Before she was Helen - Caroline B. Cooney

Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When this book starts, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's a light-hearted and somewhat fluffy mystery story. You would be wrong. There is a mystery here, in fact, more than one, there's also a cast of interesting characters who all live in some sort of sheltered housing. But that's not all that's going on.
I have to admit that the story of Clemmie's life, of what happened to her before she became Helen is really quite sad. In much the same way that the retirement village gives the impression that all is nice and happy but that there's much more below the surface, the same can be said for her past. While everyone in the 50's was giving the illusion that all was safe and happy, for some, such as Clemmie, it was far from the case.
I really enjoyed this book, both the story of what had been before and what was going on now for Clemmie. It was left so that there could well be a follow on, there's plenty for her still to answer, but whether that will be addressed in a future book or we just assume that it was all forgotten about and swept under the carpet once more, I don't know.
Like many reviewers, I had read some of Caroline B. Cooney's books in my early teens. I think that was one of the reasons that I decided to read this one, but I don't know if you should necessarily go into it expecting similar, this is very much for an older reader. Either way, I really enjoyed it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

View all my reviews