Meeting Lydia

In my review of The Man in the Needlecord Jacket I said that for a book to really impress me it needs to engage my emotions, win my heart, and move me – and it's even better when it engages my brain a little too. This book did all that, and more – with its focus on Marianne, approaching her fifties, feeling the changes to her mind and body and their impact on her marriage. One of the author's exceptional strengths is in allowing you to inhabit the mind and thoughts of her characters – and Marianne's mind isn't always an entirely comfortable place to be, however recognisable from your personal experience. As well as the insecurities at her stage of life, Marianne carries a lot of baggage from her dreadful experience of bullying, as one of a small number of girls at a boys' preparatory school – a legacy she's never shared with husband Johnny, nor come to terms with. The novel is set in 2002, in the early days of electronic relationships – the relevance of "Lydia” (very cleverly) becomes clear as Marianne re-establishes contact with Edward, a fellow student she admired from afar, through Friends Reunited. I very much liked the book's structure – her initial search for contact, the email exchanges agonised over for tone and content, together with the deeper, more reflective drafts never sent but revealing far more about Marianne's thoughts and feelings. I also loved the portrait of her marriage – the realistic exchanges and reactions, the words that couldn't be unsaid, the jealousy souring each attempt at reconciliation. It would be wrong of me to tell too much of the story, but there were moments in this book when I was angry with her, wanted to hug her, and one significant point when I wished I was standing behind her to cheer her on. The writing, as ever, is superb – a lot of introspection and self analysis, but very well handled, and an emotional touch that's quite perfectly judged. There's darkness and light, humour and tears, characters you grow to love, and a strong narrative drive that carries you through with a yearning to discover how things play out. I really enjoyed this book – and I'm particularly delighted that I still have two more books to look forward to reading, to explore the characters further.

Meeting Lydia is the first in a set of four books that feature some of the same characters but are standalone reads. I have read book four, The Man in the Needlecord Jacket, which I thought was a fantastic read so I was keen to read another by this author. I'd been wondering who Lydia was as she didn't seem to be mentioned in the blurb. It all becomes clear in the story which is about Marianne primarily. She's menopausal and when her husband, Johnny, brings home his attractive younger colleague, she's incensed by it. It brings back her school years when she was bullied as one of only a handful of girls in a boarding school for boys. It drives her to Friends Reunited (the book is set in 2002 and at the time that site was the cutting edge of social media) to look up an old school mate, Edward, and they begin an email correspondence in which Marianne pours out all her feelings. This book looks at how events of the past are always there, waiting to rear their, sometimes ugly, head. Marianne is deeply damaged by the bullying but had pushed it into a recess of her mind. Edward is someone who might understand, might remember, a kindred spirit, as he was there at the time. There's quite a lot of philosophical thoughts in this book, particularly in Marianne's emails to Edward. Not surprising, given that she is a psychology lecturer (and the author was too). Philosophical thoughts aren't quite my bag but they represented Marianne's look deep within her psyche, examining her inner feelings and fears. It was nice to read something about Friends Reunited as that site had a massive impact on people. For the first time, it was possible to look people up on the internet and connect with them again. I also enjoyed the themes involved in this story, being ones of jealousy, insecurity, the change of life. Linda Macdonald is most definitely an accomplished writer of stories about feelings. She's able to look deep into the heart of her characters. I really enjoyed Meeting Lydia and am looking forward to catching up with the characters from different perspectives in the two books that I have not yet read. This is intelligent fiction about a woman at a crossroads in her life, trying to work out whether to stick on the road she has travelled so far or to take a different path.

This was another fascinating book from Linda, examining the psychology of relationships and how our past can continue to affect us. Bullying is a very emotional subject and one that, unfortunately, everyone experiences at some point in their lives. As someone who was bullied at school, this was subject I knew a little about and it was heartbreaking to see how much it still affect Marianne's life. The bullying scenes were quite uncomfortable to read about as they seemed very real, the author doesn't sugar coat the situation so the reader is exposed to all the hurt and confusion that Marianne feels. I loved Marianne! She was one of those characters that you can really get behind as she is so relatable. I wanted her to have the happy ending she deserved, though sometimes felt like shaking her as she made some interesting decisions. The reader gets to know Marianne on a personal level which made me a lot more affected by what happens. The author adopts a intimate, fly in the wall style of writing that makes the reader feel like they are standing next to the characters watching everything unfold. This made me feel more involved in the story and I felt I cared more about what happens as if it would affect my life too. The chapters alternate between the present day and Marianne's time at school which helps give the reader a more holistic view of her life and greater understanding of what happened. The drama/ tension in the book is created by normal, everyday things that helps make the book very original and incredibly gripping. This could actually happen, to you or someone you know which makes it even more thrilling as you wonder what you would have done. Linda is the author of four books and this is the second book I have read by her. I really look forward to reading more from this talented author.

I purchased this book based on a recommendation from a friend, and I'm so glad I did! My first impression of this book was it looks really good quality, fairly large print and nice thick paper - each time I turned a page I had to double check I'd only turned the one as it felt like two! The story is easy to get straight into and kept my attention throughout. The kind of book you wished hadn't ended!

Seldom are debut novels as readable as this first offering from Linda MacDonald. This book tackles the topical subject of old friends from the past catching up via the internet but more than that it is thoughtful as it develops the characters and thought provoking as we see some of ourselves in these pages. The sequel is eagerly looked forward to by this reader.