel safe, secure and loved. But gradually it becomes clear that her beloved husband is not the man she thought him to be. She survived civil war and injury in Africa, but can she now survive the biggest trauma of her life?

This is the second novel in the Drumbeats trilogy but can be read as a standalone. However, Drumbeats is so amazing you should just read it too!

Drumbeats

Walking in the Rain

Before I Die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3pUErb8cZc

Walking in the Rain is the second book in the Drumbeats trilogy and follows Jess on the second phase of her life now that she has returned from Ghana. Simon, who broke her heart so badly is now back on the scene and suddenly showing an interest again. Jess is determined to continue with her studies and make a career for herself. However, Simon has other ideas and Jess suddenly finds herself swept away by his enthusiasm and killer smile! She would do anything for him. However, Jess soon finds that she is given less and less opportunity to make important decisions about their lives together. Simon, it seems has it all worked out.

Jess goes into her marriage with Simon with enthusiasm although I felt this was on a purely superficial level. I think that Jess knew deep in her heart that everything that Simon wanted for them was a polar opposite to what she wanted. In the first book in the trilogy we see Jess as an adventurer, as someone who is taking charge more and more and this was perhaps possible for her because she was away from her domineering family's influence. However, now she has returned to England, Jess soon learns to put her own needs last and desperately tries to make sure Simon is happy. She becomes a product of all that is expected of women in the 1960's.

 Throughout the book, Jess remembers her times in Ghana with a yearning for what once was. Simon is blind to her needs and ambitions and Jess finds herself putting her own dreams to one side as Simon has more difficulties that she could ever imagine and it soon becomes apparent that he is almost a full time job himself, needing constant reassurance and to be cared for. He is extremely needy and so selfish. Jess herself has her own problems to contend with but will she get what she needs from Simon? Julia Ibbotson has written his character so well and he made me want to scream throughout the entire book. I tried to have some sympathy for him at times but simply couldn't.  He was infuriating and sometimes I got a little mad at Jess for not standing up to him more. However, I could also see why she didn't. She was in an impossible position.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt for Jess as she is so torn in doing what is expected of her and following her own dreams. It is a book about the loss of one's self and searching for a way to your own dreams. So many different issues are explored in this book - love, trust, abuse, mental illness, betrayal and feeling lost and alone and of course hope.  A really great read and I look forward to the next installment in the story.

Want to read Drumbeats first? Buy-link on Amazon for the first in the trilogy:

Buy it Here

And, for a taster, the book trailer video for Drumbeats:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OYlEXhHvsc&list=UUP3hKZjeUBuTMoyvZmBXbow


You can check out my review for Drumbeats HERE

 

 

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About Julia Ibbotson

 

Julia Ibbotson is an author and academic, and lives in the middle of the English countryside in a renovated Victorian rectory with her husband, an orchard, a kitchen garden and far too many moles. Their four children are now grown up and they have four gorgeous grandchildren. She was a school teacher for many years before becoming a senior university lecturer, researcher and writer. She loves reading, travelling, choral singing, theatre, walking, swimming and gardening, as well as cooking for family and friends. Her books include a memoir/recipe book, The Old Rectory: escape to a country kitchen, and a children’s book (9-14 year olds),S.C.A.R.S, a fantasy story of dragons, knights and a boy who slips through the fabric of the universe into a parallel medieval world threatened by the evil Myrthor, the heart of darkness.

Author page on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Julia-Ibbotson/e/B0095XG11U/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1377188346&sr=1-2-ent

Author facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julia-Ibbotson-author/163085897119236

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/JuliaIbbotson

 Author website:

http://www.juliaibbotsonauthor.com

Pinterest page: includes boards with pics and images that inspired each book

http://pinterest.com/juliai1/

Goodreads author page:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6017965.Julia_Ibbotson