Page Turners – January 2024 review

The Page Turners book for January was ‘The Bullet’ by Mary Louise Kelly. This thriller was published in 2015.  It is difficult to fully share our thoughts about this book without giving away some secrets about the twists and turns of the plot. I can tell you what is already in the public domain which is that the story is of Caroline Cashion – a beautiful and intelligent professor of French literature who discovers that everything she’s known is a lie. A single bullet is found lodged at the base of her skull. It makes no sense as she has never been shot. Then, she learns that she was adopted when she was three years old, after her real parents were murdered and she was wounded by a gunshot to the neck. Surgeons had stitched her up with the bullet still there, nestled deep among vital nerves and blood vessels. As she explores her past, Caroline realises she could be in danger as her bullet could hold the key to finding the murderer.

We found this book to be a real page turner and enjoyed following Caroline as she discovers about her birth parents and what happened to them. However many of us felt that the later developments of the story were out of character and less credible. We had some interesting discussions about the impact of trauma on young children and about the nature of closure. Our reading of the book also prompted discussions about the adoption process, mental health and the death penalty. It is always a pleasure for us to  spend an afternoon together and put the world to rights.

We thoroughly recommend this book to you. A number of us have bought copies so if you would like to read it, please get in touch and swap our page turner for one of your own.