Monday 10 September 2012

Review: The Road Back - Liz Harris


The Road Back is a split era novel set in the 1950s and 1995; it's a novel about relationships and how the past impacts upon the present. Set against a cultural background rarely featured in novels - that of the Buddhist part of Ladakh, a country to the west of Tibet - it tells of a passion that crosses cultures, of a love that lasts a lifetime, and of hope that can only come from revisiting the past.

When Patricia accompanies her father, Major George Carstairs, on a trip to Ladakh, north of the Himalayas, in the early 1960s, she sees it as a chance to step out from the shadow of her dead brother, James, and finally to win her father’s love.

What she doesn’t expect to do is meet Kalden – a local man destined by circumstances beyond his control to be a monk, but fated to be the love of her life.

Despite her father’s fury, the lovers are determined to be together, but their plans go tragically awry, and thirty -two years later a young woman comes knocking at Patricia’s door, looking for answers.

My thoughts:
This book takes place in the in the past, and a bit in the present too. But we know from the start that something went wrong. Patricia's daughter wants answer. So what happened?

The heroine Patricia is the perfect good girl, trying to to the best she can to make her father proud. Oh her dad, he was an ass, he mourned that his son never would follow in his footsteps. I could not have put up with it like Patricia did, but I understood why. And it is rooted deep within her since childhood.

Then we come to the love story that takes place in the early 60s when Patricia and her father go to Ladakh. To watch the scenery, take in the sights, and just explore.

While watching Patricia we also watched a young man grow up, Kalden, destined to be a monk. And when these two meet sparks fly. First love, so bittersweet. But it was such a different time, and with that prologue in mind I wondered what would happen to these too. For that reason I wish the prologue had not been there.

Conclusion:
It's a love story about a young man and a woman from different cultures. A different time, but then love will overcome anything and everything. It was a sweet story and I liked that the setting was so different. But it also made me cry.

Genre: Women's fiction
Pages: 356
Published: Sep 7th 2012
Source: For review


45 comments:

  1. It made you cry? Hmmm... a lovely review.

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    1. Yup...as good cry cos I had a cold and it opened up my nose ;)

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  2. Haven't heard of this one before. Sounds good. I'll keep an eye out for it.

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  3. Ah, I'm not a big fan of stories that make me cry. lol. And I'm wondering why you cried? Dit something awful happen? There's probably no happy ending, is there? Oh, so sad! :)

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    2. I can't say :( But it was just so sad

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  4. The setting sounds really fascinating, but I'll be skipping this one.

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  5. awwww *hands tissue* I hope it was happy tears!!

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  6. Wow it made you cry, sounds like a good read!

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  7. Sounds good but also very sad.

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  8. I love books set in places you don't usually go. The area around Tibet is one of them. Just for that I want to read this one, but you make it sound so sweet. I don't like that it made you cry, but still... I may have to try it!

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    1. Some books are just sad, it was not for a long moment, but it was just so so...I can't say. That would spoil it

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  9. this sounds so touching, and I love the setting. Will add this and a box of tissues to my list!

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  10. This sounds beautiful, even if it made you cry. And also a place I never encounter in my reading.

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  11. The cover makes it look sad... *passes tissues*

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  12. I don't mind books that make me cry!!

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  13. It made you cry?! I always take that as a good sign, means you're emotionally involved with the characters and story:)

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    1. Oh yes, it came to a point and I knew I'd start crying, and like clockwork I did

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  14. This sounds like a good book. I love emotional books.

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  15. I think it's always interesting to have part in the present and part in the past. It allows us to better understand the characters.

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  16. I love romances that make me cry! It means they really sucked me in!

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  17. Nice review Blodeuedd, but this one is not meant for me.

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  18. awwww...I enjoy romance that can make me cry too.

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  19. Sounds like quite a ride! I don't think it's my cup of tea though...

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  20. I don't like it when books make me cry but I'm so curious to know what happens!

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