Publisher: Hodder
Release: 27th February 2014
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Netgalley/ Bought
Synopsis:
"Letters from the only man she's ever loved.
A keepsake of the father she never knew.
Or just a beautiful glass vase that catches the light, even on a grey day.
If you had the chance to make a fresh start, what would you keep from your old life? What would you give away?
Gina Bellamy is starting again, after a difficult few years she'd rather forget. But the belongings she's treasured for so long just don't seem to fit who she is now. So Gina makes a resolution. She'll keep just a hundred special items - the rest can go. But that means coming to terms with her past and learning to embrace the future, whatever it might bring..."
Review
A Hundred Pieces of Me is my first book by Lucy Dillon. The stunning cover and unique synopsis pulled me in for this one and I’m so glad it did because this was an absolute gem of a book!
A Hundred Pieces of Me is a simple story in plot. It’s about Gina a woman who has been dealt more than her fair share of sadness in life. But being a breast cancer survivor she knows she is luckier than most and looks at the recent separation from her husband as a chance at a fresh start. The book follows Gina’s new beginning as she leaves her old life behind and just keeps one hundred special items to build her new future with.
It’s Gina’s character that keeps you turning the pages. Gina leads a small but precious life. Her life has not turned out quite how she imagined it would with great loves and opportunities lost. I loved how real Gina’s story felt. It isn’t one of whirlwind romances, endless possibilities and joy but it isn’t a bleak and depressing read either. Instead Gina’s story has a quiet happiness to it and a longing for something more which is how I think most of us feel about our lives.
We get to know Gina incredibly well as we follow her in the present day but also get glimpses of her past as she sorts through her belongings and we see the memories attached to them and why they’re important to her. I loved experiencing the highs and lows of Gina’s life from childhood to where she is now. This book really made me think of my own cherished belongings and why they’re important as the book raises the question is it the object itself that we love? Or rather what the item represents and the feeling it gives? In many ways this book is about leaving our mark on the world and how we cling on to happy memories by having physical reminders of them around us.
Beautiful, hopeful, thoughtful and moving A Hundred Pieces of Me is a book about letting go of the past, not worrying about the future and grabbing the present with both hands. I was emotionally rapt from start to finish and believe that this gorgeous novel will propel author Lucy Dillon to new heights.
