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The String Games Paperback – May 28, 2019

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

When four-year-old Josh is abducted and murdered during a family holiday in France, Nim, aged ten, becomes an only child. To cope with the tragedy, Nim reinvents herself but continues to carry a burden of unresolved grief. As an adult she returns to France determined to find out more about the circumstances of Josh’s death. How will she deal with this new information and what are the implications for her future?
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Victorina Press (May 28, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 324 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 199961951X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1999619510
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.11 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the author

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Gail Aldwin
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Novelist, poet and scriptwriter, Gail Aldwin has been writing for over a decade. Her first two coming-of-age novels were runners-up in the Dorchester Literary Festival Writing Prize 2020 and 2022. Gail was awarded a creative writing PhD in 2018 and still laughs whenever she’s called Doctor. She has appeared at Bridport Literary Festival, Stockholm Writers Festival and the Mani Lit Fest in Greece. Her psychological suspense mystery The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell is published by Bloodhound Books. Gail splits her time between a tiny flat in South West London and a home overlooking water meadows in Dorset. Gail loves to connect on social media.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gailaldwin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gailaldwinwriter/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gailfaldwin/

Blog: https://gailaldwin.com

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
19 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2023
    Picked this book up used in England to read on the 6-hr flight home and LOVED it! Upon completion I turned to my husband in tears, practically sobbing, embarrassed to be in pseudo-public. Whew! Tough topic but NOT a horrible ending. A beautiful ending. The perfect ending. Better than I imagined was coming. Lovely!!!! Life is full of suffering, but sometimes things fall back together again.
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2019
    The String Games is an exciting and original mystery/suspense read, and I’m going to do my best to avoid spoilers because this one is too much fun!

    Nim and her brother, Josh, are ten and four when they travel with their family to France on holiday. Josh is kidnapped and murdered, and now Nim is an only child.

    Understandably, Nim carries a heavy burden of grief for her childhood and long into adulthood. She returns to France to learn more about what happened to her brother.

    But now she has to grapple with how to handle what she learns.

    This book has the most creative title with multiples meanings. I think the author did an amazing job with her portrayal of Nim’s grief. It was done sensitively and honestly.

    Nim has a long road to travel through grief and loss, and it’s uniquely her own. Her story is relatable and well-written. The author showed keen insight into the family dynamic after a loss such as this. I’m so grateful for my time spent holding this moving and poignant book.

    I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2019
    The loss of a child is every family's nightmare. The String Games is tough subject matter handled with sensitivity and grace by an extremely talented writer. Told through the eyes of Josh's older sister, Nim (later Imogen), the author skillfully chooses her words and then makes each and every one of them count. The writing is taut, the story well crafted, and the three sections representing three stages in the life of Nim/Imogen do a perfect job of letting the reader experience firsthand the effects of the tragedy. I was drawn into The String Games from page one and didn't want to put it down. At the end, I held the book in my hands knowing I'd just experienced something unique, one of the best novels I'd read in ages. Highly recommended.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • AliB
    5.0 out of 5 stars Impeccably imagined debut
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2019
    Nim is 10 when her brother goes missing on a holiday in France and she is consumed by guilt throughour her teenage years. Lonely and self-conscious, unable to communicate with her mother, she very nearly goes badly 'off the rails'. But this is a book which avoids the obvious. Instead of dwelling on the details of what happened to Josh (revealed almost in an aside) or throwing Nim into something worse than what did happen with the older boy, we follow Nim through her internal struggles to form meaningful relationships and find an identity. A delicately handled and impressive debut novel.
  • CassieW
    4.0 out of 5 stars An intricately woven story
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2020
    Gail Aldwin has woven a compelling story, seen through the eyes of a young girl, Nim, who loses her little brother on a family holiday. It shows how the untimely loss of a family member has deep repurcussions, not just on the immediate family. We next see Nim as a troubled teenager and then as a young woman. At times I couldn't put this book down and at the end we see there is some closure for Nim on what happened to her brother. There is also hope for a happier future.
  • Denise Barnes
    5.0 out of 5 stars Deighted from Tunbridge Wells!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2019
    A coming-of-age story narrated by a troubled teenage girl called Nim who nurses a deep guilt about the disappearance of her brother, Josh.I wouldn’t normally read a book in this genre as I like happy endings, but I was strongly recommended to try it. I’m glad I did! I feel I know Nim and her sparring parents extremely well, and Nim’s questionable friends, as she tries to uncover the mystery of Josh’s disappearance. I really enjoyed this clever portrayal of Nim from child to teenager to adult. By the way the ending is exactly right and immensely satisfying. Well done, Ms Aldwin. I very much look forward to your next book.
  • jane_marchment@yahoo.co.uk
    4.0 out of 5 stars A polished and deeply human debut novel.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 30, 2019
    Once I started this book I felt compelled to keep reading. I found I really cared about Nim and her trajectory through a heartbreaking trauma at a pivotal time in her life, through the vulnerabilities created in her because of this trauma, and finally, through her own courage, finding peace with her past. The vivid imagery, from the start, creates memories in the reader long after the novel is finished.
  • S. E. Tinsley
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2021
    Right from the off I was drawn into this story of complex family relationships and tragedy. It's all done with a very light touch, and I was taken back to childhood times with her sensitive framing of the narrative through the eyes of a young girl who grows throughout the book. Well worth a read.