UNTYING THE KNOT Kindle Edition

This is the second novel by Linda Gillard that I have read and "House of Silence" I marked for a reread. I hope second time round I will grasp it better.However, in this novel, I laughed,cried and guffawed a great deal of the time. I loved all of the characters in this book, even rather shallow Rick, Freddie Oh and Fredrick!The characters were so well crafted; "Jesse:" Grandmother - living all her married life with a secret. "Emily:" Granddaughter - who, was to have a secret divulged to her,but, like her mother, she too is resilient and forgiving. "Mangus:" Husband & Father - a War Veteran from "The Faulkland War" and "Londonderry"`a survivor, with PTSD and mind blowing flashbacks and nightmares enough to bring him to his knees. And then there is "Fay:" (my favourite) Wife, Mother, Daughter InLaw and then some. She is a tortured soul, who is resilient and most important of all she is forgiving.Where Linda Gillard got the idea to write this book I do not know but it is fantastic. Not to be missed.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to all, but especially to men. Take your time, put it down and pick it up later - AWAYS PICK IT UP LATER. It doesn't matter how long it takes to read it, please finish it :)

Fay and Magnus Gillivray, in spite of and because of all their flaws and humanness totally captured me. Magnus Gillivary, who spent the years of his productive life working with an Explosives Ordinance Disposal team, came back from the Falklands War with PTSD.Fay had spent their entire married life wondering if the man she loved would return home alive from his periodic deployment,but she stood by her man until she could do it no more.This story has so much depth to it; a love that survives all; mental illness, even divorce. There are many turns and twists in this plot.I lost myself in the complexity of this book; I also appreciated the realistic glimpse Gillard gave into the effects of PTSD. She made it very real but did not let it totally overtake the story line. For me this was a "solid" piece of work and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a read with well-developed characters, true love, a soul searching story line and a glimpse into the destructive world of PTSD, a mental illness that overcomes a person when they have experienced too much and cannot let it go.For many years now I have thought about the people who fight for our freedom and come home mentally and physically wounded. We hear about PTSD--thank you Linda Gillard for giving us a peak into that tragic world. I will definitely be reading more of Gillard's books.

Untying the Knot is another deeply moving and skilfully executed novel by Linda Gillard. I am totally in awe of this author. Once again, she had me committed to her characters and caught up in their lives from the first few pages, then weeping for joy at the end.Essentially, this novel is about the hidden cost of war. During a war soldiers are in the public eye and in our thoughts, but afterwards, most of us think no more about those who returned and if we do, we probably consider them the lucky ones. This book rouses your empathy for those men who fought and returned, wounded not only in body, but also in spirit. Doctors can put their bodies back together relatively easily these days, but the psychological scars can continue for the rest of the men's lives. More soldiers committed suicide after than Falklands war than died during it, and Magnus, the psychologically damaged war hero in this story, has considered it.The scene where he tells his estranged wife, Fay, why he decided against suicide is one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read.Being an army wife facing long periods without your husband and never knowing if he will come back is hard enough, but Magnus's post traumatic stress disorder has had devastating effects on his family, leading to his wife's breakdown and their divorce. The story is set around the events leading up to, during and directly after a party in honour of the estranged couple's daughter's engagement. The background events are revealed in flashbacks and memories as the present day story unfolds, and the further we get into the story, the deeper and more powerful the recollections of the past become. Near the end, through Gillard's skilful writing, we experience Magnus's torment as if we were him. My desire to take this damaged man and care for him became incredibly strong, yet all romantic notions of love conquering all were cut through with the starkly illuminated reality of the stresses of life as a carer of someone with his condition.Sometimes, as Fay says, love just isn't enough. However, there is something incredibly inspiring about a love that doesn't die despite all the odds, and a man that is stubborn enough to never give it up, even when it has apparently long since flown. Magnus is that man, and no matter how close to madness he is, he is always the hero. His nobility shines through his actions and most particularly in the exquisite words of the letter to Fay, that he carried close to his heart in a waterproof bag at all times, a letter that was to be delivered to her on the occasion of his death. The scene where he reads it to her is another piece of incredibly moving writing.Books that we call literature--and without a doubt, this book deserves that label--apart from being beautifully written, illuminate our lives in some way, and this one made me realise that love is sometimes right there in front of us, solid and dependable, but hidden beneath our belief that it's gone. All we have to do is look without the baggage that caused us to believe it gone in the first place.Everyone should read this book.

