BOOK CLUB: The Book of Dreams

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Author: Nina George
ISBN: 9781471182976
RRP: $29.99
Publication Date: April 2019
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher

The Book of Dreams is the latest release by Nina George, author of the international bestselling The Little Paris Bookshop. I was interested just by looking at the striking cover, before I even discovered what the book was about.

This is a book that promises an emotional and thoughtful read, I look forward to hearing what our members thought.

Publisher’s Website Overview:

On his way to meet his son for the first time, hardened former war correspondent Henry Skinner is hit by a car after rescuing a child from drowning. He is rushed to hospital where he floats, comatose, between dreams, reliving the fairytales of his childhood and the secrets that made him run away in the first place.

His son, Sam, a thirteen-year old synesthete with an IQ of 144, waits at his father’s bedside. There he meets Eddie Tomlin, a woman forced to confront her love for Henri after all these years, and twelve-year old Madelyn Zeidler, another coma patient and the sole survivor of an accident that killed her family.

A heartbreakingly moving and unforgettable story about what love means – the exquisite stirrings of first love, the love between fathers and sons, friendship and family, life and death – and making peace with the past in order to find a future.

The Book of Dreams is published by Simon & Schuster and is available now where all good books are sold.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster 10 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading The Book of Dreams and I can’t wait to hear what our readers thought.

10 thoughts on “BOOK CLUB: The Book of Dreams

  1. Life is really like a journey and sometimes you have no control on what is about to happen. Your life can change in an instant.

    Henri Skinner was in a jovial mood this particular day as he was on his way to meet up with his 13 year old son who had been estranged from him since birth. His son Sam had written him a letter to invite him to a Father’s and Son’s Day. Sam would wait for him outside as they had no idea of how one looked. On his way, he actually rescues a child from drowning and then he is in a serious accident with a car which leaves him in a coma.

    The story revolves around Henri in a coma and a past ex lover called Eddie being by his side. Sam is also at the hospital and he becomes friends with Eddie due to their close connection with his dad. They keep a strong vigil around his bed.

    It’s not hard to warm to Henri because we learn that he is a war correspondent and gave it away for family reasons. He blames himself for his own dad’s demise after he died in a boating accident. Henri feels that he tried to hold his hand to keep him afloat but he just had to let go.

    Throughout the novel, we also learn about another comatosed patient called Madeline (Maddie for short). Maddie is 11 years old and was in a terrible accident killing all of her family. Here she lies with no family members supporting her. Sam befriends Maddie even though she is in a coma also but he wants to find out more about her so that he can hopefully help her come out of the coma. He has no idea what her interests are or even what foods she loves. With Eddie’s help, they will delve into the life of Maddie.

    Henri although in a coma, talks throughout the book on his life and his regrets on love, family. He relives days with his own mum and dad, his actions on what he should or shouldn’t have said and the what ifs in his life. Although in the coma, Henri states that he is aware that Eddie & Sam are beside with him but he can’t communicate to tell them.

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and there were times that I shed tears as it does become an emotional read of life and death. Even while typing this out, I find tears forming as for me, it really tugged at my heartstrings.

    Noone really knows what a comatosed person actually feels and we can only believe what we want to know. I’ve been in that situation and for me, I feel as if they can hear you but they just can’t respond to you. It would be hard being the one in the coma and knowing that you can hear what others are saying but can’t respond.

    To Nina George, I absolutely loved this book and reading your Afterword and Thanks about your feelings on your own dad touched my heart. Your words for your dad were as if I were writing them. I never thought I would survive without my dad but somewhere a strength does reach you. You do survive but your heart is always with them.

    Thank you to Beauty & Lace and Simon and Schuster. Another beautifully written, brillant and emotional read.

  2. The book of dreams was a really thought provoking read. Sam’s estranged father rescues a child from drowning only to be hit by a car and being put into a coma. The story follows Sam as he tries connecting with his father and the people he’s drawn to along the way. The thought provoking elements for me were the ways the authors explores what happens to comatose people and where if anywhere they go and the difficulties in coming back. I also loved the missed chance love story and while the ending wasn’t what I was expecting, was all the more powerful for it. Would recommend to fans of contemporary fiction and romance.

    Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Scribner for the opportunity to review.

