Review: The Dream Robbers - Caroline Lewis

 

Review: The Dream Robbers - Caroline Lewis- May 2013

Ever wondered what you will get when you receive a book with an obscure cover ? Most of the time we can tell a book by it's cover but other times we are left wondering and also by the title.  Think back to the recession most of us endured a few years back , some countries are still struggling to get out of it even now. What was the pressure like for you and your families ? Did you feel that with the recession, your dreams were being robbed from you , pulled out from beneath your feet ? 

The Dream Robbers takes us into the world of a village in England and takes a look at the events and actions that conspire within the people during the credit crunch or recessions. This part reminded me of how JK Rowling's book "A Casual Vacancy" is surrounded and written with the views and events around a Council Election. For me personally, I am not too keen on these type of books as I find the plots too busy for my liking and I like to get familiarized with one or two characters normally as I am a plot person, but if you are one of those readers who enjoy Character studies , then this will be an awesome read for you to play with as you like. 

In this Village we meet Emma who is a real estate agent and works with developing properties. Her take for the recession is that since not many people have money to purchase houses and real estate is the last thing on people's minds, she worries for her future as well as her husband and their three children and feels that with this -her children's future dreams and what they want to achieve are being robbed from them.

Next up is Emma's sister Sophie who works as an investment banker and lives with her boyfriend James Her dream that was robbed is that she still has feelings for a lost love named Robert. 

During the story , we read as a lot of tragedy moments happen and you as the reader are in for a definite roller-coaster ride of emotions from death in the family to sibling rivalry which can be taken to the extreme which I know this feeling personally. Then later another death occurs this time of one of the main characters coinciding with a vehicle containing her boyfriend. 

The story then jumps to a familiar scene that most of us have read or watched in crime shows as it reminded me of an episode of Motive. Where three people have gathered - all have been strongly affected by the bank's connection and reaction to the recession and want those involved to pay as really - what have you got to lose when all your dreams have been robbed ?

In the end though, this book does show readers that no matter what hard strife and trials, tribulations that you go through - there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and though one dream may have been robbed and taken away from you , we as humans don't just have one dream sitting in that brain of ours, we have millions and sometimes when one door opens another has to close -though you may not want it too or at the point it can be devastating to see it close. There is always an Upside to a Downside.