Changes

Audrey, the widowed mother of grown -up twins, is setting off for one last hurrah, taking her children on a Greek island cruise. It's quite a nice gesture for the pair, to whom she's starting to feel something of a burden, but she has the time and the means to treat them, so why shouldn't she? There may be more to it than that, though.

There is, you see, more to Audrey than her children may realise. As a girl in her 20s , she moved, alone, to India following the death of her parents. It was the 1970s and opportunities existed, but it was still a brave move. There she met her future husband, the twins' father, and in a whirlwind romance went form from single girl to married mother in the blink of an eye. Moving back to the UK when the children were little, she became the perfect housewife, keeping the home neat and her husband, for the most part, happy. That is the woman the twins know. That is the woman she wanted them to know. But that is not all she is or was.

The story is building up to something, though we don't know what until they're all aboard the cruise and Audrey gathers everyone together to make a rather surprising announcement. It gives Lexi and John pause for thought, but as they're reeling from that news something else happens and suddenly there is an even greater mystery unfolding. And ohhhhh, the ending. The last page had me weeping. I hadn't seen it coming but it made perfect sense and I was so, so happy to be left with a bit of closure in an otherwise open -ended story.

For another read where it's really not clear exactly what's going on until close to the end, [[Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica]] is highly recommended. You might also enjoy [[Follow Me Down by Sherri Smith]].