{Review} A SMALL INDISCRETION by Jan Ellison

ISBN #: 978-0812995442

Page Count: 336

Copyright: January 20, 2015

Publisher: Random House

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

At nineteen, Annie Black trades a bleak future in a washed-out California town for a London winter of drinking and abandon. Twenty years later, she is a San Francisco lighting designer and happily married mother of three who has put her reckless youth behind her. Then a photo from that distant winter in Europe arrives inexplicably in her mailbox, and an old obsession is awakened.

Past and present collide, Annie’s marriage falters, and her son takes a car ride that ends with his life hanging in the balance. Now Annie must confront her own transgressions and fight for her family by untangling the mysteries of the turbulent winter that drew an invisible map of her future. Gripping, insightful, and lyrical, A Small Indiscretion announces the arrival of a major new voice in literary suspense as it unfolds a story of denial, passion, forgiveness—and the redemptive power of love.

Mandy's Review:

There are decisions made in our past that come back to haunt us in the future. When the decisions are made, we don't consider the consequences. We just live. Like a drop in a body of water, though, our decisions also form concentric circles of consequence that continue to expand the farther out it goes. This is what happens to Annie. A not-so-smart decision in her past is causing horrible consequences for her future. The worst part is that those consequences are affecting her family as well. Is this a situation that can be corrected and put back on track?

From the moment I began reading this novel, I was intrigued. The novel does flip flop between past and present so you'll need to be able to adjust your thinking while you're reading. The best thing about this story is that it does not reveal all its secrets at once. It'll keep you guessing until almost the very end. I really appreciate that in a story. I love to keep guessing as long as all the loose ends are tied up at the end.

If this is Ms. Ellison's first novel then it shows she has a promising start to her career.


*A physical copy of this novel was provided by the publicist in exchange for an honest review.