Book Review – Weekend Pass by Paul Cavanagh

Review, Giveaway,

and Author Interview

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Book Description

Who can forgive a mother who poisons her eight-year-old son? Even if it was an accident. Tasha thought she had everything under control – her family life, her career as a nurse – until her son got into her stash of painkillers. Now, during her first weekend home from drug treatment, she must come to grips with the damage she’s done and somehow pick up the pieces. Told from the points of view of four different family members, Weekend Pass is a story about the lies we tell ourselves and the people we love. And it’s about struggling to rise above the mistakes that threaten to define us.

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Release Date Jan 19, 2021
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My Thoughts

Though I didn’t find this a fast read, I was captivated by how authentic it felt. Admittedly, I have a very limited knowledge, but it definitely felt like each character interpreted and reacted believably to what Tasha was experiencing.

Tasha, a nurse and young mother feels she has her prescription drug habit pretty much under control. But when she comes up against more stress than usually, she becomes more tired and ends up letting her guard down. At that time her life takes a complete turn around.

This story is about her weekend home from rehab. It explores relationships, addiction, and various ways her family members attempt to help. The story explores infidelities of her father, the alcoholism of the mother, her marriage, and more.

It covers compassion, distrust, forgiveness, and drawing away. Emotions are high, yet there is also the feeling by some that tiptoeing around Tasha is necessary.

This was handled beautifully, as far as I was concerned. Cavanagh kept it flowing until it came to a meaningful climax toward the end.

My thanks to iRead Book Tours and the author for a copy of this book. My review is only my opinion, which I was free to post.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

1. How did you first become a published author?

I was named the world’s first Lit Idol at the London Book Fair several years back. It was a competition for unpublished writers, and about 1500 people entered from across the world. Five Londoners made it to the finals, but I was the only one not from England. I’m a Canadian. I live in London, Ontario.

Lit Idol brought me a lot of international media attention. It also got me a publishing deal with HarperCollins in Canada before I’d finished writing the manuscript of my debut novel, After Helen.

2. That’s quite an unusual path to publication. What led you to write your latest novel, Weekend Pass?

Weekend Pass is my third novel. It’s about Tasha, a nurse trying to pick up the pieces of her life during her first weekend home from drug treatment after she accidentally poisons her eight-year-old son. The book wasn’t originally about Tasha. It was about her philandering father. But as the story took shape, I realized Tasha needed to be the main character. Hers was the central story. And once I arrived at that realization, the topic of addiction became a focus.

I suppose what really made me want to pursue Tasha’s story was the bigger theme of finding forgiveness after you’ve done something you know is unforgivable. Struggling to rise above the mistakes that threaten to define you.

3. What was the hardest part about writing the book?

I came to it without a background in addictions. I trained as an occupational therapist, so at least I had some experience working in mental health, but I didn’t have the firsthand experience that an addiction counsellor or person recovering from addiction or one of their family members might have. So, that meant I had to do a lot of research. And as I wrote the manuscript, I made sure to share drafts with people with firsthand experience to make sure I was getting things right, both factually and emotionally. I wanted to make sure I was portraying things fairly and authentically.

4. How is it different from your other novels?

Well, I suppose the biggest difference is that it’s told from four different points of view. Part of the reason I chose to do that was to show the impact addiction has on families, not just the person with the addiction. But the other reason is that all four people in the novel – Tasha, her dad, her husband, her aunt – have their own secrets. Telling the story from each of their perspectives allowed me to explore that more fully – the lies they tell themselves and each other. Jill Murphy from The Bookbag in the UK said something in her review of the novel that I thought summed it up quite well: “Nobody comes out of this book as any kind of shining light but its strength is that it shows us that nobody is really the villain either.”

5. What sort of reader do you think it will appeal to?

Weekend Pass is a literary novel, meaning it’s very character-driven. That’s not to say that there isn’t a strong narrative drive to the story. A lot happens in the book, almost all of it over the course of one crucial weekend. I guess the readers most likely to enjoy the book are those who like stories that shine a light on the sometimes complicated reasons people behave the way they do. They’re also the type of readers who like endings that are hopeful, but that don’t neatly tie everything up with a bow.

6. Do you have any other writing projects on the go?

I’ve started work on my fourth novel, but that’s on hold for a few months while I launch Weekend Pass. I also share a little something with my readers to keep them entertained in between my novels. Every month, I do this thing called Famous Book Titles With One Letter Missing. For instance, I’ll take a title like Moby Dick, drop the y, and change it into Mob Dick: “A private detective is blackmailed into working for a crime boss in 1949 Los Angeles.” I also post a monthly piece of Twitter Fiction each month, a complete story that’s no longer than 140 characters.

You can find samples on my website, notthatlondon.com. It’s a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy word play and quirky storytelling.

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