Journal Entry 1 by seethroughfaith from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Friday, January 14, 2011

Registered with the beautiful Turku: Capital of Culture label. My 10th this year!


'Beautifully written and precision-engineered to unsettle' (The Guardian on THE OTHER HALF LIVES )

The Other Half Lives was shortlisted for the 2010 Independent Booksellers’ Book of the Year Award.


This was a belated Christmas present for me from a dear friend. He's a big Sophie Hannah friend (new author for me) so I look foward to reading this

Product Description
Why would anyone confess to the murder of someone who isn’t dead?

Ruth Bussey knows what it means to be in the wrong and to be wronged. She once did something she regrets, and her punishment nearly destroyed her. Now Ruth is rebuilding her life, and has found a love she doesn’t believe she deserves: Aidan Seed. Aidan is also troubled by a past he hates to talk about, until one day he decides he must confide in Ruth. He tells her that years ago he killed someone: a woman called Mary Trelease.

Ruth is confused. She’s certain she’s heard the name before, and when she realises why it sounds familiar, her fear and confusion deepen – because the Mary Trelease that Ruth knows is very much alive . . .  

Journal Entry 2 by seethroughfaith at Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Friday, January 14, 2011

This was a brilliant book. It has a nice cover (though I'm not quite sure how that fits in with the novel itself) and it's nicely printed and set out. Well done Hodder - presentation IS important! But a quick gripe too - why oh why do publishers think they have to put in a chapter from another book at the end ... it's horrible to think you have twenty or so pages left and then you find yourself on the last one - long before you are ready. Grrr

I'm not sure I knew that Sophie Hannah wrote crime fiction/thriller - but almost from the first page I was caught up in this very fast paced drama, which literally layer after layer of intrigue kept me guessing almost to the very last page.

What was the crime? What was the motive? Who on earth was the real victim?

(No, no, no you won't find the answer here. No spoilers! You HAVE to read the book for yourself!)

I don't know much about Art, or the art world (galleries exhibitions etc) but this book opened up that world quite a bit! I also liked the way Sophie Hannah mixed up the genres a bit and threw in a couple of letters ... that worked very well. And the title was superb. Very clever :)