This is the second book I have read by this author and this one leads on from the first. The first book I awarded 4 stars because although it was good there were a few elements that weren’t to my personal taste in the storytelling, but I wanted to read more by this author. I picked up Agony of the Heart hoping that I would enjoy it as much as the first. This book however exceeded all my expectations and I was hooked. The development of the characters Catherine and Abdul was great. There was a switch in the dynamics of their relationship. This book explores the complexity of the human mind when fears and insecurities are allowed to fester. Her portrayal of the post natal depression that Catherine suffered was believable and sensitively written. The love of her husband is coupled with the exasperation of the man who wants to fix her but can’t and doesn’t know what to do. His thought processes are quite simplistic due to his sheltered upbringing but over the course of the book he develops as a human being and comes to understand more about his wife and his own unintentional neglect of her and his children.
Maria Gibbs 