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The Future Can’t Wait by Angelena Boden

Following on from her debut novel The Cruelty of Lambs Angelena Boden returns with a deeply emotional story of a mother’s love in The Future Can’t Wait. If you have not yet discovered Angelena Boden’s writing, then read on as I give you an insight into her second novel.

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There is no love like the love of a mother and in The Future Can’t Wait the story really is heartfelt and powerful that I think even beats Angelena’s debut novel were she is not afraid of writing about difficult situations.

Set in multicultural Birmingham were there are some who try to radicalise young people. Kendra is half Iranian and her daughter Rani seems to be going through something of a crisis. Yes, we have all been through this period when we were young, who are we and why? But this looks sinister to Kendra. This is an ever real situation and when a mother sees her daughter cut all ties with her, Kendra’s life just collapses, with her own life now in a crisis. What has happened to her daughter? Now she fears the worst. Rani has just vanished with no clues to where she is. She has severed ties with her mother and step-father. Kendra is now worried sick that she has become mixed up with the wrong people and is being radicalised. The emotion just pours from every page as Kendra tries in vain to find her daughter before it is too late. There are times when I was reading this that I found it so difficult as it is just so powerful and deals with mother/daughter relationships. This is real and it is very much set in the present day with the issues that are being discussed in the novel.

One aspect of the book really shook me was when Kendra sought help from psychics. This is totally believable as a good friend of mine did exactly the same after a tragic accident claimed the lives of a number of people a number of years ago. To-date his close friend that survived and blamed himself has never been found. The memories flooded back at this point.

There are so many incredible characters in this book and each one plays such an important role which helps make the book so readable. But to see Kendra’s life just spiral out of control is just heart-breaking. A little warning from me. This is not a comfortable read for a Sunday afternoon, so be prepared

To say I was swept away by Angelena’s writing is an understatement. This is a novel I would recommend for book clubs as so many questions arise from reading The Future Can’t Wait.

Thank you to Matthew at Urbane Publications for a review copy of The Future Can’t Wait.

304 Pages.

The Future Can’t Wait by Angelena Boden is published by Urbane Publications and was published on 2^nd November 2017 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops.

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The Cruelty of Lambs by Angelena Boden

The beauty of reviewing books is that you get to read so many outstanding books written by some incredibly talented writers and the year 2016 has proved to be a real classic year and now in Angelena Boden here is another one of those writers. In her debut novel The Cruelty of Lambs Angelena Boden has written a thriller based around domestic abuse. I urge you to read on.

Iain Millar is an acclaimed Cellist but now his entire life lies in ruins. What could possibly have happened to make this happen? Iain was teaching at a school when some pupils made allegations of a sexual nature against Millar and he was forced to leave the job he loved. But for Iain things only got worse. Now his wife Una is against him as her own business is suddenly struggling and she believes there is a connection between the allegations that have ruined he career and now her own. At the same time Iain decides to fight to clear his name and his reputation. The strain on the marriage is at breaking point and all the blame lies with her husband. With Una being successful woman and her business taking her to different locations around the world it is all coming as a shock and she vents her fury at Iain who has now shrunk into his own world and his ‘priceless’ cello for which Una suddenly is eyeing up as a quick source of revenue. The two children are hardly seen as their mother tends not to keep in touch and Una prefers the company of men she meets on business trip or on social occasions.

Iain a quiet man by nature is now falling into a spiral of depression the life he once loved is now nothing more than a distant memory and over the course of the half year that this novel is based on it shows just how suddenly and quickly life can fall apart especially a marriage were one is the stronger dominant half and seeks to psychologically damage the other as with Una. At times this deeply shocking to read but at the same time incredibly riveting a tense thriller being played out and you have no idea how the story will end for both.

The story is so well written with characters so believable you actually think you know them very well. At times you feel totally helpless as you watch a marriage descend into anarchy. With the story based on domestic abuse not from the man but from the woman in the marriage this is an important read and one I would strongly recommend.

Thank you to Matthew at Urbane Publications for the advanced review copy.

The Cruelty of Lambs by Angelena Boden is published by Urbane Publications and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops.