I am thrilled to be taking part in the blog tour for
Duckling by Eve Ainsworth today. I received a copy of this book to review.
Lucy lives alone in a small flat in South London with her
cat Boris. Her life revolves around visiting her elderly Dad who nicknamed her
Duckling, working at a local bookshop and watching old episodes of Columbo.
However, everything changes when her new neighbour Cassie
knocks on her door and asks her to look after her daughter Rubi for a couple of
hours.
Lucy reluctantly accepts, but then Cassie doesn’t come back
and Lucy is alone with seven year old Rubi. Her carefully curated routine
suddenly goes out of the window and she knows she must find out where Cassie is
and protect Rubi at the same time.
Duckling is a powerful and beautifully written book. It tackles
the theme of loneliness and shows you how much a community can help change
lives when people pull together.
The characters are so vividly drawn that they come to life
and I felt like I knew Lucy, Rubi and Jimmy so well by the end of the book.
This is an amazing debut novel about friendship, hope, love
and loss. I highly recommend it.
5 stars
