Laura Powell has written a cathartic novel in THE UNFORGOTTEN; a book to make one think of decisions and their potential impact on the lives of others. The story stars 15-year-old Betty Broadbent who lives with her erratic mother who manages Hotel Eden, a boarding house in the small Cornish town of St Steele. Betty's mother wants her to marry the son of a local rich factory owner, which would improve both their lives. But Betty develops a fascination with Mr. Gallagher, a journalist who seems different from all the others: older, more serious and a bit mysterious. The journalists have descended on St Steele to write about the gruesome murders of local young women. She desperately wants to be noticed for herself, and Betty's and Mr. Gallagher's friendship grows to include more secretive and illicit meetings. Yet suspicions of the reclusive Gallagher, about whom we know little, linger as one must remember, a murderer is still loose.

The tale takes place in two timelines with the murders in St Steele happening in 1956. The second piece of the story takes place 50 years later with Mary Sugden playing the lead role although both narratives revolve around the murders in St Steele and the butcher, Mr. Forbes, accused of them.

Powell's novel is a mystery but not in the traditional sense of the word. It's more a story of characters and events that happens to have murders at its center, and Powell does a nice job outlining events and developing her characters to emotionally involve the reader in the outcome. She seems to evoke the time period of 1956 well with all its inherent prejudices, presenting us with a realistic Cornish town during a tumultuous time. The most stirring portions of the story come across when characters must either make decisions or reflect on the decisions made, something we can all incorporate in our everyday lives. I look forward to more work from Powell.

Book Summary

Love, suspicion, and heartbreak collide in an evocative debut novel which will draw you in with clever twists and turns, and enticing secrets

It's 1956 and fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent has never left the Cornish fishing village of St Steele or ventured far beyond the walls of the boarding house run by her erratic mother. But when the London press pack descends to report on a series of gruesome murders of young women, Betty's world changes. In particular she is transfixed by mysterious and aloof reporter, Mr Gallagher.

As the death toll rises, an unlikely friendship blossoms between Betty and Gallagher. But as their bond deepens, they find themselves entangled with the murders and each is forced to make a devastating choice, one that will shape their own lives - and the life of an innocent man - forever.