Forgive Me

by Amanda Eyre Ward

Nadine Morgan is one of the most unlikeable protagonists ever. She is stubborn, driven, selfish and fiercely independent. Few writers could succeed in making her sympathetic to readers. Luckilly, Ward is one writer with the ability to create complex and realistic characters with both good and bad qualities. Nadine may be all of those adjectives listed above, but she is also strong, intelligent, and fearless. This novel centers on Nadine, a 35 year old journalist who left a normal life on idyllic Cape Cod to travel the globe, writing about the injustices and atrocities she witnesses. Nadine's assignments take her to the places most of us would never go because they scare us. Places like South Africa, where she lost the love of her life, and Mexico City, where she is attacked by a group of men and left in a ditch to die.

After the beating, Nadine returns to the quiet of the Cape to recover, but soon she is yearning for the next big story like a drug addict in search of her next fix. She is desperate to escape her hometown, where her memories are filled with loss and sadness. Nadine's attractive doctor convinces her to rest at his Nantucket home for a few days and just as they are becoming more than friends, she leaves unexpectedly. Nadine has been chasing a story back in South Africa about an American student named Jason Irving who was murdered during the height of the apartheid era a few years ago. Now his killers are seeking amnesty and his parents are torn between closure and revenge. Nadine also finds herself torn between continuing her dangerous lifestyle and giving it all up for something more. A compelling and clever story about the power of forgiving others and also in forgiving yourself. Also recommend Ward's previous book How to Be Lost.