By Claire McGowan
This was a kindle recommendation for me, and I find my kindle recs to be 50/50. So I went in with low expectations, but I really enjoyed this one! It's a mystery that packs a punch. This novel is more than just a whodunnit, it's a slice of life full of nostalgia and regret. And it also addresses the relevant issue of sexual assault and how people react to both victims and the accused. I found myself lost in thought as to human nature and the line between believing the best in someone, and believing victims of abuse. It was much heavier than I expected, and it caught me off guard. However, I think that's the beauty of fiction, these issues can be put up to the light and scrutinized easier than real life situations.
Ali and her husband, Mike, have a reunion dinner with friends from college. Twenty years later, they're all grown up with careers and families. Ali has the life she's always dreamed of, but that night when her friend Karen staggers into the house bruised and bleeding and accusing Mike of assaulting her Ali realizes her dream life is about to change. The accusations cause everyone in the group to look back on their "golden years" through a different lens and suddenly darker memories start coming to the surface. Memories that someone would kill to keep hidden.
This book was heavy, and it showed the effects of such a huge event on everyone from Mike and Ali to their children and their friends. But McGowan didn't lose the sense of mystery amid the horror of the assault. There was a constant nagging that if Mike didn't do it, it could only have been a few other people. So it kind of had that locked room mystery feel as well. It was a page turner for me, I couldn't wait to see if it was Mike or if it was someone else! I can't tell you that I recommend this book to a lot of people, because it's such a sensitive subject material. But I do often tell people that I enjoyed it, and it made me look at my own nature and think about my reactions to serious issues like this one. As far as fiction goes, it's one that made an impact on me, which I think is important.
Purchase What You Did from Amazon.
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