All We Cannot Leave Behind

Andy Mullaney (Guest Review) - 18 May, 2024

📣BOOK RECOMMENDATION.

I’ve just finished Iain Kelly’s latest release, “All We Cannot Leave Behind” and once again, it’s a page-turner! 📚✨

Having devoured all of Iain’s previous books, I can’t get enough of his captivating writing style. His vivid descriptions transport you through time, place, and emotions, igniting your imagination—everything a reader could wish for.

Set in 1920 with intriguing flashbacks, the narrative took some adjusting to, but it brilliantly immerses you into the mind and survival journey of the main characters. I struggled with the back and forward in time style at first but can see why it’s so essential to make this book another brilliant work.

⚠️ This book tackles dark themes and should be approached with caution if you're not in the best headspace. It’s a raw portrayal of an era when mental health was misunderstood (still an issue today in my opinion) and Iain navigates these issues with honesty, subtly critiquing and shaming those who lacked compassion.

Iain, thank you. The Barra Boy remains my favourite, but this book’s depth, character development, and theme exploration clearly took immense research and effort. Maximum respect. 🙌

#BookRecommendation #MustRead #HistoricalFiction #MentalHealthAwareness #LiteraryJourney #ReadingCommunity

Lynne LeGrow (aka Fictionophile) (Guest Review) - 19 Apr, 2024

Wow! This latest offering by Iain Kelly really packs a punch!

Two protagonists, both pitiable, damaged, and yet strong.

The setting is the small suburban town of Liberton, just three miles from the centre of Glasgow.

Dr. Thomas Stevenson is a veteran of WWI and he is deeply traumatized by the events and the suffering that he witnessed during his time as an army surgeon. Home now, he endures his days, has nightmares, and drinks to excess.

Louise is a young woman who shares Dr. Stevenson's house. They are friends only, and not in a relationship - yet they are both frowned upon for their living arrangements. It is the year 1920. A time when social mores were vastly different than they are today. Thomas and Louise have an amenable arrangement, yet they do not share their deeply troubled pasts with each other. Both of them are secretive about their former lives...

When three babies go missing from local poorhouses, Louise is put under suspicion. Fearful that her unsavory past will come to light, she flees. Thomas, intuiting that Louise must be innocent and would never harm a child, seeks to find her - and the person who is doing these terrible abductions.

Meanwhile, the reader is made privy to different snippets in the life of a young red-headed woman named Jessie. A woman who spent years living in the poorhouses of the city.

The author has accurately portrayed the patriarchal society as it was in 1920 and the years leading up to it. A time when society as a whole was run by men who had the power in all aspects of life. A time when there were no systems in place to provide for the very poor, the homeless, the destitute.

The book had a steady pace that increased near its suspense-filled denouement. The descriptive passages brought the setting and mood of the novel vividly to life.

I'm certain that readers who enjoy well-researched historical crime fiction will enjoy this title immensely.

4.5 stars rounded up