After reading A Double Life, I was excited to read the previous book in the series: Part of the Family, which offers the reader a completely different set of characters to analyse and question what their motives are.
Maria and Anna are the two main characters for this plot, and unlike Gabriela and Isobel, these two women’s lives are interconnected daily, because Maria has become the nanny to Anna and David’s twin daughters. Maria seemed the obvious choice given her mother’s own role at David’s father’s Greek home but given the friendship David and Maria shared as kids, I wondered if Maria’s decision to be back in David’s life was for more deeper reasons.
Anna’s path to romance with David had a bumpy and questionable start, and Philby has set it up in a way you’ll spend the entire book wondering if Anna truly loves David.
I won’t divulge too much of this plot but I will say you are in for a treat! Uncovering the truth of all the family secrets was both terrifying (my heart was pumping due to fear of a character being caught) and utterly thrilling. I am astounded by the sheer complexity and number of ideas that Philby managed to execute and juggle successfully in this plot.
Both Part of the Family and A Double Life can be read independently as there is very little overlap but now I’ve seen the blurb to book 3 coming out next year, I can see that these two plots will merge to create a dramatic finale to this series – I can’t wait!
Philby is a writer on my “auto buy list” because her sharp, calculated and impeccably well structured plots are sublime.
Part of the Family is out now in paperback and eBook versions from Borough Press.
Until next time, Chloé x
Reviews by Chloé 