Before The Storm - Diane Chamberlain

Before the Storm is the second book I have read by the author Diane Chamberlain. The previous book I read by her was The Lost Daughter and I have to say I really enjoyed it so I had high hopes for this book.

One thing that really strikes me about the two books I have read by Diane Chamberlain is the fact they are very similar in style to the books by Jodi Picoult. It is highlighted on both books that they are likely to be enjoyed by fans of Jodi Picoult but usually I take things like that with a pinch of salt. But having read both they are fairly similar – even down to the covers. Both authors seem to have covers which highlight the moral dilemma that the book features and the general style just seems so similar. I suppose it’s a good way of hooking Picoult fans in to reading Diane Chamberlain’s books or vice versa.

I did enjoy Before the Storm. I like books which make me think and which have me interested. However, very early in reading the book I did make a mistake which lead to me finding out the main plot twists way before I should have. I had casually turned to the back pages not to read the final page of the novel (because why would I want to do that) but rather to look at the adverts for her other novels along with seeing the books ‘special features’ – sometimes it seems like they are trying to make books like DVDs. Anyway one of the adverts was for Before the Storm’s sequel – I didn’t even realise there was a sequel – anyway in the little blurb about the book it basically gave away two of the biggest plot points of the novel so when I read it in the novel there was absolutely no element of surprise. I wish I had had that though because the twists are fairly good.

I really liked the characters and found myself actually caring a great deal about them and what was going to happen to them. I suppose it is a credit to Diane Chamberlain’s writing that, despite knowing the answers, I still found myself worrying about the characters. I found learning about Laurel’s history really interesting and seeing how she got to where she was and became the person she was. Her relationship with her children was also very interesting – the way in which she treats them differently. I also loved how the beginning and ending – her two short pieces in italics before the prologue and after the epilogue – were really interesting. The way it came almost in full circle – having to fight for Andy and for Maggie.

Part of me wishes we had been able to learn a little more of Sara and of Keith because both characters are pretty important and yet we do not really know much about them bar their financial situation and the fact that Sara’s husband left many years previously. I was also really interested in Emily – Andy’s friend – but she too was in very little of the book. The character of Layla also seemed a bit useless given she appears for such a short part of the book and does not really serve much purpose. There were so many characters to keep track of that maybe it all just became a bit to tangled with two main secondary characters.

I also found the books timeline to be a bit complicated especially the bits in Laurel’s past. The time between Maggie’s birth and Andy’s just seems very difficult to keep track of especially once Laurel became pregnant with Andy. I just found myself unable to work out just where I was timewise.

I do think I will read the sequel ‘Secrets She Left Behind’ when it comes out in August. I’d like to know what becomes of Andy, Maggie, Laurel and Marcus along with Keith, Sara and Emily.