Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter

I found that Sunstruck quickly became one of those books that I could not put down. Each chapter I read had me hungry for more and I was dying to find out how the relationships between the characters would develop.

When a young man walks through the gates of a beautiful chateau in the South of France owned by g the wealthy and charismatic Blake family, he is not prepared for the world that he has unwittingly been dropped in.

What follows is a whirlwind romance that sees our narrator plunged into the dark underbelly of high class society; shady deals, wandering hands and a love that both builds and destroys in equal measure.

I really loved the tempo of the story. Each chapter is split in twisting branches of the past and present, that seem to intertwine themselves in a perfect reflection of the characters journeys.

A reoccurring theme through the book is the transforming power of love, whether it’s the breakdown in a relationship between a married couple, the torrid love of two young people finding themselves or the love of a mother that would do anything to protect their families.

The early chapters are very rapid in their timing, taking place over several days but as you progress through the story, the time between entries seem to expand to cover weeks and months, which is reflected in the changing dynamics of the people around the narrator.

The overall feeling I got from Sunstruck was anger towards all the injustice it highlights between characters, classes, races. I always enjoy when a book gets me so involved that I begin to feel a strong connection to what is happening.