Chasing the Traveller by Alex Kane

Chasing the Traveller by Alex Kane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 222

Publisher - Indie

Source - ARC (author)

Blurb from Goodreads

Kat is trapped in a world where she has never belonged. As a traveller, she has always felt lost, especially since the death of her parents in a fire when she was fourteen years old. Having been taken on by the Denton family as their own, Kat falls in love with their son, tearaway Jimmy. His charm soon wears off and Kat finds herself married to a controlling and violent thug.

Sixteen years later, Kat decides enough is enough and begins plotting her escape from a lifetime of abuse.

Stripped of her personality, Kat has no idea how to start again but she finds an unlikely ally in her sister-in-law Ellie who shows Kat that she is not alone.

Kat and Ellie Denton begin their venture into a new world, where they meet new people and build new lives. But Kat still wants to know more about her parents’ past and when she seeks the location of an address on the back of a family photograph, Kat begins to uncover more than she expected including a revelation that will lead Kat back to the traveller site she had been so desperate to escape from.

Will she find the answers she is looking for, or will she fall prey to the violent Jimmy Denton once more?


My Review

Kat Denton is battered, abused, treated like an animal and has nowhere to turn to in her travelling community. Finding herself in a situation that changes everything and forms an unlikely alliance with Ellie, her sister in law, Kat takes the plunge and runs from her abusive husband. This is their story, by escaping Kat and Ellie find themselves on a journey of self discovery, healing, hope and that you cannot outrun your past.

I have bought a few of this authors work when writing under Emma Clapperton but had yet to read them. This is a genre switch and my first dance with this author, the story is both very dark and filled with hope. The start of the story sees Kat being horrifically abused by her husband, violence, rape, emotional abuse and manipulation which makes for hard reading at parts. It is very real to life in parts and I think anyone who has experienced such trauma(s) may find a very emotive response. Passages like this in fiction is really a testament to the authors writing skills and much of the book is not like this, however I feel it needed comment on.

I thought the story was going to be lots of violence and suspense, in actual fact a lot of the focus was about rebuilding a life, acceptance, self discover, survival and recovery. Trust and learning how to assess, accept and recover from emotional manipulation, we follow Kat's very personal journey. It also has danger looming on the edges as Kat and Ellie are on the run from Kat's husband who we know could appear anywhere. The book is a very different read than what I expected and depending on the readers background and life experiences I think it will strike very emotive responses.

Human beings are amazing in what they can endure, survive and cope and whilst this is a work of fiction I think many will be able to relate to it from very real experiences. The book tackles relationships, roles, abuse, family, friendship, love, actions and consequences it also has a sense of danger, survival and the old you cannot run from your past. It is a busy wee book and had time permitted I would have read it in one sitting. 4/5 for me, at time of posting the ebook is available for pre order for 99p. I think I will need to bump the authors other works up my TBRM mountain, this may have been my first dance with this author, it won't be my last!

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