The Man in the #Needlecordjacket by Linda MacDonald #Blogtour and #Review

Blog Tour and Review – The Man in the Needlecord jacket – Linda MacDonald

My thanks go to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for this new novel.

Here are my thoughts after reading it…

All the lead characters in this book are the same side of 50 as me, making it hold great appeal. They are all also putting behind them failed relationships and trying to build new ones and galloping towards old age with dread and disbelief (well I know how that feels!).

The eponymous Man in the Needlecord jacket is Coll, an artist, self-centred and in my eyes a dislikeable arrogant absolute prat. We view him through the eyes of 2 of the women in his life. Sarah, who was widowed young and has been developing a long term relationship with Coll over quite a few years. It’s rapidly apparent that her self-esteem is low and no wonder, she is involved with this revolting man who sneakily manipulates and undermines her, so she is barely aware he is doing it. She loves this deeply unlovable guy, but is this reciprocated?

Coll is a flirty, womanising divorcee, he gathers admiring women to stroke his fractured ego. When he meets Felicity a slightly flighty restauranteur also recently separated and in the midst of great upheaval in her life, the last thing she needs is another complication but it arrives, nevertheless, in the form of Coll who develops an obsession with her and seeks to woo her in his own peculiar way.

The story flows well and drags you into the lives of these disparate characters who are all quite deeply flawed, which gives them great depth whilst making them real and believable, but this also created a difficulty to build empathy with any of them. I was constantly thinking “I’m glad I’m not her” about all of the women, even the sub characters, Marianne Fanclub to name just one, and “I’m glad I don’t know him” about the men!!

But people aren’t perfect and lives even less so, and it would seem that even the people we could most envy, harbour the deepest fears and insecurities. The book focusses on the mental and emotional aspects of why people do things and the long term results of events out of our control and within it but along badly chosen paths.

This is an emotional and engaging read, well angled towards the more mature reader and tackles emotional abuse and coping with loss and broken relationships.

It is part of a series of books by Linda MacDonald, but can be read as a stand alone, though if you intend to read them all getting them in the right order would be the best approach as the characters in this book are featured in her others.

You can find out more about the series by visiting Linda’s Amazon page  where you can also order this book and her other titles.