Title: Ghosted
Author: Rosie Walsh
Published: June 12th 2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
RRP: $29.99
Rating: 5 stars
If you’ve ever found yourself waiting for a call that didn’t come, Ghosted by Rosie Walsh is the book for you.
Imagine you meet a man, spend seven glorious days together, and fall in love. And it’s mutual: you’ve never been so certain of anything.
So when he leaves for a long-booked holiday and promises to call from the airport, you have no cause to doubt him.
But he doesn’t call.
Your friends tell you to forget him, but you know they’re wrong: something must have happened; there must be a reason for his silence.
What do you do when you finally discover you’re right? That there is a reason – and that reason is the one thing you didn’t share with each other?
The truth.
My review:
Ghosted is a new novel that presents a love story with quite a twist. A thirty something couple meet and spend six unforgettable days together. Their time is cut short by a long planned holiday overseas, but both vow to reconnect upon return. Only the phone call that is meant to reconnect them is never made. Ghosted is the tale of two people finding love, falling in love trying to recover after losing love. Ghosted is the latest absorbing love story from Rosie Walsh, who has previously written under the name of Lucy Robinson.
Touted as a book for Jojo Moyes or Jane Green fans, Ghosted introduces us to the writing of Rosie Walsh, who has a number of other books under her belt, published in the name of Lucy Robinson, her pseudonym. Walsh also has a background in the blogging sphere, working for Marie Claire, where she touched on topics such a love and dating. All this has put her in good standing to release a new novel under her own name and it is a beauty at that. Ghosted is about finally making that leap, delving head first into the love of your life, only to have it all whipped away – after only six days together. Sarah finds herself bereft and in a state of both longing and confusion, when the man of her dreams, Eddie, fails to contact her after a booked holiday. All sorts of scenarios are conjured up in Sarah’s mind, but after a relentless search, Eddie cannot and perhaps does not want to be located. As Sarah tries to move on with her life, she cannot shake Eddie’s silence and the real reason for his distance. When the truth is discovered it rocks the very foundations of Sarah’s world.
If I could issue an award to the most surprising novel of the year it would be this one, hands down. Ghosted is a book that taught me a lesson about not judging a book by its cover, author endorsements and blurb. I have to admit that I wasn’t terribly excited at all going into reading this book. Of late, I have struggled to connect to British chick lit, the genre this book seems to be compared against. However, Ghosted sure does take the cake for the novel that startled me. I wasn’t expecting to love this book to the degree to which I did. I will attempt to illuminate why I adored his novel and why ever since reading it I have been sharing it around with my book worm friends!
Ghosted initially reads as a fairly standard British chick lit style love story. Boy and girl meet, fall in love and we are swept away for six love filled days with the leads of this novel. Then it all comes plummeting down in quite the dramatic fashion. With promises made to call and reunite once Eddie reaches his holiday destination, all hope seems to be lost. No matter how hard she tries, Sarah cannot get hold of Eddie, all sorts of scenarios bounce around in her mind, which we as the reader are privy to. Then we learn of the real significance of the title of the story, Ghosted refers to someone who blocks contact with another, so all tempts by phone and social media are refused. It is a concept I only just introduced to thanks to this book.
Although the love story sequences between Eddie and Sarah are relatively short, we still feel completely invested in their love story. I genuinely felt devastated for Sarah and her ‘ghosting’ by Eddie. Initially I thought this book was going to take a supernatural element, by I was way off the mark! There are some wonderful twists to Ghosted, which I refuse to discuss in any form of detail as I would feel terrible if I ruined this book for anyone. What I will say is that when the dots are joined together, everything kind of makes sense. I know I did a great big ‘ah’ sigh when I realised what I had missed. Rosie Walsh is one clever author, who not only diverted my attention elsewhere, but she also served to draw me into chick lit again! But I would much prefer to class Ghosted as a ‘life lit’ style novel.
I do apologise if I come across as vague, but I feel Ghosted is one of those novels that slots nicely into a ‘do not discuss’ category, due to the nature of the plot and the twists that occur. But what I will stress is this is a book that delivers. Ghosted is a fine domestic based family drama. It is also an everlasting love story that puts a great big spotlight on the role of fate in our lives, as well as our ability to forgive and forget.
I loved it and I hope you do to!
Ghosted by Rosie Walsh was published on June 12th 2018 by Pan Macmillan. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of Ghosted, Rosie Walsh visit here.
*I wish to thank the publisher, Pan Macmillan for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.
