My review of The Secret Cove in Croatia by Julie Caplin

My Review:

Julie Chaplin has brought a wonderful character to life in the guise of Maddie Wilcox. She's a very relatable working class woman from the East Midlands. Maddie has stereotypical insecurities based around her education, ability and size and therefor has something every woman can relate to, at least at some point in their lives, that feeling of not being good enough, of being an imposter. You can't help but want more for her and I found myself encouraging her in her endeavours all the way through. She's a heroine of our times, flawed and struggling to find herself but all the more real for it. I expected Shirley Valentine but got so much more ...

On one level the premise of the narrative is the classic 'will they - won't they' as Maddie takes on crewing duties on a luxury yacht in Croatia and encounters her best friend's brother Nick. They instantly dislike each other and their sparring matches had me laughing out loud and were very reminiscent of Much Ado's Beatrice and Benedict. Caplin has the skill to keep Maddie and Nick likable even when their behaviour isn't. The main protagonists are supported by a great ensemble cast of characters and the subplots they create make the narrative so enjoyable and add many extra layers of depth too. There's Douglas, Cory, Tara, Siri, Simon and Ivan and they all bring their own dimension to the story. You won't like them all but the narrative would be much less realistic if you did and Caplin knows this. 

Caplin tackles the issue of women and societal expectations of weight with a deft pair of hands. I loved the way humour was used where appropriate but also  my heart ached for at least one character and what she was going through.

Finally ... Croatia is a character in its own right, Caplin makes it sound heavenly with its scrumptious food and crystal clear waters. I was unbelievably jealous of Maddie's time at the secret cove and I'm sure you will be too.

Thanks to Rachel@Rachel'sRandomResources for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.