When I saw this book, I was intrigued, mainly by the striking red cover, but also because of the synopsis of the book - two people share the same event but have completely different memories of it - how can this be?
The story follows three main characters - Robin, Izzie and her daughter Claire. Once upon a time, Robin and Izzie met and fell in love, but their lives were torn apart by several tragic occurrences. Then, one winter's day, Izzie bumps into a tramp in town and realises that, 20 years later, Robin hasn't really changed. She buys him a coffee and is on her way.
What follows next are the events leading up to that incident, told from both Robin and Izzie's point of view. There is no deliberate mention that the facts they both recall are different, it seems quite normal to the reader and I was drawn in by finding out what led Robin to become a tramp in the high street and how Izzie came to bump into him again.
Claire is also a key character, as she is mainly the voice of reason throughout the book, trying to hold the adults together, but you are often reminded that she is also just a teenager.
I think that the author has done a brilliant job of recalling the events from the different perspectives and then joining the dots in the middle and at the end.
The only thing I was disappointed with though was that there was no real resolution as to why the recollection of events was different. It is quite vague, and although this is a minor point, it is also really the whole theme that the book is built around.
However, I really enjoyed this book and struggled to put it down at times. If you are thinking of reading it then please do - and don't be put off by the title. It isn't really a fairy story and isn't filled with pagan rituals and beliefs involving trees either. It is a lovely, heart warming, romantic story of two people who loved, lost and then found each other again, and has been brilliantly written.
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