Laura Powell has written a cathartic novel in THE
UNFORGOTTEN; a book to make one think of decisions and
their potential impact on the lives of others. The story
stars 15-year-old Betty Broadbent who lives with her
erratic mother who manages Hotel Eden, a boarding house in
the small Cornish town of St Steele. Betty's mother wants
her
to
marry the son of a local rich factory owner, which would
improve both their lives. But Betty develops a fascination
with Mr. Gallagher, a journalist who seems different from
all the others: older, more serious and a bit mysterious.
The
journalists
have descended on St Steele to write about the gruesome
murders of local young women.
She desperately wants to be noticed for herself, and
Betty's
and Mr. Gallagher's
friendship grows to include more secretive and illicit
meetings. Yet suspicions of the reclusive Gallagher, about
whom we know little, linger as one must remember, a
murderer
is still loose.
The tale takes place in two timelines with the murders in
St Steele happening in 1956. The second piece of the story
takes place 50 years later with Mary Sugden playing the
lead role although both narratives revolve around the
murders in St Steele and the butcher, Mr. Forbes, accused
of
them.
Powell's novel is a mystery but not in the traditional
sense of the word. It's more a story of characters and
events that happens to have murders at its center, and
Powell does a nice job outlining events and developing her
characters to emotionally involve the reader in the
outcome. She seems to evoke the time period of 1956 well
with all its inherent prejudices, presenting us with a
realistic Cornish town during a tumultuous time. The most
stirring portions of the story come across when characters
must either make decisions or reflect on the decisions
made, something we can all incorporate in our everyday
lives. I look forward to more work from Powell.
Love, suspicion, and heartbreak collide in an evocative
debut novel which will draw you in with clever twists and
turns, and enticing secrets
It's 1956 and fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent has never left
the Cornish fishing village of St Steele or ventured far beyond
the walls of the boarding house run by her erratic mother. But
when the London press pack descends to report on a series of
gruesome murders of young women, Betty's world changes. In
particular she is transfixed by mysterious and aloof reporter,
Mr Gallagher.
As the death toll rises, an unlikely friendship
blossoms between Betty and Gallagher. But as their bond
deepens,
they find themselves entangled with the murders and each is
forced to make a devastating choice, one that will shape their
own lives - and the life of an innocent man - forever.
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