What do you think?
Rate this book
A Message from the Other Side
When Catherine moves several hundred miles away from her sister, Helen says, ‘Phone calls aren’t enough’, but they make it easier to edit the truth. Helen can dismiss Gilbert and his enchanted Factory as ‘weird’ when she’s never met him, and Catherine think Helen foolish for loving the unreliable and dangerous Joe. Neither sees the perils concealed in what they have not told each other, or guesses at the sinister connection between their separate lives.
A Message from the Other Side is a novel about love and marriage, but even more about hatred and the damage people do to each other in the most ordinary of families.
A Message from the Other Side is a novel about love and marriage, but even more about hatred and the damage people do to each other in the most ordinary of families.
432 pages, Paperback
First published July 20, 2017
13 people want to read
About the author
Moira Forsyth
8 books4 followersMoira Forsyth is the author of five novels, and short stories and poetry published in a range of magazines and anthologies. She lives in Muir of Ord, in the Highlands of Scotland.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 11, 2017
Very different sisters Catherine and Helen have more in common than they might imagine, including men.
Initially I didn’t understand A Message From The Other Side at all. I wasn’t sure where it was headed and why it was going to be divided into the time frames it has. It puzzled me.
However, as I realised that A Message From The Other Side isn’t a psychological thriller or a supernatural read or women’s fiction where I was trying to place it, but rather a narrative that explores relationships in exquisite detail I understood what Moira Forsyth was doing and loved the read. I moved from being uncomfortably puzzled to intrigued and ensnared.
This is character driven writing at its best. I absolutely loathed Kenneth throughout, regardless of any redeeming features he has, or actions he makes. He repulsed me completely both physically and emotionally. And yet he’s just human. This is what is so skilled about Moira Forsyth’s writing. She doesn’t make judgements but she presents her characters in such a way that it is impossible not to respond as a reader. I would have loved to have met Hugh and found Catherine and Helen flawed, foolish and utterly understandable. I railed at both Helen and Catherine for their relationships with Kenneth and Joe. Reading A Message From The Other Side made me quite uncomfortable too as I have a horrible feeling I would have a very snobbish and condescending view of Rose were I to meet her.
Moira Forsyth presents relationships and all their complications in intense, beautifully written prose. I found an underlying sadness behind the writing as Moira Forsyth explores how half truths and omissions can affect our lives. There’s a pared down plot so that even though there is a mystery surrounding Catherine’s seeing dead people from the beginning of the book, this isn’t the roller coaster read some might expect. It is, however, an emotional exploration of humanity, of loneliness, love, fear hatred and the glorious intricacies of relationships.
Initially I didn’t understand A Message From The Other Side at all. I wasn’t sure where it was headed and why it was going to be divided into the time frames it has. It puzzled me.
However, as I realised that A Message From The Other Side isn’t a psychological thriller or a supernatural read or women’s fiction where I was trying to place it, but rather a narrative that explores relationships in exquisite detail I understood what Moira Forsyth was doing and loved the read. I moved from being uncomfortably puzzled to intrigued and ensnared.
This is character driven writing at its best. I absolutely loathed Kenneth throughout, regardless of any redeeming features he has, or actions he makes. He repulsed me completely both physically and emotionally. And yet he’s just human. This is what is so skilled about Moira Forsyth’s writing. She doesn’t make judgements but she presents her characters in such a way that it is impossible not to respond as a reader. I would have loved to have met Hugh and found Catherine and Helen flawed, foolish and utterly understandable. I railed at both Helen and Catherine for their relationships with Kenneth and Joe. Reading A Message From The Other Side made me quite uncomfortable too as I have a horrible feeling I would have a very snobbish and condescending view of Rose were I to meet her.
Moira Forsyth presents relationships and all their complications in intense, beautifully written prose. I found an underlying sadness behind the writing as Moira Forsyth explores how half truths and omissions can affect our lives. There’s a pared down plot so that even though there is a mystery surrounding Catherine’s seeing dead people from the beginning of the book, this isn’t the roller coaster read some might expect. It is, however, an emotional exploration of humanity, of loneliness, love, fear hatred and the glorious intricacies of relationships.
July 23, 2017
A Message From The Other Side begins with a mysterious phone call which takes Catherine Sinclair aback. The voice on the other end of the phone appears to be Gil Sinclair, her estranged husband Kenneth's brother. Gil has been missing for years and his possible return makes Catherine, Kenneth and Catherine's sister Helen very uneasy. Why do they all have reasons to be concerned that Gil may have returned and what does one of them in particular have to fear?
From this very intriguing prologue, the story spools back several years and follows Catherine and Helen over time, looking at their relationships with the various men in their lives and with each other. It did take me a wee while to sort out who was who and how they were connected but, once I had, I found this a very compelling read. I was particularly interested in the relationship between the sisters. They live very far apart - Catherine in the Highlands and Helen in London - and I felt that their relationship was often also emotionally quite distant. Neither really understood the other's romantic attachments and were quite judgemental I felt. Yet it was clear that they did love each other even if they didn't always understand each other.
