When Frankie stumbles upon an unopened letter from her late mother, she’s delighted to have one last message from her . . . until she reads the contents and discovers the truth about her birth. Brimming with questions, she travels to York to seek further answers from the Mortimer family, but her appearance sends shockwaves through them all.
Meanwhile, Robyn Mortimer has problems of her own. Her husband John has become distant, and a chance remark from a friend leads Robyn to wonder exactly what he’s not been saying. Dare she find out more?
As for Bunny, she fell head over heels in love with Dave Mortimer when she first arrived in town, but now it seems her past is catching up with her. She can’t help wondering if he’ll still feel the same way about her if he discovers who she really is – and what she did.
As secrets tumble out and loyalties are tested, the Mortimers have to face up to some difficult decisions. With love, betrayal and dramatic revelations in the mix, this is one summer they’ll never forget.
Review: Wow this book contains one secret revelation after another after another. But at the heart of it all though is Lucy Diamonds unfailing potimism and a hugely strong sense of family and family ties.
When I began reading this book, I couldn't work out how the three main storylines were connected or how they weer going to come together but then I began to work out who was who and how they related to one another and the storyline began to weave before me. This book really does have a large cast and so you may was to take reference as you are reading so as not to loose track. The main storyline though concerns three mothers and their love for their families. Not only do these women love their families though, they recognise the importance of their own identity and not losing that and so their stories are really quite empowering.
I loved the way these characters all related to each other as the story unfolded and there were definitely a lot of 'ah ha' moments from me as it progressed. I listened to this one on audio and so that might be why I had trouble keeping track of who was who initially. Some of my favourite characters were Bunny, a slimmer of the year with some serious skeletons in her closet, Frankie, someone who is really struggling with her identity since a whole host of ghosts from the past have come to haunt her and Paula, the one who is just trying to do the right thing and keep it all together.
Yes this story is sometimes complicated but that does make for a whole host of drama. With revelations taking place left right and centre, there is never a dull moment in this book and it will definitely keep you guessing as to how it is going to conclude.
The majority of this book is set in a part of the world I am very familiar with, North Yorkshire and so it was great to be reading it here in Denver and getting a little taste of home, I even gave a cheer when Knaresborough was mentioned. I can definitely recommend the audiobook as it was well narrated and allowed me to read 'on the go' but if you have trouble keeping track of a large cast of characters then perhaps the hardback would be a better purchase so you can refer back to whole belongs to who if you get lost! I can't wait to find out what Lucy Diamond throws at her characters next!
I love stories that follow multiple characters, so this looks right up my alley. And isn't it great to read a story set in a place you know and love? It utterly charms me beyond reason whenever I find a story set in a place I've lived (unless they get the details wrong; this happened in a novel I read a few years ago, where a character parked outside a certain place in Nashville- I lived there for five years- and I laughed. I even read that part out loud to my husband, and he squinted and said, "There's no parking there...", so I felt pretty vindicated!). :)
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