Review: Matilda is Missing - Caroline Overington

When I saw this new release by Caroline Overington , I knew I just had to read it as I had read her book "Ghost Child" and adored that book :) -one of my favourite reads.

Are you on the lookout for a new Australian Author to read as we snuggle close to the upcoming Australia Day next month on the 26th January.

Review: Matilda is Missing - Caroline Overington - October 2011

Reading the blurb of the book compared to the book itself will prepare you for only half of the story , a snippet that doesn't get revealed till halfway through the novel. From the title and the synopsis , I had a whole different view of what the novel would be like and about and as I turned the first page , I would be in for a shock. The novel starts not with Gary, Softie and Matilda but in fact with an entirely different family named "the Harrisons". Husband and Wife , Pat and Barry Harrison. The story begins with a struggle of their own , their youngest son Brian is getting married to a bartender named Nerida who is a single mother with a 4yr old son named Ethan. Pat, from the beginning has shown nothing but dislike for Nerida and it will soon come to bite her own the bum as Nerida falls pregnant not once but twice with Brian's children. Soon Pat becomes a doting grandmother to Ethan, Jett and Baxter . However, the happiness will be shortlived as Nerida is caught cheating on Brian and she is so mad at Brian for leaving her , that she refuses to let Pat see her grandchildren. What becomes as a Grandmother wanting to spend time with her grandchildren, will hit National news when Pat decides to go for the extreme. Meanwhile Barry, stuck in the middle visits an old Family Court Judge friend of his Frank who three weeks later passes and leaves Barry , a court case and files - Monaghan vs Hartshon . This case was about Gary, Softie and the little girl named Matilda and what started as a loving family ended up in a deadly, costly and ugly court battle over two year old Matilda. As the case goes along, we see that it soon becomes all about Gary and Softie rather than the most important thing Matilda. As we read Pat and Barry discovering more about the case, we start to see similarities and will discover the lengths a family or someone who we love and they love us will go to save one another . Something interesting that I picked up about the Cases is that and I guess it relates in reality too , is that most custody cases end up being about what the parents want and need, rather than the childs even though they are the most important thing in the world and the battle is for their safety and welfare.

Another great read written by Caroline Overington :) and I look forward to her next novel "I Came to Say Goodbye".