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Friday, March 18, 2016

Blog Tour: The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

Author: Kate Hamer
Publisher: Melville House
Date of publication: February 2016


Newly single mom Beth has one constant, gnawing worry: that her dreamy eight-year-old daughter, Carmel, who has a tendency to wander off, will one day gomissing.

And then one day, it happens: On a Saturday morning thick with fog, Beth takes Carmel to a local outdoor festival, they get separated in the crowd, and Carmel is gone.

Shattered, Beth sets herself on the grim and lonely mission to find her daughter, keeping on relentlessly even as the authorities tell her that Carmel may be gone for good.

Carmel, meanwhile, is on a strange and harrowing journey of her own—to a totally
unexpected place that requires her to live by her wits, while trying desperately to
keep in her head, at all times, a vision of her mother …


The Girl in the Red Coat definitely drew me in right away.  It was a hard and emotional book to read.  As a parent, I think that is one of my worst nightmares...my child disappears and I have to try to figure out how to move on.  This story is told in alternating points of view.  We have Beth who loses her 8 year old daughter and her heart breaking count down of the days after. Then, we have Carmel's point of view.  This book is unique in that we get to see what actually happened to the child after she was taken.  Carmel's story is told through her 8 year old eyes and it is equally heart breaking.

I found Beth's story to be honest and sad.  It was heard to watch her struggle to continue on with her life after Carmel disappears. The red shoe scene was gut wrenching! But, even with the thought of never seeing her child again, she is still able to find a future.  I found Carmel's storyline more fascinating.  I liked that is was told through her 8 year old innocence.  And how even at that age, she is able to find coping skills to try to keep her identity.  That is really all I want to say about plot. You need to read it to find out what happened.

With that said, I was a bit disappointed with the ending.  For me, it was bit abrupt.  I wanted more resolution and to find out what happened next.  Overlooking that, I did like the rest of the book and do recommend giving this debut a try.
About Kate Hamer


KATE HAMER is a winner of the Rhys Davies Short Story Prize. Girl in the Red Coat is her first novel. It is shortlisted for the Costa Book Award for First Novel and a finalist for The Dagger Award. She lives in Cardiff, Wales with her husband and two children.
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Kate Hamer’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, February 15th: Fictionophile
Tuesday, February 16th: Dreams, Etc.
Wednesday, February 17th: Life is Story
Thursday, February 18th: Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Monday, February 22nd: Bewitched Bookworms
Tuesday, February 23rd: A Chick Who Reads
Wednesday, February 24th: Laura’s Reviews
Monday, February 29th: Kahakai Kitchen
Tuesday, March 1st: A Book A Week
Wednesday, March 2nd: A Bookish Way of Life
Thursday, March 3rd: Luxury Reading
Friday, March 4th: Kritter’s Ramblings
Monday, March 7th: Raven Haired Girl
Tuesday, March 8th: Books That Hook
Thursday, March 10th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Friday, March 11th: Mom in Love with Fiction
Monday, March 14th: A Bookworm’s World 
Tuesday, March 15th: Books a la Mode – author guest post
Wednesday, March 16th: The Well Read Redhead
Friday, March 18th: From the TBR Pile


1 comment:

Heather J @ TLC Book Tours said...

Thanks for being a part of the tour.