Lindsey Reviews : The Weekend Spa Break - Anne John-Ligali

The Weekend Spa Break

Online Friendships Short Story – Part 2

Anne John- Ligali

April 2018

“The Weekend Spa Break” follows on from Anne John-Ligali’s previous story, “The Big Event.”  After meeting each other at the Christmas publishing party, as relayed in the previous instalment, Estelle gives Constance a Spa voucher for The Glitzy Spa. Later on, the year, Constance reflects on how hard her life has been lately. Encouraged by her Mum and wanting to develop her friendship with Estelle, Constance decides to invite her to accompany her to the spa, as her guest.

Hugely excited to be going, as the weekend progresses, the pair begin to bond and find that they have a lot in common: both are novelists, single mothers with less than helpful ex-partners and parents of autistic children.    Constance is also trying to heal from being dumped by her ex-fiancée Maxwell and finds a most welcome distraction when she meets the handsome therapist Julio.

The weekend goes swimmingly as the pair unwind and cement their friendship over treatments and massages, but then the advent of an unexpected visitor finds Constance confronted with a nasty surprise: one whose itinerary does not include relaxation…

This was a splendid read.  The story followed on brilliantly from the previous instalment with the author developing the character of Constance and also reintroducing characters from the earlier narrative by the skilful use of Instagram posts at the start of each chapter to bring the reader up to speed with their lives.  The author dealt with some really interesting themes in the plot: the pressures of single motherhood, failed relationships and the importance of friendships. Again, the topic of the dangers of the use of social media was highlighted, through the events which befall Constance. Constance learns, much to her chagrin, how innocent things posted online can be picked up by less than salubrious people and used against us and consequently, the dangers which this can cause.

Entertaining with laughs and food for thought, would highly recommend.