‘One last touch, one last word, one last I love you…’ Fifteen Minutes – the new novella from Amanda Prowse that will take you on the wildest emotional adventure.

It gets us all in the end, time.

What if I told you that time was not as unyielding as you might have believed? What if I told you it was in fact a fluid, bendable thing and that there are gaps in it, if you know where to look.

Interested? You should be.

What if I told you that the makers of time made a small error, an oversight if you will that allows us to give time back.

Fifteen minutes to be precise – gifted to the most deserving, where they get to spend precious time with someone they have lost.

A chance to right a wrong, ask that burning question or maybe just be held, one last time…

I guess the question is, who would you choose or more importantly when?

My Review

I asked my husband if he had ‘fifteen minutes’, who would he choose to talk to. He said his father. I was very surprised. I won’t say why I was surprised at his choice or his reasons. I would probably choose my own father as well, but for very different reasons.

This all set up a discussion with other relatives at dinner. The father (again) who never got to meet his great-grandchildren. Could fifteen minutes be all it would take to tell him who or what might be coming in the future? And that unanswered question – how did they get their furniture up the fire escape to their new flat? All the things you wish you had asked before it was too late.

Fifteen Minutes is not my usual genre these days, but I really enjoyed this. It’s interesting to see who people would choose. I was very pleased at the end that the author recaps the various characters and tells us what happened to them afterwards, as it would have felt incomplete without it.

I don’t want to go into too much detail as that would spoil it for others, but basically six people at various stages of their lives are visited by the mysterious Chen who tells them he can give them each fifteen minutes with a loved one who has passed. He also says, “I promise you that I have never and will never tell you a lie.” But the one proviso is that they must NOT try to change the outcome as it has already happened. If they do, the person will immediately disappear and their fifteen minutes will be cut short.

They are of course all sceptical but still find themselves in the right spot at the right time, just in case it’s true. Chen has chosen those who – like many of us – never got the chance to say goodbye, or tell that person they loved them, or ask them something really important. The one about the baby was the one I found the most heartbreaking.

I have never read anything by this author before, but it’s beautifully written, and packs a lot of emotion into what is actually a short novella.

Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of the #FifteenMinutes tour.

From the Author

“Hi, I’m Amanda Prowse.

“If you love relatable, emotionally driven, character-led fiction that shines a light on family life and the trials and tribulations that affect us all, then you’re in the right place.

“My name is Amanda Prowse. Now nearly sixty, I started writing in my mid-forties. I divide my time between London, where I live by the river, and our farm in the West Country.

“I’m passionate about the representation of women. My characters range in age from six to ninety-six and come from all walks of life. The women in my stories face adversity head-on. They grab opportunities with both hands and run towards the horizon, often with a large dollop of humour.

“My stories sometimes punch you in the gut with their realism, but they also leave you with a glimmer of hope and the reassurance that you are not alone. They are tales that will make you ugly cry and laugh out loud, sometimes on the very same page.

“I’ve sold millions of books, translated into dozens of languages around the world. Described by the Daily Mail as “the queen of family drama,” my novels have won awards, including the coveted Sainsbury’s eBook of the Year Award. Two of my books have also been selected as World Book Night titles: Perfect Daughter in 2016 and The Boy Between (co-written with my son, Josiah Hartley) in 2022.

“I’m a huge supporter of libraries and a proud ambassador for The Reading Agency. My ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning off the bedside lamp at night, with characters you walk alongside every step of the way, and narratives that stay with you long after the final page.

“I’m also a passionate advocate for ageing naturally and gratefully. Every wrinkle, every line, every blemish on my face is a badge of honour, a reminder of what a gift ageing truly is. This forms part of my wider belief that when women support women, magical things can happen.

“When the time comes, this is what I’d like written on my headstone:
“Wrote great stories, made a cracking roast potato…”
What more could I ask for?”

Handles/Tags
Instagram 
@MrsAmandaProwse
@lovebookstours
@LBT.Crew
#Ad #LBTCrew #Bookstagram #FreeBookReview

X (Twitter)
@lovebookstours 
Ad #LBTCrew #Booktwitter #FreeBookReview

Threads
@lovebookstours   

Facebook
@lovebookstours 

TikTok
@lovebookstours