Rachel Reviews: At a Time Like This by Catherine Dunne

I really enjoyed the storytelling of Catherine Dunne. This was a straightforward read which examines the relationships between four friends across the years and how their experiences, both shared and otherwise, shape their lives. However, whilst Georgie, Maggie, Claire and Nora seem like a tight-knit group (with the exception maybe of Nora, who is always a little of an outlier), there are secrets that are kept despite their closeness and the book is about whether you ever really know someone as well as you think you do.

I like books that examine character and Dunne does this especially well. The narrative switches between perspectives and so, we have four different voices within the book.

The novel begins with a prologue where one of the friends is leaving and is reflecting on how her friends will react on her disappearance as she is meant to be meeting up with them.

Once this has been established, we then focus on the lives of the girls. The point at which Dunne chooses to start is with Claire and when she first meets Maggie and Georgie at university and becomes their flatmate. Georgie and Maggie have known each other for years, since childhood, and it feels, at first, that the story will contain tension between Maggie and Claire contending for Georgie's affections but that's not central at all.

The girls are very different, Claire being a little more naïve than Georgie and Maggie at first but we see how their dynamic is established and how the addition of Nora changes that too, especially with regard to Georgie's disregard for her. Nora is Georgie's antithesis - bulky plainness to Georgie's grace - but it is Nora who has the best marriage, an endorsement to assure plain girls everywhere that there is a good man for you, if you only enter a shoe shop in Dublin and have nice ankles! Trite but true in Nora's case.

And so, the book takes us from wild university days to marriage to career to kids and beyond, showing ups and downs, betrayals and solidarity until the epilogue at the end where the biggest secret of all is revealed and tied back to the prologue. Shocking although the clues are laid in the text if you are prepared to spot them.

A good, easy read, fluid with good character building and believable action.

Rachel Rating: 4/5 stars

This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery:

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