The Marble Collector by Cecelia Ahern

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Marble Collector has two protagonists. Sabrina Boggs – an only daughter to estranged parents, in her early thirties, a mother with three sons and going through a tense marriage at the moment – albeit a loving husband. Perhaps she is going through some midlife crisis, perhaps trying to find an ‘adventure’ after going through this current life on a daily basis. it sort of grasp you when the novel starts with Sabrina trying to save someone at the common swimming pool she works as a lifeguard, only to realise the person didnt need saving, but realising perhaps she is the one who needed saving. Sabrina is also taking care of her father who is currently at a home recovering from stroke and memory loss.

So this is where the book inter changes, between Sabrina and Fergus Boggs. so it is interesting because we rarely see novels that tries to address the father-daughter relationship. and what will be at the heart of the story are boxes of marbles, which, to me, is quite new and interesting because i realise there is a thriving world of marbles made of glass, swirls and bloodies even olympics so to speak.

Fergus story will bring you back to the past of his childhood and the double life he lead before the stroke. it is quite heartrending because we are following this old man’s train of thoughts and memories because on a current life, he is struggling to remember. and Sabrina is struggling to relearn and connect to her father, whom she thought she knew all her life, but eventually, as she found out, leading another life which she was not a part of. and that knowledge kind of hurts, i bet, because i have the impression that Sabrina is close to her father.

i think the idea of the book is to get Sabrina finds herself through finding her father’s past, the double and new life he had after being divorced from her mother. but i guess i understood that the story is focused on her father, the main character.

i guess the book is good enough to keep me going and continue reading. i am a fan of cecelia ahern but lately her books doesnt give me that reading satisfaction. luckily the marble collector gives me a bit of that rush. it has humour and sometimes touched the heart because i feel for the character Sabrina Boggs and her need to reconnect with her father who is losing some memories. and i also feel for Fergus Boggs, his childhood memories, his ‘difficult’ life and pleasently surprised when i found out his relationship with Cat. But mostly, i am endeared by the close bond and relationship that Fergus have with his brothers, especially so with the late eldest brother, Hamish who throughout the story, is like a living ghost. rarely mentioned but there all the same because eventually it was Hamish who made Fergus who he is.

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