Untying The Knot intrigued me early on and I was pulled into the world that the author created. This is a hard act to pull off and I knew straightaway I was in good hands. On the face of it the story is about an ex-wife, Fay and her ex-husband Magnus. In the foreword we are told what the central conflict is about. It is Fay saying: “Everyone makes mistakes, but I sometimes think I’ve made more than most. Marrying Magnus was one of them. But the biggest mistake I ever made was divorcing him." OK, I thought. It’s a romance then. Wrong.Fay was an army wife and knows that ‘standing by your man’ s what she is supposed to do, and boy, Magnus needs someone to stand by him. But. There was a war…Poor Magnus is a decorated hero, a boy soldier during the Falklands conflict of ’82, now retired, his rep made in bomb disposal which almost killed him, leaving him with the kind of PTSD that would fell most men and have them hanging themselves. Which is what I expected would be the outcome. But no. UtK was not predictable and to this reader’s jaded pallet that had really got me going.UtK is possessed of strong feelings in its central characters—not just Fay and Magnus but their daughter who is about to marry ‘the wrong man.’ And as we find out why he is wrong (no spoilers from me) Fay’s true self emerges and the story unfolds like a flower.And there is a ruined castle that Magnus is restoring, A lot happens there and I began to wonder if Tullybardine Tower was a character in itself, with elements almost of magic. The pile of stones is old and when I heard the legend of the fair 16th C highborn lady who had thrown herself off its crenulated battlements being in love with a gypsy rover, I felt a fairytale quality enter the story. There is even a touch of magic towards the end (again, no spoilers).There are family and personal secrets that unfold slowly, and it is clear that no one is quite what they seem—and I love that in a story. The tale becomes what you could call multifaceted and it dawned on me slowly that the author, Linda Gillard, had written a kind of ‘mixed genre’ novel—a lot like life itself, a tad messy with no neat stereotypes in character or plot.It’s a women’s book with generally good, strong, loving women in all the main roles and men just a bit damaged, unreliable or shifty. So what? It ends well with a great close.All in all it was a terrific read. My wife knew it had engaged me, ‘Because you can’t stop talking about it,’ as she tried to ignore my interruptions.I can’t wait to read more by this author.

I have never read anything by this author and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this book as it's not usually my genre as I prefer my books to be gritty, passionate and with lots of angst. This book had some of that but it wasn't passionate enough for me. The ending was a bit disappointing as I felt it finished too quickly after Magnus was rescued by Fay. I would definitely have liked a longer epilogue and more dialogue at the end as quite a few important events took place in the family at the end as there was no real explanation in the epilogue as to how they were going to move forward together so more detail was needed. However, I did mostly enjoy this story set in Scotland about Magnus and his ex wife Fay and how it kept you guessing as to what was going to happen next. Magnus suffers from PTSD after being a bomb disposal expert for many years. He has now left the army but it still has far reaching problems for him which affect both him and his family. Fay tries to be the supportive wife she wishes she could be but it's hard when Magnus wakes up screaming in the night and still imagines he's under fire when the PTSD gets really bad and she knows he will never be completely well again. So after Fay has her own mini breakdown her and Magnus both agree they should part ways. Although they never really stop loving each other. There are lots of twists and turns and things you don't expect in this story which kept me interested and his mother Jessie also has a secret she's hiding but I think I would have liked more dialogue generally in the story. A tender love story with some humour thrown in and some unexpected happenings.

This story is a wonderful example of the time and effort Ms Gillard spends on her research to bring her characters fully alive for her readers. This story is shockingly similar to life and yet again my kindle copy is full of colourful highlighted text. Ms Gillard has told another outstanding story with her usual insightful and philosophical way, which, has left me tearful and grateful to have read something that closely resembles real life. Again, I learnt a lot from this wonderful book. I gained invaluable insight and understanding of my situation and helped me come to terms with a glaring issue in my own life. I experienced some profound epiphanies when the proverbial penny finally dropped! This book brought me closure. Bravo Ms Gillard, you have done it again. May you live long and prosper.

With her customary skill and sensitivity Linda Gillard interweaves a passionate love story with an unflinching description of the damage inflicted by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and along the way treats us to some wonderful scenes of high comedy. There are family secrets, a restored Perthshire tower house and an absolutely nail-biting climax. What more could you ask for?

This is my 3rd book by Linda Gillard, and once again it is a triumph! Linda excels at creating a world and characters that draw you in so thoroughly you don't feel like you are reading a book, you are immersed in their lives, it's not a character, it's a friend telling you their story!Once again, it's an entirely different type of book than her others too, you certainly can't fit Linda in a box, but I think that's where her strengths lie!And also, once again, an entirely different hero to those we've had before! In House of Silence I was attracted to Marek straight away, and that attraction grew as the story progressed, in Star Gazing's Keir, I fell in love at first sight like a star struck teenager, but with Untying the Knot, I was drawn to Magnus, I was intrigued by this interesting and damaged man, and initially wanted to know more of him, before ultimately wanting to be there for him, to try and heal him in some way, almost maternally! At the same time, rooting for him and Fay to sort themselves out!I was completely gripped by the story, so much so I very much begrudged the arrival of 3 o'clock, school run time, and had to tear myself away to go fetch my son, and was back into it as soon as I could on my return!Highly recommend this one, it will stay with me for a very long time! My only gripe was it ended far too soon!!