The First Time Laura Pailing Died by Alyson Rudd

The First Time Lauren Pailing Died by Alyson Rudd
Published in: 2019
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★★]

This ARC was provided by HQ (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Lauren Pailing is born in the sixties, and a child of the seventies. She is thirteen years old the first time she dies.

Lauren Pailing is a teenager in the eighties, becomes a Londoner in the nineties. And each time she dies, new lives begin for the people who loved her – while Lauren enters a brand new life, too.

But in each of Lauren’s lives, a man called Peter Stanning disappears. And, in each of her lives, Lauren sets out to find him.

And so it is that every ending is also a beginning. And so it is that, with each new beginning, Peter Stanning inches closer to finally being found…

Book Worm’s Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book that explores the many worlds theory of physics, it examines what it could mean if instead of dying a person could move into another similar but different world where they already have a life.

As a child Lauren has been able to see into other worlds through beams like beams of sunlight that only she can see. Lauren learns that to touch the beam causes her pain and confusion but she is often unable to resist looking inside. What she sees are glimmers of the past and future but not in her current world in other worlds.

Once Lauren dies in world one the reader is plunged into several new story arcs. We follow what happens to her family in world one after her death, what happens to Lauren in her world two and then we branch out into other worlds where the only constants are that Lauren exists and that Peter Stanning disappears.

This is not a fast paced book it is more a study of how people react to grief and the loss of a child. It’s about moving on, about finding closure and about realising there are many possible ways to live your life.

Who would like this? I would recommend this to any one who loves a quirky story and doesn’t mind their heartstrings being pulled.

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