The Woman He Loved Before

Title: The Woman He Loved Before
Author: Dorothy Koomson
Genre: Adult
Publisher: Sphere
Release Date: Out Now

Summary:

She’s out of his life, but is she out of his heart?

Libby has a nice life with a great job, a gorgeous husband and a big home by the sea. But she’s becoming more unsure of Jack’s feelings for her – and if he is over the mysterious death of Eve, his first wife.

When fate intervenes in their relationship, Libby decides to find out all she can about the man she hastily married and the seemingly perfect Eve.

Eventually Libby stumbles across some startling truths about Eve. As she begins to unearth more and more devastating secrets, Libby becomes frightened that she too will end up like the first woman Jack loved. . .

My Review:

I started reading this book after Amy had previously reviewed it on this blog.  I have read books by Dorothy Koomson before and have never been disappointed, and I have to say that right from the first couple of paragraphs, this book had me hooked.

For those wanting to read Amy’s review before reading mine, you can check it out here and seeing as she has given you her thoughts on the story, I thought it would be interesting to give you my spin.

The story unfolds via three POV’s – Libby, Jack and Eve, with Libby and Eve being the main storytellers.  As the reader, I immediately liked Libby – she’s strong minded, she’s independent and she’s confident.  However, as you read along, you find it’s that confidence that begins to deteriorate as the aftermath of events start to unravel. Jack is a lost soul who is desperately trying to keep afloat while being torn between living in the present or dwelling in the past.  To me, he has this certain naivity and at times I wanted to take him aside and talk some sense into him so that he actually opened his eyes and saw what was around him.  And then, we have Eve. The very big and very present elephant in the room and in Jack and Libby’s relationship. Eve is an enigma and I personally found it hard to decide whether I sympathised with her character or not.

There is a very big and very unpredictable twist in this book, one that you think you can guess, but you actually can’t fathom it all out until the last few chapters and that is one of the many reasons why I loved this story so much.  There are also two main story arcs that unfold, one of love, loss and grief; and one of doing all you can to stay alive; and both are married up with each other perfectly.

I loved this book so much that, when I finished it, I actually felt a loss for the characters.  I want to know more about Jack and Libby and even Eve. I want to know the next chapter of their lives. And I want to know whether the justice that I wanted throughout the story was finally delivered to those who deserved it.  There is definitely room for a sequel and I have my fingers crossed that Dorothy Koomson may explore that some day.

My final words? Thank you to Amy for reviewing and recommending this book. I have no doubts that if you decide to read it, you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.