Without You by Saskia Sarginson

It’s very unusual for me to walk into a book shop, pick up the first book I see and end up buying it, but somehow that’s what happened with this one. I’m not sure what attracted me to it as I’d never heard of the author and the title and cover picture weren’t exactly intriguing, but after reading the blurb on the back I kept it in my hand during my A-Z journey of the fiction section of Waterstones and started reading it as soon as I got home.

Set in Suffolk in 1984, seventeen year old Eva and her father Max share a passion for sailing. Experts at navigating the waves, as they set out on yet another sail around the bay neither of them could guess that it would end with one of them drowning, but unfortunately as a storm takes hold and they battle against the wind, Eva is thrown overboard.

Unaware of what has happened until she wakes up in the confines of a concrete pagoda on the forbidden former military island near her home; Eva discovers that she was rescued after being washed up by Billy, a former soldier who brought her back to life. But while Billy allows her to time to recover from her ordeal, Eva soon realises that he has no intention of letting her go home when he informs her that he was told to rescue and keep hold of her by the voice of an angel.

Meanwhile back at home Max, his wife Clara and younger daughter Faith are informed by the coastguard that Eva hasn’t been found and is therefore presumed dead. With the family struggling to come to terms with this news, their relationship becomes strained and starts to crumble, but while her parents avoid each other and drift off into their own worlds, Faith refuses to believe her sister is gone and is determined to prove she is still alive.

Angry at her father after discovering a deep family secret, Eva spends her days reminiscing over memories of spending time as a family and how she and Faith would borrow a boat to explore the island on which she is now held captive. But as time goes on Eva knows that no matter how upset and angry she was with her father, she would do anything to be back with him and the family and wishes someone would come to her rescue.

As the months drag on with no news of Eva, Clara and Max make the decision to move away and start afresh much to the horror of Faith who doesn’t want to leave Eva behind, but with their mind made up Faith knows that if she is going to prove Eva is being held captive on the island, she needs to do it fast.

Intense, gripping and filled with family drama, at times this book held me so tight I couldn’t put it down, but I was very disappointed at the ending.

Reading in a Q&A that the author deliberately left the ending ambiguous, I felt this left the story hanging and not finished but despite this I found it a fascinating read and one I’m glad caught my eye during my recent shopping trip.