The Sins of the Father by Sharon Bairden

Lucas Findlay thinks he has struck gold when he marries Rebecca, but she married him for one reason only – to destroy him.

Book blurb

Trauma runs deep When her past comes back to haunt her, Rebecca begins to disconnect from herself and the world around her. As secrets are unearthed, she begins to fear for her sanity … and her life.

Truth will out With her world unravelling around her, Rebecca clings to her determination to make Lucas pay, whatever the cost.

Forgive his sins But someone must pay for the sins of the father…

My thoughts

In this well written and powerful story of Rebecca, the main character, along with Lucas, Jim and Nicole. We have a book which writes of abuse, mental health, social care, life in a Glasgow estate controlled by fear, violence and drugs.

The first part of the book centres around Rebecca’s childhood. It is a heartbreaking and traumatic story of a child from a single parent family and what she suffers as a result of her mothers inability to cope with the issues which befall her. Though not, at first, for the want of trying. Her life spirals out of control the options seem few as she gets caught up with drugs and all that entails. Rebecca is caught in her mother’s desperation in ways no child should ever be but so often are. Here we read of the loss, abuse that Rebecca suffers and how she deals with it. We first read of Jim here as he is allocated as her social worker.

The second part follows Rebecca as she becomes more independent and devises a plan to take revenge on those she sees as responsible for what happened. Rebecca has become a well educated and admired professional in the voluntary sector working for and with women in abusive relationships. She is married to Lucas. It seems as though she has managed to make a good life for herself but all is not what it seems. The story twists and turns as we learn what Rebecca is doing. Jim re-enters Rebecca’s life. Rebecca has a feeling of being watched and that someone has been in the house. Lucas has a secret he wants to keep from Rebecca, from everyone. Nicole works with Jim, who is becoming heavily reliant on alcohol, but knows much more about him, Lucas and Rebecca than they could imagine and she has her own agenda on what needs to be done to elicit revenge.

This is a dark tale not necessarily for the faint hearted. Sharon Bairden obviously knows and understands the subjects she deals with in the storyline and writes with authenticity and confidence. She has written a story which brings to light the issues around abuse and resulting mental health issues which is noteworthy and then puts a spin on the story which makes it even darker. This is an accomplished and gripping read. Well worth reading.

Information

Publisher: Red Dog Press

Publication Date: 27 November 2020

Buy: Red Dog Press | Your local bookshop

Author: By day Sharon Bairden is the Services Manager in a small, local independent advocacy service and has a passion for human rights; by night she has a passion for all things criminal. She blogs at Chapterinmylife and is delighted to be crossing over to the other side of the fence to become a writer. Sharon lives on the outskirts of Glasgow, has two grown up children, a grandson, a Golden Labrador and a cat. She spends most of her spare time doing all things bookish, from reading to attending as many book festivals and launches as she can. She has been known to step out of her comfort zone on the odd occasion and has walked over burning coals and broken glass – but not at the same time!