Nadine
By John Steinberg
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Thank you to the author and Rachel's Random Resources for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced in any way.
Trigger warning: This book talks of mental illness, suicide, and the holocaust.
Nadine is a beautiful dancer made for the stage. Greenberg is the director who loves her from the moment he first sees her. Shortly after their first meeting Nadine disappears only to resurface over a year later after having a baby for a married man named Charles. A married man who she loves. Charles betrays her when he uses Nadine's mental illness, and love of both him and the stage to make her look like an unfit mother and take her child. Feeling as though she has no one Nadine takes her own life. Now Greenberg must find where her death leaves him and how to continue on without her. When memories of the past keep materializing in different ways, Greenberg must decide what he has to do to finally make peace with his unrequited love of the beautiful Nadine.
This book is a tragedy. It's sad and hard to read at times, the emotional pull of this book is done so well. My heart broke for the main character. Nadine deals with depression and when she finds herself alone it all becomes too much to deal with. Below in the extract you will read Nadine's final moments before she loses her battle to depression. Leading up to the scene below was done so well. It was emotional and painful and my heart was breaking while reading it. It was like a punch to the stomach. I literally had to stop reading for the day and just allow myself some breathing room to accept what happened.
The writing is beautiful. Steinberg did an amazing job capturing emotion and pain with his words. The characters, although some are absolutely horrible, are fleshed out and dimensional. They will make you mad, they will break your heart, and sometimes they will even make you smile.
If you are looking for a story that has a sad part or two and then everything becomes wrapped up happily, this is not the book for that. While the ending gives us closure, it isn't overdone with happiness and rainbows. It's real closure that leaves out hearts healing with characters. This story is a beautiful tragedy.
The writing is beautiful. Steinberg did an amazing job capturing emotion and pain with his words. The characters, although some are absolutely horrible, are fleshed out and dimensional. They will make you mad, they will break your heart, and sometimes they will even make you smile.
If you are looking for a story that has a sad part or two and then everything becomes wrapped up happily, this is not the book for that. While the ending gives us closure, it isn't overdone with happiness and rainbows. It's real closure that leaves out hearts healing with characters. This story is a beautiful tragedy.
Purchase links:
Author Bio
Website: https://steinbergstories.com
John Steinberg
was born in 1952 and spent many years in business before becoming a
writer in 2007. Since then, he has co-written and produced comedies
for the stage and has created a series of books for children. Nadine
is his third novel. He is married with three children and lives in
North London.
Social Media Links –
Extract
INTRO
Nadine has just
been told by the Langleys that they have intention of returning her
child she had allowed them to look after while she was on tour. She
has now established that this was their intention all along; to
provide Charles with an heir they had been able to achieve through
natural means.
Deprived of her child and brainwashed
into believing that she’s an unfit mother, Nadine realizes she has
nothing left to live for!
EXTRACT
Aware that she had lost the most
precious part of her life, the one that made it worth living, Nadine
strayed up the Fulham Road towards the Embankment with only one thing
in mind. Spotting a wine bar, she went inside, in no particular hurry
to undertake her final performance.
After ordering a bottle of her
favourite French wine, she took her diary out of her bag and began
recording in detail the events of her last, fateful day. She then
fished out the small screw-top jar containing her medication, tipped
the contents into her hand and washed mouthfuls of the pills down
with one glass of wine after another until the bottle was empty.
She allowed around twenty minutes
for the pills to start taking effect. Then she got up from the table
and coolly settled her bill, leaving her shoulder bag and diary
behind on the seat –
she had no use for them now –
and walked out into the moonlit evening.
Oblivious to the crowd’s concern
for her safety, Nadine then stood en pointe,
lifting one leg high above her head. For a few seconds she remained
absolutely still, a smile fixed on her superb face, until the foot
she was balancing on, the foot she had damaged, suddenly gave way and
she was carried off in a gust of wind to the murky waters below.
Sounds heavy.
ReplyDeleteIt is heavy but it is so good!
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