Book Review: Blame by Nicole Trope

 

Blame by Nicole Trope

Blurb:
'I am here because they suspect me of something. I am here because I am a suspect. I know that, she knows that. Everyone knows that.' Anna

'It wasn't my fault. None of this is my fault!' Caro

Caro and Anna are best friends... they were best friends. Over a decade, Caro and Anna have bonded while raising their daughters, two little girls the same age but living two very different lives. The women have supported each other as they have shared the joys and trials of motherhood, but now everything has changed.

There's been a terrible car accident, an unimaginable tragedy that leaves both families devastated. Over two days as Caro and Anna each detail their own versions of events, they are forced to reveal hidden truths and closely guarded secrets.

The complicated lives of wives and mothers are laid bare as both women come to realise that even best friends don't tell each other everything. And when hearts are broken, even best friends need someone to blame.

A hard- hitting, provocative and gripping read from the queen of white-knuckle suspense and searing family drama.

My thoughts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Blame centres on how a moment in time can change our life forever. We don’t see that moment coming but we can never undo it.

There has been a tragic accident that involves best friends, Anna and Caro.

They both tell their stories in separate police interviews – not just the night of the accident but their own personal stories. The two stories are very different and have inconsistencies but who is telling the truth?

”I know that what I’m saying is strange, that you can’t understand it, but let me explain, let me keep explaining, and then it will be your job to figure out who is telling the truth – me or Anna.”

So we get two heart-wrenching stories, one from a mother at breaking point the other from an alcoholic. I know that one of them is lying as I pick up inconsistencies in her interview. But is it only her or are they both lying and the other is just better at it?

Both characters are unlikeable to begin with but one I came to warm to as the story evolved.

Although there were no ‘shocking’ surprises this was a great contemporary drama, easy reading and had me glued to the pages until the very end.

With my thanks to Allen & Unwin via Netgalley for my copy to read.



About the author

Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story. Her second novel, Three Hours Late, was voted one of Fifty Books you can’t put down in 2013 and her third novel, The Secrets in Silence, was The Australian Woman’s Weekly Book of the month for June 2014.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children