‘You know who you are, don’t you?
Of course you do.
But are you sure?
Really sure?’
Questions we all ask ourselves and as we get older questions we cannot always answer. Christine Webber raises these issues in her new book It’s Who We Are.
I am both honoured and delighted to be kicking off the blog tour on Publication Day for Christine with my review.
Please do check out the other stops on the tour over the coming days (details below)
I would like to thank Christine Webber for my review of It’s Who We Are.
Please do continue reading for my as ever honest and unbiased review..
Book Blurb:
Five friends in their fifties find themselves dealing with unforeseen upheaval as they uncover long-hidden and devastating family secrets. It takes place between October 2016 and June 2017, against a backdrop of all the political uncertainty and change in the UK, Europe and America.
The novel is set in East Anglia, London and Ireland, and explores the importance of friendship, kindness and identity – and how vital it is to reach for what enhances rather than depletes you.
Book Review:
Firstly, can I just say that Twitter has introduced me to many wonderful people since I started my book blog and Christine Webber is one such person. Somebody close to me always refers to certain women as ‘real ladies’ and that’s exactly how I would describe Christine.
I have been lucky to have Christine on my blog on different occasions with both a Q & A and more recently a Guest-post on Stress So, having read and reviewed Christine’s recent book Who’d Have Thought it I was looking forward to getting stuck into her latest novel It’s Who We Are.
Christine Webber writes in a very personal manner that brings the reader right into the lives of the characters, making you feel you are in the room with them. In this novel we meet five individuals who all are in their fifties and who all have come to a cross roads in life. In your twenties, you are mostly free to come and go as you wish, with a whole world of opportunities and possible adventures ahead of you. The decisions you make then are, in most cases, yours to make. We have choices at that age that are very much influenced by our education, our backgrounds and our desires. As we get older, the choices in life diminish as responsibilities become part of our daily lives. Marriage, children, elderly parents all impact how we move through our days. For many this is a relatively straight-forward path but for others, life can get very overwhelming and very complicated.
Christine Webber writes about what she knows. As a trained psychotherapist, she has a huge amount of knowledge and experience in the psyche of the over-50 and this is what makes her books quite unique.
It’s Who We Are focuses on the blossoming friendship that develops between five individuals. Michael, Julian, Philip, Araminta and Wendy are all on completely different journeys, yet their paths cross in the most unexpected manner as each has reached a point in life from which there is no return.
Michael is a Catholic priest of Irish descent who starts to question his faith.
Julian is going through a mid-life crisis of confidence in his voice as a singer and as an all round performer. In life and love he feels everything slipping away.
Philip is on the verge of making some life-changing decisions in his private life that will have repercussions across all he does. He too has an Irish connection with his very active elderly mother owning a very exclusive hotel in the West of Ireland.
Araminta is suffering the loss of some people very close to her and is struggling to move on with life, while also visiting her elderly father in a nursing home.
Wendy’s marriage is in difficulty, her sons have left the nest for other shores and her parents are moving on in age. Wendy, used to a very successful career, is finding all these changes somewhat of a struggle.
On top of all their personal issues, each is also dealing with the prospective fallout of Brexit. With this unsettling economic situation in mind, all have very important decisions to make
With the passage of time they also discover that there is a very unusual invisible thread connecting them all together.
Will all five embrace these changes and look upon them as something new, exciting and challenging or will their thoughts turn to the negative and find that life is now too shocking?
It’s Who We Are is a book where happiness and sadness sit side by side, where strangers become lovers, where passion is openly discussed among friends.
The story, though reflecting on many issues in today’s society, is also pure escapism. From the windswept shores of beautiful Inch Beach in Co. Kerry to the bustling city life of London, Christine Webber takes the reader on a whirlwind of an adventure.
Christine Webber tackles issues of identity and belonging, issues that are oft a struggle for both men and women in their fifties. She writes from the heart and this is very evident from the get-go. Christine’s voice shines through in her writing carrying a very personable appeal.
Engaging. Delightful. Appealing. Escapism.
Purchase Link ~ It’s Who We Are
About Christine Webber:
Christine Webber originally trained as an opera singer but had to re-think her career plans when her voice professor told her: ‘Your voice is OK, but your legs are very much better!’ Musical theatre beckoned. There was some success. But not much.
In 1979, she became a news presenter for Anglia TV. At last she had found something she enjoyed that other people thought she was good at. It was such a happy relief that she stayed for 12 years. Towards the end of that period, Century Hutchinson published her first novel, In Honour Bound.
After leaving Anglia Television, she trained as a psychotherapist and started a practice in Harley Street. Additionally, she became an agony aunt for various publications including TV Times, Best, BBC Parenting, The Scotsman, and Woman. She also regularly broadcast advice on Trisha, The Good Sex Guide …Late, and from the BBC’s Breakfast sofa.
She lives in Brighton and is married to doctor and writer, David Delvin, who rejoices in the fact that he is one of Ireland’s few remaining banned authors!
Christine has written twelve non-fiction books including How to Mend a Broken Heart and Too Young to Get Old. She has also ghosted and consulted on several celebrity books. But her intention was always to return to writing fiction. In 2016, she published a novel about romance in mid-life called Who’d Have Thought It?
Columnist Bel Mooney wrote of it: ‘Who’d Have Thought It? is thoroughly engrossing, entertaining and well-written. If it had Joanna Trollope’s name on it nobody would be surprised.’
It’s Who We Are is published on January 16th, 2018.
Website ~ http://www.christinewebber.com/
Twitter ~ @1chriswebber
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