Through Infinity, Libby Austin

Through Infinity,  Libby Austin
Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews
Genre:  Romance, women’s fiction
I like to mix and match my books so I’ve something for whatever mood I’m in to read. this one sounded intriguing but its been sitting there looking at me for the past week, waiting for me to be in the right frame of mind. I find if I read something I’m not in the mood for I don’t enjoy it so well, and with review books it’s important not to let anything other than the book influence my views. well IMO anyway ; )
So yesterday I’d had my fill of fantasy, didn’t want yet another drama filled angsty romance ( though I do love those), and wasn’t in the mood for a historical read. I just wanted something different so it was the turn of Through Infinity. A strange title I thought, but as you get towards the end of the story it makes sense and is incredibly apt. Its a moving story, a triumph of love over adversity. Hurrah too for Libby including a character with a disability and portraying them positively, not as some poor beleaguered, downtrodden soul needing pity, but someone who is more than the disability, where its simply just another facet of character. That made the book extra special for me. When we think of most of the population – we think that’s “normal” but in fact we’re all very different and have issues, and I really think this idea of Normal is false, and maybe if we could celebrate our differences as simply another part of the person we are life would be so much easier all round.  Aaand that’s my rant for today ; )

I so felt for them all, Candy losing all memory of her family  after a simple fall – what a nightmare that must be. Waking up thinking you’re 23 and finding that in fact you’re nearly 40 and married with four kids….Then her poor husband, loves her dearly and she hasn’t a clue who he is. Same for the kids…what a terrible thing to happen to a family. Jason must have wondered and worried if he’d get his wife back. She’s there in person but not spirit, and he needs to tread incredibly carefully. The way it was written is superb, showing that its not all roses, roses all the way. The kids were so great, and their reactions very real. Who knows what goes on in a child’s mind, and when something catastrophic like this happens it impacts them and they all deal differently. They each had very individual characters and felt so real to me, I wanted to cry for them at times. My own kids were 14, 15 and 17 when I had  my left leg amputated through cancer. I spend some long periods in hospital too far to visit. . It changed all our lives, not just mine and was a very dark time looking back. The youngest in the family, Dawson, is a real gem and made me laugh so much. He provided some much needed levity to balance the story. I had a very clear mental picture of him. I loved too when the older ones broke the usual rules, asking mum could they do x, y, z knowing they weren’t allowed but knowing too that she didn’t know that. Its a typical kids reaction – to push the line. I didn’t want to read all sickly sweet, perfect kids, I wanted what was delivered, some real ones, with genuine reactions.
Jason – he was a hero. Such a hard thing to do, face a wife who has no memory of you married, only from school where he didn’t know her, but she was crushing on him. The story he told her about how he finally got her to date him – that was wonderful, and very typical of the man he still was. Someone who was determined to make his wife fall in love with him all over again. He’s incredibly patient but of course he makes mistakes. As he says – there’s no manual for how to do this. When he got a knock on the head, and was taken to hospital and played that joke on her – yep, I could see many men doing that, and many women having the reaction she did, even without their own personal circumstances. Its things like that, where he got it wrong, that add the reality to the story.
I didn’t notice at first the relevance to the hearts with jigsaw inserts that start each chapter and then just past half way it came to me. Clever touch.
Its a fabulous read, a story for when you want a romance, but something that’s different, a book that could be real – and I guess is to many families. Where the characters are not perfect but make mistakes, just like us. I really enjoyed this story and its one for the keepers file.
Stars: Five , a fabulous read.
ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers