#Blogtour : Everyone Is Still Alive by Cathy Rentzenbrink

Having read and been deeply moved by Cathy Rentzenbrink’s memoir The Last Act of Love and devoured her wonderful celebration of a lifelong love of reading Dear Reader, I could not believe my luck when the chance to read and review her first novel came my way. Everyone is still alive was published on 8th July by Phoenix and it really is a truly incredible debut.

This is the story of Juliet, recently bereaved, who decides to move her family into her late mother’s home, on the quiet suburban street of Magnolia Road. Her son Charlie is just about to start school and her husband Liam is a writer working, somewhat sporadically, on his second novel. Juliet herself is the main breadwinner and in addition to being side swiped by grief, finds herself juggling all the demands and guilt associated with the life of a working mother.

Magnolia Road has a close knit community; the heart of which are a hub of middle class parents whom Liam seems quickly to become absorbed by. At first Liam views the group as fodder for his new book and claims his daily meet ups are purely for research purposes. But as the weeks go on and bonds of friendship seem to grow Juliet increasingly feels as if she is on the outside looking in.

The dynamics of the group are further complicated when one seemingly stable marriage suddenly crumbles and Liam is pulled further into the emotional turmoil left in it’s wake. Juliet starts to question the foundations of her own marriage and wonders if moving to Magnolia Road was really the solution it seemed to be. As doubt continues to creep closer, life changing moments are just around the corner.

This novel commands with an air of authenticity from the first page to the last. It is populated by a cast of believable and well rounded characters who act with both spontaneity and comforting predictability . Characters who in short make you believe in them. The population of Magnolia Road feels like a community you could walk into, with lives you can both visualise and care about.

Cathy Rentzenbrink has created a plot that pulls you, that shows how the day to day of our lives is just as complex and engaging as events further afield and how the answers to the questions we ask ourselves are actually often not that far away.

Once I stepped into Juliet and Liam’s lives it was actually surprisingly hard to leave! This one of those novels that compelled you to keep turning the pages, but once you got to the end the characters lingered for a good long while. Complex emotions and solid story telling make this a must read of the summer.

Rachel x

And there is more…

For more reviews and reactions to Everyone is still alive check out the rest of the blog tour below…