Title: Her Perfect Life by Rebecca Taylor
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Do we ever really know the ones we love?
Reclusive Clare Collins crafts her novels like she crafts her life: perfectly. So the world is stunned when the famous author is found dead on a beach from a self-inflicted gunshot—the morning after her latest book hits the shelves.
Her sister, Eileen, is at a loss. Clare led a charmed life: success, mansions, money… Why would she throw it all away? But while reading through her sister’s latest—and greatest—novel, Eileen discovers a clue that unravels the fiction and reveals the painful truth. Suddenly, the life that Eileen had envied doesn’t seem so sparkling…
Her Perfect Life is a page-turning debut that reminds us that no matter the success, everyone has secrets. And some are more devastating than others.
Review:
Her Perfect Life is a compelling novel by Rebecca Taylor.
Eileen Greyden is dealing with problems at home when she learns her sister, best-selling author Clare Collins has died. At her brother-in-law Simon Reamer’s request, Eileen travels to San Francisco to help with the funeral. Reeling after a stunning personal discovery, she is further upset to discover Clare committed suicide. With Simon lacking understanding for his wife’s decision, Eileen combs through her sister’s journals in hopes of finding an answer for an inexplicable act. And at the same time, she also needs to makes decisions about her own life.
Eileen is beyond frustrated with husband Eric’s lack of help with their three children and household chores. She is hard on herself about her self-perceived failings. Shocked by Clare’s death, she has many regrets about feeling jealous of her sister’s success and how far they have drifted apart.
Avoiding talking to Eric after she arrives in San Francisco, Eileen learns unexpected information about her sister’s life as far back as their childhood in Wyoming. Simon offers invaluable insight that helps both of them begin to piece together the puzzle of her sister’s suicide. But it is not until Eileen talks to her Alzheimer’s stricken mother that she truly understands the most likely reason for Clare’s decision.
Returning home, Eileen must decide what to do about the information she discovered the day she went to San Francisco. The children are thrilled to see her and they, of course, weigh heavily as she mulls over her options. Still uncertain, Eileen’s future remains in the balance as she faces the toughest choice she has ever had to make.
Weaving back and forth in time, Her Perfect Life is a multi-layered novel with complex characters. The chapter and perspective switches are seamless and easy to follow. Chapters from Clare’s point of view span twenty years and detail her life before she leaves Wyoming. Events from Eileen’s perspective take place in the present. Rebecca Taylor brings this fast-paced and engaging novel to a slightly predictable but completely satisfying conclusion.
I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this well-written novel to readers of the genre.
