eBook Review: The Borrowed Boy by Deborah Klee*

What do you do when you believe you have only weeks to live, but you don’t know how to have a life? In ‘The Borrowed Boy’ by Deborah Klée, Angie Winkle receives a letter that could put her on borrowed time, but vows to make the most of every minute. Without a lover, family or friends, could a borrowed life be the answer?

Going back to Jaywick Sands – the idyllic holiday village of her memories – is top of Angie’s bucket list. In fact, it seems to be the only thing on the list. Experiencing life as a grandmother is not. The universe has other plans and when four-year-old Danny is separated from his mum on the tube, Angie goes to his rescue. Nothing from that point goes remotely as planned and Danny & Angie embark on a life-changing journey.

What I thought of the book

‘The Borrowed Boy’ is a novel of twists and turns, decisions and deceptions, people who keep themselves hidden and others who wear their hearts on their sleeves. At the beginning of the novel, Angie Winkle makes a choice in a pivotal moment, which will turn out to be transformative. At first, Angie’s decision both drew me to want to find out so much more about her, and made me wonder if I could bear to read about her for the whole book. As the story develops, this complexity in the main characters is one of its greatest strengths.

Angie, Danny’s mum Nikki and several of the rest of the cast in this story are not who they first seem, leaving four-year-old Danny confused and unsettled. The reader’s empathy with Danny is heightened, as we feel this way about the characters too, at various points through the novel. However, unlike in similar stories I’ve read, the characters are realistic and their wavering behaviour well explained by their backstories and what they think is going on around them.

Also well-handled are the differences between isolated living and life as part of a community. Klée observes the impersonal with clarity, creating distrust, fear and avoidance in situations where her characters are ‘outsiders’ or haven’t been able (or bothered) to find connection with those around them. Several characters are then able to use this anonymity to their advantage. This is offset brilliantly by the warmth and security the author creates through friendship and the characters feeling that they ‘belong’. Combining these contrasts with believable, flawed but mostly likeable characters keeps the reader engaged in the story throughout.

‘The Borrowed Boy’ could partly be described as a crime novel, partly as a family drama, partly as the kind of seaside saga that have become popular as a beach read. It is a great combination, with the best elements of all of these stories. It is ultimately an uplifting story about how people make a place; seizing the day and finding a sense of belonging.

How much is the eBook and how can you buy it?

The eBook of ‘The Borrowed Boy’ retails for £1.99 and can be purchased via this link, where a paperback version is also available.

About the Book
Title: The Borrowed Boy
Author: Deborah Klée
Publisher: Sherman House
ASIN: B08BWL74YV
Format: eBook
Pages: 319

About the Author

Deborah Klée has been an Occupational Therapist and a management consultant in health and social care, but has always told stories – first to her younger brother and then to her daughter. She loved the challenge of their crazy requests to “tell me a story about…” and found a profound sense of calm and fulfilment in creating a beginning and following it through to an ending which was unknown at the start. Tell me a story about… they would say, and I’m sure they suggested the craziest things they could think of but I loved the challenge. In those quiet hours as I sat at the end of a bed and made up a tale, not knowing where the beginning would lead me, I felt a profound sense of calm and fulfilment.

Working in Health and Social Care, Deborah writes Safeguarding reviews investigating the deaths of vulnerable adults. She also co-founded a social enterprise that worked with citizens, enabling them to transform their communities, and has seen amazing resourcefulness and resilient responses to living in poverty or with perceived vulnerabilities.

Deborah’s protagonists are often people who exist on the edges of society. She likes to give them a voice and write them a happy ending. Despite the very real, but dark, subject matter her stories are uplifting, combining pathos with humour. They are about self-discovery and the power of friendships and community.

When she’s not writing, Deborah loves to read, bake, walk by the sea, practice meditation and yoga, run, ride her bike, eat, and laugh – although, she says, not in that order as she loves them all equally. Follow Deborah on Twitter @DeborahKlee

Review by: Sharon Corbally

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