The complexities of romantic relationships were also considered throughout the book. Both sisters were married for a second time and the challenges of these second relationships were well described, in particular showing how what went before impacted on current relationships. I was not fond of Catherine's husband Kenneth who seemed very intolerant of her daughter Flora and rather arrogant and self-assured in general. By contrast, her friend Hugh was lovely and I enjoyed reading about his compassion and quiet wisdom throughout the book.
Throughout the book there is always an element of suspense harking back to that mysterious phone call in the prologue. The author gradually begins to hint at what might have happened as she explores the connections between the sisters, their husbands and their friends. The answer, though not unexpected, clearly had an impact on them all throughout the years. A Message From The Other Side is an intelligently written work of literary fiction which kept me engaged throughout.
From this very intriguing prologue, the story spools back several years and follows Catherine and Helen over time, looking at their relationships with the various men in their lives and with each other. It did take me a wee while to sort out who was who and how they were connected but, once I had, I found this a very compelling read. I was particularly interested in the relationship between the sisters. They live very far apart - Catherine in the Highlands and Helen in London - and I felt that their relationship was often also emotionally quite distant. Neither really understood the other's romantic attachments and were quite judgemental I felt. Yet it was clear that they did love each other even if they didn't always understand each other.
The complexities of romantic relationships were also considered throughout the book. Both sisters were married for a second time and the challenges of these second relationships were well described, in particular showing how what went before impacted on current relationships. I was not fond of Catherine's husband Kenneth who seemed very intolerant of her daughter Flora and rather arrogant and self-assured in general. By contrast, her friend Hugh was lovely and I enjoyed reading about his compassion and quiet wisdom throughout the book.
Throughout the book there is always an element of suspense harking back to that mysterious phone call in the prologue. The author gradually begins to hint at what might have happened as she explores the connections between the sisters, their husbands and their friends. The answer, though not unexpected, clearly had an impact on them all throughout the years. A Message From The Other Side is an intelligently written work of literary fiction which kept me engaged throughout.
July 1, 2018
This book was fantastic...up until the last 5 chapters. That was when everything that was built up over the course of the novel was supposed to be revealed. I still have so many questions about the ending. What did Joe do, anyway? What sort of criminal activity was he involved in? Does Catherine see Gilbert, or dead people in general, or not? It's never explained whether Catherine is an actual medium, if Gilbert is, in fact, still alive, or if Catherine is just delusional.
The characters are fantastically written; this is a character based book that extends through the main characters entire adult lives, and Forsyth does a great job of putting the reader in the scene. The strength of the writing alone kept me going through the novel despite its lack of a distinct plot.
I kept saying while I was reading this book, "It's all going to make sense at the end; it will all come together and be brilliant." But that didn't happen. The book just ended. It felt unfinished. If there's a sequel I will definitely read it, because I want to know what happens to these characters, but I shouldn't have to read another novel to get this novel's ending. I would only recommend this book if you care more about characters rather than plot.
The characters are fantastically written; this is a character based book that extends through the main characters entire adult lives, and Forsyth does a great job of putting the reader in the scene. The strength of the writing alone kept me going through the novel despite its lack of a distinct plot.
I kept saying while I was reading this book, "It's all going to make sense at the end; it will all come together and be brilliant." But that didn't happen. The book just ended. It felt unfinished. If there's a sequel I will definitely read it, because I want to know what happens to these characters, but I shouldn't have to read another novel to get this novel's ending. I would only recommend this book if you care more about characters rather than plot.
August 14, 2017
When Catherine Sinclair receives an mysterious and unsettling telephone call from someone who has been missing for years, it opens up a whole host of memories, not just for her, but also for her sister Helen. What then follow is the effect that this phone call has on the equilibrium of a group of people who are unsettled by their memories of the past.
The story flips between time frames and follows the lives of the two sisters, Catherine and Helen, which gives us an insight into their tangled relationships, both with each other, and also with the men in their lives.
The story took me a little while to get into as I had to keep flipping back and forth in order to get the characters and their connections with each other clear in my mind, but once I had these in place then the story started to work more clearly.
The author is good at character development and in A Message from the Other Side she weaves an interesting, and suspenseful, family story about the complexities of sibling relationships, especially when those relationships are also bound by uncertainties about each other's romantic attachments.
Overall, this is a
The story flips between time frames and follows the lives of the two sisters, Catherine and Helen, which gives us an insight into their tangled relationships, both with each other, and also with the men in their lives.
The story took me a little while to get into as I had to keep flipping back and forth in order to get the characters and their connections with each other clear in my mind, but once I had these in place then the story started to work more clearly.
The author is good at character development and in A Message from the Other Side she weaves an interesting, and suspenseful, family story about the complexities of sibling relationships, especially when those relationships are also bound by uncertainties about each other's romantic attachments.
Overall, this is a
May 10, 2018
Two sisters, habitually slightly at odds with each other, get drawn into unwise second marriages and a disturbing mystery begins to unfold. An engrossing story, set in London and the Scottish Highlands. Convincing characters I cared about, and an often poignant portrayal of how emotional connection can miss by an inch not a mile. I always looked forward to picking it up again.
April 17, 2018
A wonderful book!
January 29, 2022
I really loved the suspence of the story life, did he or didn't he. I won't say anything else as it will spoil it. Definitely worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews