HARD TO FORGIVE by Georgia Rose @georgiarosebook

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I'd already read another in the series.  This is Book 3 of A Shade Darker.

In a Nutshell: A woman alone, a life lived in obsession and regret...

I've read a few of Georgia Rose's books over the years.  I liked the last one in this series, the most enjoyable Shape of Revenge, but this is a different class, by far the best thing she's written.  Loved it!

Dora Smith is 69 and lives alone in the cosy village of Melton, in which all these books are set.  It's a close community, with all the advantages and drawbacks this brings, and Dora is involved yet sets herself slightly apart from her neighbours.  She has secrets; conflicting in her head is a riot of heartbreak, loss, obsession and a sense of isolation that she reveals to no one.  Sometimes she wears it well, and is content in her life.  Other times the ghosts from the past as well as the present crowd in, tearing her sanity apart.

This is a short novel, probably around 50-60k words, which is just right for the story.  Early in the book we're taken back in time to see Dora as a young woman and experience the tragedies that befell her - I found this absolutely gripping.  Yet there was another surprise I didn't expect, near the end.  The end itself made me need to know more.  What happens to her?  Hopefully we will see Dora again in another instalment of this twelve-book series.

So skilfully written is Dora's first person narrative that - even though she lives in her own head, rarely looking out - it allows the reader to see what the other people in the village think about her, opinions of which she is probably unaware.  So clever!  All the way through, Dora reminded me of Susan the vicar's wife in Alan Bennett's Bed Among The Lentils - if you like his Talking Heads monologues you'll love this, though it's considerably darker.

Well done, Georgia Rose, and I look forward to the next book!