Versions of Her by Andrea Lochen – Book Review
Versions of Her by Andrea Lochen – Book Review
Versions of Her
Author – Andrea Lochen
Publisher – Red Adept Publishing
Pages – 352
Released – 1st July 2019
ISBN-13 – 978-1948051347
Format – ebook, paperback
Review by – Linda
Rating – 4.5 Stars
I received a free copy of this book.
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On the surface, Melanie Kingstad-Keyes’s life is the picture of success. She’s a tenure track professor at a prestigious university and has a perfect husband. But a recent miscarriage has left her reeling and her marriage tenuous. Selling her family’s Lake Indigo summer home, which she hasn’t visited in fifteen years, feels like the perfect distraction from her problems. Now, she only needs to persuade her younger sister, Kelsey, to go along with her plan.
Stuck in a dead-end job, Kelsey Kingstad bounces from one doomed relationship to the next as she struggles to jumpstart her adult life. Carrying the guilt of her mother’s untimely death,
Kelsey is reluctant to let go of the Victorian house filled with memories of her mom and their childhood.
When the sisters find a mysterious hidden door, Melanie and Kelsey discover that they can directly view their mother’s younger years and learn all the secrets she never shared with them. Delving into her memories is fun at first, but Melanie and Kelsey quickly uncover difficult truths, throwing their own life choices into question and making them wonder if they ever truly knew their mother. Visiting the past may help them find closure, but the cost could be steeper than they realize.
Versions of Her is a beautiful, heart-warming story complimented with a lovely bit of fantasy to take us away from everyday life.
The book is not my normal choice of genre to read but sometimes it is good to step out of our comfort zones.
In the beginning, we meet Melanie and her sister Kelsey who are staying at their family lake-side summer home. I was already intrigued to find out what the sister and their summer house had to offer.
The descriptive narrative of the house and the area soon built up a fabulous picture in my mind. The sisters were well described and I soon learned that Melanie, the older sister, took life more seriously than Kelsey. She wanted, and liked, to be in control and charge, whereas Kelsey was more laid back and carefree and hadn’t quite decided where she was going in life.
Melanie’s husband is a loyal and generally all-round good guy but he is suffering after the recent miscarriage which Melanie had taken it on herself to take the blame for and wasn’t letting Ben in. The other main character Kelsey worked with Josh, a good friend, who is a very likeable character and is laid back, with an easy-going nature, just like her.
The book read at a steady pace, I was able to visualise the fabulous summer house coming to life again and the sisters having a chance to see into their mother’s past which unfolded itself in front of their eyes. I kind of like the idea of seeing into the past but as the girls found out it’s not always what they had expected.
On the whole, this is a really good read with great characters, amazing scenes, and a beautiful setting. I didn’t want the story to end.
Well done author Andrea Lochen for writing such a lovely fantasy read which held my interest right to the end. I will definitely be recommending this book to family and friends.
Book Reviewer – Linda
Purchase online from:
Amazon.co.uk – Amazon.com – Amazon.in – Blackwells
About the Author
Andrea Lochen is the author of three novels: VERSIONS OF HER, IMAGINARY THINGS and THE REPEAT YEAR. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. She teaches college writing and lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two small children, and adorably fluffy dog, Maddy.
