The Boy That Never Was By Kate Perry

The Boy That Never Was by Kate Perry is a tale of love, grief, loss and deceits . Karen Perry is the pseudonym for Paul Perry and Karen Gillece. This is not an easy read because the emotion of losing a child is so believably written. This is not a thriller so if you are into thrillers only, this book is not for you.

The Boy That Never Was By Karen Perry

Artists Harry and Robin, who have been together since their late teens, have chosen to move to Tangiers from their home in Dublin. Harry thrives in Tangier, finding inspiration and urgency in his creative outpouring whilst Robin yearns for the peace and quiet and normality of home, finding less time and inspiration to paint especially after the birth of their beloved first child Dillon.

One fateful night, three-year-old Dillon is left alone by his father Harry for only a few minutes while he runs an errand while Robin is at work at the bar. While Dillon is alone in the house, an earthquake strikes Tangiers. Their apartment is destroyed in the earthquake and Dillon is never found. For Harry, it was an unforgivable lapse. Yet Robin has never blamed Harry: her own secret guilt is burden enough.

After the loss of Dillon, Harry and Robin return to Dublin to live in the decrepit house left to Robin by her grandmother. It is the time of Ireland’s financial recession and life is getting tougher day by day. Robin’s work is cut back and Harry has to give up his precious studio space to work from home. Harry is haunted by Dillon, his guilt in leaving Dillon alone gnawing his conscience. He clings on to the hope that Dillon may be alive somewhere as his body was not found in the rubble of their old home.

And then, one day, Harry fleetingly sees a young boy on the streets of Dublin during a street protest against the government and he is convinced that the boy is Dillon. He sets out to find Dillon without telling Robin. His relationship with Robin starts to erode as their marriage is plunged into a spiral of crazed obsession and broken trust, uncovering deceits and shameful secrets. Everything Robyn and Harry ever believed in one another is cast into doubt.

And at the centre of it all is the boy that never was.