Rachel Wiltshire and Matt Randall have been a couple
throughout high school with plans of loving each other
forever. Each intends to keep the relationship together
even though they will be separated when they leave for
university. Rachel's closest friend, Jimmy Boyd, has
always been there to lean on since childhood. Their group
of seven friends has always been close and shared all their
expectations. Matt is jealous of Jimmy and Rachel's
close friendship. Everything is about to change and their
lives will be changed forever as well.
While gathering together at a restaurant in Bishopsford,
their home town, a tragic accident happens. An out of
control car crashes through the window in the restaurant and is aimed
directly at their group. The last thing Rachel remembers
is being trapped at the table and Jimmy sacrificing his
safety to throw her out of harm's way. Recovering in the
hospital with a severe head wound and horrible facial scar,
Rachel is sick to learn that her closest friend is dead
because of her.
Five years later Rachel is working in
London, having moved on in her life and breaking her
engagement to Matt. Reluctantly returning for her friend
Sarah's wedding, she is devastated at having to face her
friends and relive Jimmy's death. Rachel's headaches are
becoming so severe she has been told to follow up with her
doctor as they indicate something seriously wrong.
Visiting Jimmy's grave, she loses control of her leg
functions and vision, and collapses on the ground next to
his grave. Waking up in the hospital, everything has
changed and she is told of a life for which the last five years are
entirely different than what she has had.
Everyone is
thinking Rachel has neurological problems accompanied by a
rare sort of amnesia, she sets out to convince everyone
that this is not her real life, and that she has lived the
last 5 years in a completely different one. Rachel
believes that somehow reality has split in two different
realms and all their lives have somehow fractured at the
moment of the accident. In one life, Jimmy strives to help
Rachel come to terms with reality and give her the eternal
love she desires.
THEN AND ALWAYS is one of the most bizarre and captivating
stories I have ever read. The emotions throughout this
story swing from devastation to total tranquility and
peacefulness. I was so caught up in this fantastic tale I
could barely put it down to eat. If this doesn't cause
your mind to work overtime, nothing will. The end is
astounding and will evoke such emotion you will not be able
to contain the tears. It will most likely be a long time
coming before I read another story as all-consuming as THEN AND
ALWAYS. Dani Atkins has a fantastic ability for creativity
and talent in storytelling. I am so moved by this tale
which will be remembered for a very long time to come.
For fans of One Day, What Alice Forgot, and the
hit film Sliding Doors, comes an absorbing and
surprising debut novel about a young woman who, after an
accident, gets a second chance at life . . . just not in one
she remembers.
Rachel Wiltshire has everything she’s ever wanted: a close
group of friends, a handsome boyfriend, and acceptance to
the journalism program at her top-choice college. But one
fateful evening, tragedy tears her world apart.
Five years later, Rachel returns home for the first time to
celebrate her best friend’s wedding. Still coping with her
grief, she can’t stop thinking about the bright future she
almost had, if only that one night had gone differently. But
when a sudden fall lands her in the hospital, Rachel wakes
to find that her life has completely changed. Now the people
she loves most are not the way she remembers them. Unable to
trust her own recollections, Rachel tries to piece together
what really happened, and not even she can predict the
astonishing truth.
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