Expat by Debbie Duggan The Review

 
This is very thrilling read and is easy to get lost in. The 3 chapters are unique in that they are long but very entertaining; I found myself reading each chapter for hours engrossed in the gripping life of the main character Sophie Roberts. There is a whirlwind of emotions from start to finish as we explore her life from her children’s childhood days in England to the family’s emigration to Dubai, and then we explore the range of events and circumstances that happen in Dubai which lead to her move back to England. Sophie Roberts moves to Dubai with her two children; Nick and Tash following her husband who has been employed in Dubai, this is a scene that many women find themselves identifying with, which makes this book so delightful and inspirational to its readers.

Her husband Roderick (Rick) is portrayed as a bad character throughout the book with his womanising ways, we soon learn that he has moved in with his air hostess mistress while Sophie stays in the villa keeping up appearances.The family of Sophie has always been divided since Rick and the daughter Tash were close, and Sophie and Nick identified with each other more since Nick could not identify with his father’s ways. I was very pleased to read that after Tash learns that her father has been having an affair for some time in  Dubai that she then sides with Sophie in a protest against the Father’ s choices. This is because in the beginning I felt a sense of empathy towards Sophie as she has been left by her husband and her children have by this time gone back to the UK to study. It is a great to hear of things that start to go well for our main character.

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SEE ALSO: Local Authors from Dubai

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Sophie resides in a glorious villa with a glamorous and beautiful neighbour who is very interesting because she has an air of mystery surrounding her and I could not wait to find out her story which is revealed gradually throughout the book. In the first instance I developed a feeling of resentment towards this neighbour Natasha, when I read that her son was left alone all day while she slept, he come across as being a lonely boy with just his dog and the Maid for company. However As we learn more about her she is less of an ogre and more of a hero.

The friendship between Sophie and Natasha has a feel good factor to it because the two characters offer each other a great deal in terms of friendship; Natasha shows Sophie a new perception of life which lifts her spirit and Sophie offers Natasha a genuine female companionship that she seems to be missing because of her cold demeanour. Natasha is a very wealthy character but to where she obtains this wealth remains a mystery. She gives some wonderful gifts to Sophie and even buys her house for her when n Sophie’s cheating husband decides that he can no longer afford to keep it.

Sophie works for a magazine in Dubai which does not pay well but the goings on in the work place make a very interesting read especially the antics of her colleague Shazza who is a very colourful character, and along with the description of the other characters, her days in the office come across as being very entertaining at the hands of the diverse people that she works with.

Jason Knight is an attractive teacher who gives poor Sophie all the signs of interest and even has a brief encounter with one night at an evening out. He then does not keep his word and call her again so she is left feeling upset about this. After some time we do however see some light come to this romance.

Continuing through the book we see some more of the delightful humour, some intoxicating suspense and some deviating unexpected twists that bring about a shocking but enlightening finale. I do not want to ruin this for anyone by going into more detail but I will say that it was difficult to put down! The story sheds a realistic light onto the expendable nature of the expat in Dubai with such depth and engrossing language that I was very pleased to have spent the time reading this book.