#BlogTour-‘Him’ by Clare Empsom

Many thanks to Tracy Fenton,from Compulsive Readers, for having me along on the blogtour and introducing your next new favourite thriller ‘Him’ by Clare Empson

About the book..

‘Gripping and heartbreaking’ Laura Marshall, author of Friend Request

‘Dark and addictive’ Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things

‘So emotionally true’ Sophie Kinsella, author of the Shopaholic series

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‘You’re stuck there, aren’t you? Right at the end. And I wonder if it might help to go back to the beginning, to put everything in some kind of order.’

It all started with … HIM.

Catherine has become mute.

She has witnessed something so disturbing that she simply can’t speak – not to her husband, her children, or her friends. The doctors say the only way forward is to look into her past. Catherine needs to start with Him. Lucian.

Catherine met the love of her life at university and was drawn into his elite circle of privileged, hedonistic friends. But one night it all falls apart and she leaves him, shattering his life forever. Still, fifteen years later, Lucian haunts every one of Catherine’s quiet moments, and when they are unexpectedly reunited, their love reignites with explosive force. But they can’t move on from what happened all those years ago. In fact, uncovering the truth will cause their lives to implode once again. This time, with disastrous consequences.

‘Him’ takes place over 15 years in the lives of a group of people bound by class, social standards and expectations-they all move in a stratosphere which I found hard to keep up with. However, their privilege, entitlement and self regard did not protect them from loss and harm done.

15 years ago,Lucian blew into the life of Catherine, beginning a torrid and frantic love affair based on mutual sexual attraction and desire. Something happened which made Catherine run away rather than explain it to Lucian(post traumatic stress) and marry the ‘safe’ man, Sam, have 2 children with him whilst pouring over love letters for the next 13 years and low key stalking Lucian’s prescence in the media.

He never marries, but lives a Gatsby-esque existence with clingers on galore as without them , the hollow, empty life he lives would be even more meaningless. He props up best friend Jack in every way possible, supports Rachel through her various attempts at rehab and draws pictures of Catherine.

Then something brings the 2 lovers back together, they have a fling with horrific consequences and part AGAIN.

Both go back to their patterns of ignoring each other/pining over each other until a cataclysmic event which drives Catherine into being selectively mute.

The story is split between now (mute Catherine),15 years ago (Catherine and Lucian) and 4 months before (Catherine and Lucian).This made it a little confusing for this reader to navigate.

The toxic and deadly relationship into which Catherine and Lucian drag innocent and not so innocent bystanders is really well expressed-you cannot choose who you fall in love with and real life is eventually bound to get in the way.

What happened to Catherine is slowly revealed and is truly traumatic and horrific. This again was written with sensitivity and skill so that the reader really appreciates the trauma she has been through. Otherwise Catherine would be seen as a selfish, wanton woman who marries on the rebound and puts her poor husband through 13 years of him loving her, but her pining for Lucian.

In ‘Him’, Clare Empsom brilliantly portrays a woman who has been traumatised by death and loss, to the point where her only recourse was to lose the words to say what happened to her.

When I finished the book, however, my sympathies were with Sam,Celia and Ling who were dragged into this toxic circle of friends and lost so much because of it.

Many thanks to Tracy, Clare and Orion for having me on this blogtour, I remain really grateful for the opportunity!

About the author…

Links-https://www.clareempson.com/

https://www.compulsivereaders.com/

Twitter @ClareEmpsom2

@Tr4cyF3nt0n