A Review: Clap When You Land

When I first saw the title of this book I thought “finally, someone who thinks like me!”
I am that cringe person who bursts into applause every-time a flight I am on lands safely on the tarmac, much to the the horror of my travel companion and anyone who happens to be in earshot. The title of this book, along with the brightly coloured covered may fool you into thinking that this is a joyful story. A story filled with light and laughter, and whilst on one hand it is. It is also a heartbreaking tale.

The loss of a parent is one of the single most heart-breaking things that a human being will go through, it is something that most of us will experience at some point in our lives. But what do you do when you father is taken too soon? But not only that, what do you do when his death unearths earth shattering secrets?

Told from the perspective of two daughters who never met. What do you do when your dad has left you in a country to fend for yourself, visiting once a year, whilst living the rest of the time with his ‘real’ family?

Whilst we never really know our parents and most of us struggle to see them as actual human beings, with secrets and lives outside of the family unit they created. This book asks the questions that some will never have to answer, and for others; the questions that that have plagued them for their entire lives. Who are the people who raised me?
I am from a second-marriage family. I am part of my dads second shot at family life and I have never met the kids he had before me, the wife he left all those years ago. So this book hits home in a way that feels excellently constructed by the author, Elizabeth. This book had me in my feelings from the jump because the story feels a little familiar. If not nearly as interesting as the novel at hand.

A few words to close? Brilliant. Filled with love and grief and keeps the suspense level high whilst delivering a compelling read. More than deserving of a solid 4.5worms out of 5.