Truth (Finding Anna) – Sherri Hayes - Behind the Chintz Curtain

Title: Truth (Finding Anna)
Author: Sherri Hayes
Publisher: The Writer’s Coffee Shop (25 July 2013)
ISBN: 9781612131610
Reviewer: Jane

Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. (Well, mostly.)

How do I even begin reviewing Truth? Firstly, let me say that if you haven’t read the previous two books in the Finding Anna series, Slave and Need, you’re going to be seriously, seriously lost if you go straight in with this one. It cannot be read as a stand-alone. All three instalments are closely tied together and to truly appreciate the circumstances that Brianna and Stephan find themselves in, you need to understand how they got to where they are.

Where to start?

Stephan. Stephan, Stephan, Stephan. I want to be on your side. I do. Truly. You rescued Brianna from something truly hideous, are utterly committed to her rehabilitation and willing to protect her no matter what the personal cost. Do I fundamentally agree with your methods, though? Well, there’s the rub. Yes, you want to help Brianna. Yes, you are protective and caring towards her. But underneath all that are your own needs and desires; they’ve been bubbling away since the very beginning and, in this book, they start to seep out. No matter how benevolent you strive to be, can your actions truly be classed as selfless when they are ultimately influenced by your emotions, consciously or unconsciously? Is Brianna even remotely ready – or in the position mentally – to accept what you ultimately crave from her? Even you’re not sure:

‘Do you think she’ll be all right with this?’

‘I have no idea.’

It would be easy to say that Stephan is the white knight in of the piece but, whichever way you look at it, Briana is vulnerable – and to that end, his shiny armour has to be a little tarnished. The question is, can it be cleaned?

Just as they did in Slave and Need, the Stephan and Brianna both take turns telling the story, giving us the ability to see exactly what’s going on inside their respective heads. But crucially, their descriptions of the actions and reactions of Truth’s secondary characters with regard to their relationship – Dr Cooper, Cal, Lily, Oscar and Michael, in particular – provide the objective outsiders’ point-of-view. Give us glimpses beyond the bubble-like environment that Stephan has created for himself and Brianna to exist in. The thing with bubbles, though? They have a tendency to burst.

If you’re expecting a neat ending, to have all your questions answered, to have some light shed on the very murky circumstances surrounding Brianna’s abduction, then I’m sorry to say that you may struggle with the conclusion to this book. Truth takes you to the edge of the white cliffs of Dover and leaves you hanging by your fingernails.