Reflections tells the story of a very lost and lonely spirit. Sally is the type of woman who has had much heartbreak in her life and for too long has hidden away her pain. Now, Sally must face that pain head on and tackle the feelings from both the past and the present. There are too many unanswered questions in her life and she needs, for her own piece of mind and broken heart, to find out the truth about her childhood and why she was sent to live with her aunt Kitty. Why did her mother not want her but yet her sisters remained living at home? Who was her father? Why did Sally's husband treat her the way he had? Why had she let him?

Throughout the course of the story, the timeline shifts from present to past, exploring Sally's difficult childhood and her confusion around the living arrangements. I really enjoyed the story despite sometimes getting confused with the shift in timelines. It was sometimes difficult to keep track with 'when' Sally was in the book. As an adult, Sally cuts all contact off from her mother and sisters and its only when her life is turned upside down in Portugal does Sally finally summon up the courage, with the love and support of her children, to make amends with her lost family and apologise for her own mistakes and her own behaviour. Sally sets out to find out the truth and finally meet her father. But, life can be cruel and their reunion is short lived. Sally finds out more than she could have bargained for about herself, her family and her father and she must find a way to deal with the fallout and the overwhelming feeling that her life is on a rollercoaster and she can't get off.

This was quite a sad story I felt. Sally is such a lonely and confused person and I felt so sorry for her. She is fighting many demons and it takes a lot of courage to admit that she made a few errors of judgement along the way. Her desire to be a part of something, of finding out who she really was is almost heartbreaking. Her sense of who she is is completely displaced and her life is in limbo. I could sympathise completely with her desire to find out where she came from and often reading the book was like reading about my own life. I liked Sally although I thought she could be a little bit of a grump at times but who could blame her! I would have liked to have seen Mr Leriche feature more in the beginning of the story but I did love the mystery of the painting! Sometimes the writing did get a little bogged down in the descriptive of every day tasks but overall I really enjoyed Sally's story and the final outcome for her. An enjoyable read.