What is Left Over After
by
Natasha Lester
Publication date: 15th November 2022 (re-release)
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 288
RRP: $32.99AUD (Paperback)
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty and Lace book club
This review first appeared on Beauty and Lace Book Club
My review of What is Left Over After
I was excited to hear of the re-release of Natasha Lester's debut novel What is Left Over After.
I’ve been a big fan of Natasha Lester’s books for years and her A Kiss for Mr Fitzgerald would have to be one of my favourite books ever. Her Historical Fiction novels have been published all over the world.
I have loved following Natasha’s strong female leads in her historical novels; trail blazers for women’s rights.
I’ve been a big fan of Natasha Lester’s books for years and her A Kiss for Mr Fitzgerald would have to be one of my favourite books ever. Her Historical Fiction novels have been published all over the world.
I have loved following Natasha’s strong female leads in her historical novels; trail blazers for women’s rights.
For me, What is Left Over After was a little different to Lester’s novels I am used to reading. This is contemporary fiction and the main character, Gaelle, is broken after suffering a life altering tragedy. Gaelle is filled with self-hate and quite unlikeable at the beginning of the novel. She feels she can never be any different from her mother and she acts out on these feelings filling herself with more hate and self-doubt. She does the only thing she knows; she runs away from her life and husband.
As Gaelle hides in a small seaside town in Western Australia where no-one knows her past, she begins to open up to a vivacious thirteen-year-old girl. She tells the young girl the story of her life, growing up with a mostly absent mother and no father, continually moving from place to place. The pouring out of her life story comes as a strange fairytale her mother told her as a child.
What is Left Over After is a heart-breaking story of love and loss. Lester explores the concept of what makes us who we are and can you change your life after a dysfunctional childhood.
The story is emotional and the tragedy real. It has a strange story within a story with the inclusion of the fairytale.
The story is emotional and the tragedy real. It has a strange story within a story with the inclusion of the fairytale.
Natasha Lester’s writing is engaging and even in this debut novel her potential shines through.
My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
About the author
Natasha Lester worked as a marketing executive for L'Oreal before turning her hand to writing. She won the Hungerford Award for her first novel What is Left Over After. Since then She has become A New York Times - bestselling author of seven historical novels, including The French Photographer, The Paris Secret, The Riviera House, and The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre. Her books have been translated into many different languages and are published all around the world. When she's not writing, she loves collecting vintage fashion and practicing the art of fashion illustration. Natasha lives with her husband and three children in Perth, Western Australia.
Other books I've read by Natasha:
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