Review: The Affair by Amanda Brooke

A shocking story about a fifteen-year-old girl and the man who took advantage of her
“You might as well know from the start, I’m not going to tell on him and I don’t care how much trouble I get in. It’s not like it could get any worse than it already is.
I can’t. Don’t ask me why, I just can’t.”

When Nina finds out that her fifteen-year-old daughter, Scarlett, is pregnant, her world falls apart.

Because Scarlet won’t tell anyone who the father is. And Nina is scared that the answer will destroy everything.

As the suspects mount – from Scarlett’s teacher to Nina’s new husband of less than a year – Nina searches for the truth: no matter what the cost.

Shona's review 5 of 5 stars

This isn't the first time I've read a book written by Brooke so I knew going in that this was going to be a good, I just wasn't prepared for just how gripping it was going to be. From the very first few pages I was utterly hooked. So much so that I devoured this book in just one day. It's been a while since I've done that,

The tale begins with Nina (the mother) trying to come to terms with the shock that not only is her fifteen year old daughter pregnant, but that she cant tell her who the father of the baby is until he has told his wife. From here on out the tale unfolds in multiple female POV's which are set before and after Scarlett's announcement. Given who the narrators of the story were I felt that it was fairly easy to guess the father of the baby right from the beginning, but Brooke hasn't made it that easy for us. There was never a clear line of sight, lines were blurred, red herrings thrown in, crossing of paths to make us think that someone else may actually be the guilty party. So much so that I was literally second guessing myself right up until the big reveal.

The story isn't just about who Scarlett has been sleeping with, and whether or not a crime has been committed. Accusations get thrown about all over the place in the beginning and to be honest its easy to see why certain people may have been suspected, especially when Scarlett could have been a little more forthcoming about who it wasn't, but her refusal to do even that literally rips not one, but two families apart. And it's about how those families come back from that.