Review & Blog Tour ~ Infinite Stranger by Wendy Skorupski

On a snowy February morning in 1978, eighteen-year-old Leah Cavanagh meets Brother Matthew Haddon while on a retreat with her Catholic girls’ school. The four days she spends at Greystones Abbey in the wilds of North Yorkshire will have a profound impact not only on her own life, but also on that of her single mother Molly, who never recovered from the murder of her fiancé in 1956.

Leah and Matthew start writing to each other. Soon a tentative friendship develops, with a hint of more. The longing that Leah feels is shared vicariously by Molly, who sees something of her late fiancé in a photograph that Leah shows her of the handsome young monk. When Leah leaves home to study at music college, her feelings for Matthew deepen and she has difficulty committing to other relationships.

Over the coming years Leah keeps returning to Greystones Abbey, spurred by her infatuation for Matthew. The forbidden desire between them grows in intensity with each visit, until it seems impossible that the monk’s vows of chastity will remain unbroken. Soon Leah finds herself unable to break free - neither from her controlling mother, nor her enigmatic yet tortured monk - and realizes that choices will have to be made.

I couldn't put this book down, I was very quickly drawn into the storyline and I just had to keep on reading - I knew that something had happened but I wasn't sure what and I loved how it unfolded.

Our main character is Leah and the way the book is written is in the most as if she is addressing her mother and sharing memories of them both and parts of her story that her mother wasn't aware of back to her. I really did feel for Leah as you could just tell that her mother was a hopeless romantic and instead of discouraging her crush on Brother Matthew she was encouraging it as if she wanted to live out her own romance via Leah.

I also think that we really see a journey of Leah and her growing away from her mother in the book and I just loved the writing style which included letters that were sent and received as well as dual times and people. I thought it just flowed beautifully and was very easy to follow. There is something very enchanting about the way that Wendy writes that just draws you into the book and the world of the book beautifully.

Huge Thanks to Random Things Tours & Wendy Skorupski for my place on the blog tour.