  3. After reading other peoples reviews who clearly enjoyed the story im sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy it at all, I felt it was to slow to start and quite in depth later on, a bit too in depth for my liking and reading it became a chore, not an enjoyment

    It was very thought provoking but I really love romance novels and I found that there just want enough romance in it to keep me interested

  4. I was in a coma once for a couple of days, and I certainly didn’t have anything like the experiences in this book. Goodness me. Henry Skinner is in a coma for most of the book, after saving a child from drowning while on the way to see his son Sam, now 13, whom he hasn’t seen for years. He is a hero, and it seems like he’s only just starting to make sense of his life, but now his life hangs in the balance. Poor Sam. His father’s in the ‘veg ward’ (I can’t believe they call it that!) and Sam finds himself compelled to visit him daily, desperate for him to come out of the coma and simply be his dad. Henry’s former lover Eddie also visits daily, still desperately in love with Henry although she has someone else who loves her and wants to marry her. A bit of a human mess. The boy Sam himself is unusual. He has a genius IQ and is a synesthete: someone who experiences letters and numbers as colours, and can have a sixth sense about people and their emotions and also see those in colours. ‘The Book of Dreams’ has an almost ethereal tone to it at times, slipping as it does into the dreams Henry and Madelyn (another patient) have in their comas: a parallel reality between heaven and earth. Nina George says she’s written about fear and transience in life, and the book hovers between life and death as Ninda George ponders mortality. An unusual and rather graceful read, with an ending that is also most unusual. Thanks to Beauty & Lace Book Club and Simon & Schuster Australia for the reading copy.

  5. The Book of Dreams is every bit as intriguing and thought provoking as the name (and beautiful cover) implies. A delicate exploration of what lies between life and death combined with a touch of romance and an array of interesting characters. Certainly not fast paced, the somewhat languid narrative in part reflects the long hours of waiting and hoping visitors to the ward must endure. It is contemplative and almost meditative in nature, and alternates between the past and present experienced predominantly by Henri, Sam and Eddie.

    A deeply soulful read, I would definitely recommend Nina George’s Book of Dreams if you are looking for something a bit different and perhaps more challenging.

  6. Thought-provoking and beautifully written, The Book of Dreams started off slow for me and I realised it would be one of those stories best savoured over time to enjoy and reflect on the lyrical prose. Focusing on life, death and what exists in between it is a soulful and emotional read as you discover the characters’ hopes, dreams and sorrows and reflect on the meaning of dreams and what happens in the after-life. Being the first book I have read of Nina George, I would love to read her other novels.

    Thank you Beauty and Lace and Simon and Schuster for providing a copy for review.

  7. The number 8 is forever yellow.
    To live life relating colours to things is a very intriguing insight into The way some people live.
    This story is insightful and compelling in that looks into lives as we may never really relate but it also touches on some sensitive but thought provoking processes of the human mind and body.
    We never truely know someone. And sometimes we never truely know ourselves.

  8. The Book Of Dreams by Nina George was a very different kind of read than I am used to but, definitely not in a bad way. I thoroughly enjoyed this thought provoking novel as I have often wondered what happens to a comatose person. Can they feel and hear those around them or are they simply floating in a state of nothingness, totally unaware of anyone or anything around them.? This book offered an insight into this idea.

    It was the cover and the title that initially attracted me to this book and I’m glad it did as I was not disappointed. i would definitely recommend this book ad am looking forward to reading Nina George’s other novels which I have heard of but never actually read.
    Thank you Beauty and Lace and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review this amazing book.

  9. I was really keen to read this book based on the blurb but I have to admit I didn’t enjoy it that much. The story was quite slow, I felt it dragged on a lot and included a lot that wasn’t very relevant to the story. At times there were sections that were descriptive and imaginative that made me think they were surreal like dreams which I think was the point, but I also couldn’t understand what was going on in some of these because of this.

    While I did like the overall storyline and characters and I enjoy books that are full of imagination, I found this one was hard to read as to me it was a bit unbelievable, yet not so much so that I could enjoy it as a fictional world. The situations relate to death so are quite real and confronting, yet the story balances on the edge of what is real and the unknown.

    I was however glad that I pushed through and read to the end of the book as the ending was very moving and I couldn’t stop myself from shedding tears as I read it. It’s a thought provoking read particularly towards the end, and I think it was kind of an almost happy ending despite being so tainted with sadness.

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