Going Back

My copy of Going Back was that rare luxury for me, a brand new book! I won it courtesy of a twitter giveaway from the lovely Sophie at ReviewedTheBook - a blog well worth a follow.

Set almost entirely in Boston, America, Going Back's first half tells the story of twenty year old Elizabeth's summer getaway, an escape from the Ireland of her childhood to a land where anything might be possible. I enjoyed reading this. I was thirteen in 1988 so recognised several of the nostalgic references. Rachael English's use of Irish-isms is colourful without creating caricature and I got a nice sense of the sudden liberation Elizabeth felt as she raced through a potentially life-changing experience. The madness of the summer romance with Danny is predictable but fun to follow. I felt Going Back lost its realism in the second half though. We meet Elizabeth some twenty years later, discovering how both her and Danny's lives have turned out. I won't spoil any surprises, but I felt the writing was now too rushed. Major bombshells are metaphorically dropped, but seemingly with little regard for all we had previously learned about our protagonists. Some of the ways they acted left me baffled! Had Going Back not done just that and been purely the 1988 tale, I would have given a solid four stars. As it is, I think the return let itself down, particularly in its search for a neat conclusion.