The Secret Path by Karen Swan

Synopsis
At only twenty, Tara Tremain has everything: she’s a trainee doctor, engaged to the man of her dreams – Alex, a passionate American biology student. But just when life seems perfect, Alex betrays her in the worst way possible.

Ten years later, she’s moved on – with a successful career, good friends and a man who loves her. But when she’s pulled back into her wealthy family’s orbit for a party in the heart of Costa Rica, she’s flung into a crisis: a child is desperately ill and the only treatment is several days’ trek away, deep in the jungle.

There’s only one person who can help – but can she trust the man who broke her heart?

Review

Every summer I look forward to the release of Karen Swan’s summer read, her wonderfful storylines and characters always make for a brilliant read. The Secret Path starts in London, but is mainly set in the heat of the stunning Costa Rica. Tara Tremain is studying to be a doctor, but she isn’t your ordinary student as her family is incrediby rich. At twenty she has met the man of her dreams, American Alex Carter, and they are planning to get engaged, until he betrays her in an unforgivable way. Ten years later, Tara has a successful career, being the youngest consultant in her hospital and is in a relationship with a man who loves her. With her father celebrating an enviromental project in Costa Rica, Tara is expected to attend the party at the place she spent many happy holidays as a child. But whilst there Tara tries to help a friend and finds herself face to face with Alex, who is the only person who can help her save the life of a young boy. Can Tara work with Alex, or will old wounds come between them.

Every year Karen Swan comes back with another exciting and compelling book with an immersive story and characters that you care about. This years destinaton of Costa Rica, is exotic, colourful and simply stunning. By setting the book in Costa Rica Karen Swan brings to light some of the important issues effecting the country and its inhabitants. It is a poor country so there is a lack of hospitals, clinics and equipment available to them. The rain forests are also being depleted, as farmers cut them down so they can plant coffee and other crops that will make them money, but causing catastrophic environmental damage. Reading one of Karen’s Swan’s books is always an immersive experience. She has the ability to make you feel you are there with the characters, feeling the heat of the sun, hearing the birds and cicadas and seeing the stunning landscape of the contrasting beaches and the rainforests.

The same writing skill is used in the creating of her characters. We meet Tara at the beginning of the book when she is a young trainee doctor with the world at her feet, and is in love with Alex, an American biology student. Tara at first keeps the truth of her family wealth a secret, both from friends and Alex; she wants to be liked for who she is not for her families money. Ten years later and all her hard work has paid off, she is a consultant, runs a charity for clinics to be set up in Costa Rica to help the local residents who have welcomed her and her family over the years. Even whilst on holiday she is a doctor first, wanting to help the son of a friend who is desperately sick, a situation that sees her come across the man who broke her heart. Alex is one of those characters you want to scream at, I couldn’t believe his betryal of Tara, it was so shocking. His moral code is the complete opposite of Tara’s, and probably a lot of most people so its not surprising the tension, and anger she feels towards him is still strong even ten years later. Their trek through the rainforest with her pride and his unease reminded me a bit of Micheal Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone; I have to say I hoped he would come to a sticky end. You can’t help but be drawn into the lives of Tara and Alex, wanting Tara to triump over adversity and show Alex what she had achieved, and the obvious sexual tension still there between them.

The Secret Path is another phenomenal novel from Karen Swan. With its stunning location, where you can actually feel the heat of the sun, and humidity of the rainforests, and taste the coconut water. As well as the colourful landscape Karen Swan also highlights the difficulties faced by the inhabitants of the country and the enviromental challenges faced. Tara is a wondeful character, wanting to use her expertise and wealth to help others, and willing to go to any lenghts to do that. The Secret Path will lead you on a journey of love, loss, betrayal, and adventure; a pure escapist read.

I would like to thank Hannah Corbett from Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book in return for my honest review.