NEW RELEASE
Dani Atkins' highly acclaimed novel Fractured is being released in the US as Then and Always and is about a woman who gets a second chance at life . . . just not in one she remembers. The summary says: "Rachel Wiltshire has everything she's ever wanted: a close group of friends, a handsome boyfriend, and acceptance to the journalism program at her top-choice college. But one fateful evening, tragedy tears her world apart. Five years later, Rachel returns home for the first time to celebrate her best friend's wedding. Still coping with her grief, she can't stop thinking about the bright future she almost had, if only that one night had gone differently. But when a sudden fall lands her in the hospital, Rachel wakes to find that her life has completely changed. Now she has her dream job as a writer and a stylish apartment, but the people she loves most are not the way she remembers them. Unable to trust her own recollections, Rachel tries to piece together what really happened, and not even she can predict the astonishing truth."
Fractured - Dani Atkins (2013)
At eighteen Rachel has her whole life to look forward to and with a great boyfriend Matt, wonderful friends, including long-time friend Jimmy, and university just around the corner it seems that everything is on track. But when Rachel, Matt, Jimmy and their group of friends go out for a final celebratory meal before they head off to uni, Rachel's world is fractured by a life-changing incident and the next five years are shrouded by loss, sadness and emptiness as Rachel tries to come to terms with that fateful night. When she wakes up in hospital after taking a fall however, her life is not as she remembers it and Rachel is given a second chance at happiness. The concept of this novel was wonderful and I liked the ambition and thought behind it. Whilst I felt that the middle of the novel was not perhaps as convincing as the great opening and amazing ending, overall the book is an intriguing and thought-provoking read. I will definitely be interested to see where this debut author goes next. (JC)
What would you do if life gave you a second chance? That's the question posed in Dani Atkins' debut novel Fractured. The summary says: "Rachel's life was perfect. She had a handsome boyfriend, wonderful friends and a place at university. But the night of the accident changed everything. She was left badly scarred, and consumed by guilt. In a single heartbeat, her world fell apart. Now, five years later, Rachel wakes up after a sudden fall to discover that everything is different. Reality has shifted. The tragedy never happened - and the people she lost are alive and well. Unable to trust her memories, Rachel is drawn into a new world full of happiness, love and second chances. Can it really be possible that the life she once dreamed of was hers all along?"