Don't Let Me Go by Susan Lewis

Charlotte Nicholls can hardly believe it, but it seems she’s landed in paradise. Living in a cottage in a shady cove on the beautiful Bay of Islands, surrounded by the splendor of New Zealand, Charlotte revels in her new life. She and her nearly four-year-old daughter, Chloe, have started over, with the help of Charlotte’s birth mother, Anna, who has recently reentered Charlotte’s life after a twenty-six-year absence. Little Chloe is thriving in her new home, and despite lingering effects from a terrible trauma Chloe has suffered, Charlotte is hopeful that love will pull her through. And though their relationship is tentative, Charlotte and Anna are slowly rebuilding their trust after nearly a lifetime apart.

But the horrors of the past—both recent and long buried—are never far from Charlotte’s mind. And then their idyll is suddenly shattered, as a series of events is set in motion that Charlotte can neither control nor comprehend. It will take all of Charlotte’s strength to keep her little family together, in the face of a world that will do everything it can to tear them apart.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Susan Lewis is a great storyteller and in this book I was able to connect with each of the characters. While the story has some disturbing themes, the authour does not dwell on what could be horrific reading but gives the reader just enough to know what is going on. Of course I particularly liked that the beginning of the book was set in New Zealand and in a place that is familiar to me. I loved how positive New Zealand was in the lives of Chloe and Charlotte.
As usual I judge whether I like a book on how much I am thinking about the story when I am going about my everyday life and cannot wait to be wrapped up in the pages once again. Another indicator is my frustration level when one of my children interrupt me mid-sentence.
So I give this book 4.5 out of 5 kiwis.