Ready to enjoy an amazing read this 2020? Take a look at this great book…

Ash Mountain by Helen Fitzgerald

Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Orenda Books
Source: Random Things Tours
Amazon, Hive

About The Book

Fran hates her hometown, and she thought she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over, and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway.
She returns home to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain, childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the first time, and her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable heat of an Australian summer.
As past friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants…

My Thoughts

Everything seems more extreme when you add hot weather on top of it; the relations, the emotions, the pain… Ash Mountain is a host of deep feelings compacted in a story, so don’t feel ashamed if you want to cry, laugh or shout about reading it, you are a human in the end and this is a brilliant book.
I always love Helen Fitzgerald stories, they are told in a special way, like a tale, but the emotions that share and make the reader feel are so far from fantasy! They are real, deep and sometimes scary, possibly because even if the story is fiction, it always has a part that you can feel represented with the character. The “obligation” to take care of the family when you are not in good terms with them, the need to return to a place that we hate but there’s no other choice… Everything will be represented by a fire, how slowly but resilient will destroy everything in their path if you don’t stop it.
This is a story told between two different times, the past (30 years ago) and the present, a teenager Fran against a brave and mature Fran. How has she changed and sees now the town and the people living there with other eyes. It could seem a story that you already know, but believe me, this author always creates a detailed and real story that you feel part of it, with dark humour but reliable, the story is so strong that you can’t stop reading it.
I am not biased, this is a story to read and not forget, because you never know when a fire will start in your life.
Ready to enter the Ash Mountain?

About The Author

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and is now a major drama for BBC1. Her 2019 dark comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in both The Guardianand Daily Telegraph.
Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband.