Title: A Reflection of Sophie Beaumont
Author: L M Barrett
Author Links: Website
Publisher: L M Barrett
Release Date: November 23, 2017
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense, Romance (minor)
eBook Received From: L M Barrett
Reviewed For: L M Barrett
When a devastated Richard Beaumont returns home one evening to find out that his beautiful, happy wife Sophie has committed suicide it sends him on a journey to unravel the mystery of why someone with a seemingly perfect life would do such a thing.
He discovers deep and dark secrets from her past and present that he would have rather left uncovered. Does what he find out eventually lead him to agree with her suicide note, that the love of his life deserved it?
Follow the twists and turns in Sophie's life as we learn the real reason for her demise.
Sophie's suicide was a surprise to everyone. Her past, who she was really was, even more so. She was, in the end, someone I didn't like. But does that mean she deserved it? Was death really the answer for everything?
Richard's decision to find out what his wife's note "I deserve this" meant leads him to discover a side of her he didn't know existed. The woman he loved, the woman he married, was sweet and perfect and capable and loved by all. The woman he discovered, was none of those things except capable.
Capable of surviving by any means necessary.
The chapters are a mix of past and present tenses in either Richard or Sophie's point of view. It's a fictional tell-all that, despite my final thoughts about Sophie, was evocative. It's a journey for the reader and Richard. The pieces that made up the whole of Sophie were rough and jagged, made pretty by the beautiful masks she wore. I pitied Richard the more I got to know Sophie. It wasn't the things she did that made her such an despicable character but how highly she thought of herself, how condescending and belittling she was of others.
But did she deserve it? The saying is an eye for an eye, but even that isn't enough to convince me Sophie deserved the ending that she got.
The end is my only gripe as it seems slightly over the top for me. I'm not sure how realistic it is. One could argue that revenge is a dish best served cold and, I suppose, maybe it does mirror reality to some extent. Regardless, this was an intriguing look into the life of a person who appeared to have it all and appeared to be so put together, but was shallow and deceitful, selfish and self-serving. For the first time in a while, maybe ever, I can say that it was interesting for me to go from liking a character at the beginning to despising them at the end.
As a warning, this story touches on a number of issues: prostitution, drugs, infidelity, abuse. This story is also told with very little dialogue. It's almost completely narrative. The writing isn't as strong as it could be. The narrative was, at times, fluffy rather than on point. But it was still a good read.
Lorraine Barrett grew up in Birmingham (UK), attended Cardiff University and travelled around the world before settling down in Bristol. She lived in Bristol for ten years where she raised her family and now lives in the sunnier climate of Javea, Spain. It was in Javea, where she finally took up writing which is a lot more fun then the office jobs she previously had. A Reflection of Sophie Beaumont is her first book.
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