This book didn't kept me interested and I couldn't engage with the characters. I gave up on it half way through.

I chose this book as I read that it discussed the topic OCD which interested me, but that is only one of the threads that wind through the story. From the very start I was engrossed in the lives of the characters and the two totally dysfunctional families with entwining lives through their equally dysfunctional children. What a wonderful myriad of characters displaying actions that made me as a reader feel sorry for the person but yet wonder how I would deal with such a betrayal as well.
I look forward to reading more by this author as she describes characters and places so realistically that it is easy to feel that you are there with them. I loved the way that chapters were used to give different characters views and to slowly unwind the betrayals. I did feel that the ending was too up in the air and so did not leave me feeling that I had finished. The OCD theme that runs through the book is fantastic and gives such an excellent into this disorder.

I'm usually very mean about giving five star reviews but this title certainly deserved all five.

Neill has such an engaging and easy flow to her narrative that I found myself drawn into the tangled lives of the characters and loved the way she introduced me to subject areas I don't necessarily have an in depth knowledge of with ease. I'm assuming she did her research because I was totally sold on themes such as OCD and the world of medicine.

There are neat plot twists here that are probably not so hard to guess but compelling none the less.

Unlike some books that speak from the point of view of two or more characters, I could honestly say that I knew which character's head I was in, So many authors fail miserably when it comes to a split narrative but this one works.

A real page turner for me and one I would highly recommend this book.

Rosie Foss is sent a letter from Lisa, her ex best friend. Lisa we quickly learn is the woman who left her own husband years ago to live with Nick, who was married to Rosie. This letter in question is intercepted by Rosie's daughter Daisy, Daisy suffers from OCD and who sees it as emotionally manipulative, wanting to protect her mum from the contents. Lisa wants to tell Rosie something that she needs to know ‘before it is too late’.

The story goes back to a holiday at the home where Rosie grew up (and where Lisa and Nick now live after the divorce settlement) – when Barney (Lisa’s husband) finds out he’s lost his job and we are witness to the toxic breakdowns of the marriages. The story is told from the viewpoints of the 4 members of Rosie’s and Nick’s family and for me the only thing missing was a plot twist or turn.

Quite an entertaining book about the repercussions of an affair, but not something that kept me interested for long. I didn;t really engage with the characters, and couldn't really get into it. It passed a few hours though

This book certainly deserves the acclaim it has already received. Well thought out, intriguing characters, excellent pace and full of wisdom.
As a retired clinician myself, I found the clinical settings perfect and the descriptions of conditions, potential outcomes and treatments, highly entertaining.
Describing very intelligent people and their fallibility without criticism, leaving the readers to derive their own understanding of the situations and people worked very well.
Nick was just so like many expert professional and powerful men. Esteemed in public, intellectually strong but flawed in his relationships, self-centred and uncaring except for himself.
Rosie was smart, revered in her profession but with a lack of full insight.
I really liked the description of Daisy and how Fiona Neill carefully described OCD and its ramifications. Even better her exploration into the intricacies of memory and recollection.
Every page in this book held something to ponder upon, stretch the mind and enjoy.
The description of Norfolk, the beaches, nature and the weather was delightful.
I would highly commend this book.

Memory is a funny thing. It varies depending on the person and can change over the years becoming embedded as truth. Everyone has their own version. As a letter arrives for her mother from an old and ex family friend, it causes a chain reaction of events forcing the characters to examine the past but also to look to the future. A touching and realistic description of the experience of suffering from OCD experienced by Daisy and her struggles as she determinedly fights this pervasive mental illness.. the story examines betrayals both real and imagined and the ways the characters deal with them.

Realised after getting 33% through the book that this was not a book I wanted to read to conclusion. This is nothing whatsoever to do with the author or book itself - it is my limited range of book interest

My thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for providing my review copy in exchange for my honest review.
Having read the blurb I was keen to get into the book and I did enjoy the start and the style. Fiona Neill can definitely write and her previous work is not let down by this novel. The fault lie with me. I like a story to move along - I am happy to wait for reveals and for a good plot to unfold. But, this story I found too slow the writing is good the style is fine it just lacks movement. I have given four stars and wish I could have marked it with five.
If you like the slow lane and enjoy the views great if you like to like the protagonists and have sympathy with the cast then I doubt this is for you.

Books that deal sensitively with the topic of mental illness are often written by people with first hand experience. Whether that is the case of Fiona Neill or not, her portrayal of a character with OCD, and how it is a disease that defies comprehension but shatters the lives of not just the sufferer, but also friends and family, is outstanding.

Rosie's husband had an affair with her best friend and subsequently left here. The Betrayals picks up several years after this happened, when the situation has somewhat calmed down. That is, until her daughter Daisy opens a letter that heralds the return of a kind of mental breakdown, which has consequences for all members of the family.

The use of the first person narrator as told by several different characters brings the issue of memory and the ability to trust these narrators to the fore - are they deliberately misleading us or is it just a trick of the memory. Memory is Rosie's ex husband's speciality, but even his memory is shown to be faulty. There are also plenty of lies of omissions here, especially from the ex husband.

Each character gets almost equal attention as a narrator, meaning none of them feel one-dimensional and we can see different events through each person's eyes.

The main problem with this book is the author's constant pushing of her opposition to any kind of medical treatment that is not 100% backed by science. This is directed mostly towards some rather over-the-top "new age" characters who have their own ideas about how to treat cancer. These parts of the books are the most trying to read as they lack subtlety and, at times, sensitivity to cancer sufferers. It also jars with the topic of mental illness, which can often by greatly helped through the use of "non-scientifc" therapy.

The pace of The Betrayals is just right, and it builds up to a crescendo in the manner of a thriller, although it's more a book exploring family, memory, and truth and lies.

normally i am annoyed by novels told by multiple narrators - even when it's necessary to hide a crime - here the author has scrupulously timed the release of information among a dysfunctional family - a red-blooded teenager, his philandering dad, heartbroken mom and emotionally challenged sister - to tell the story. betrayals and mistakes among the family are revealed to us often before each other finds out, and they keep unrolling until the very end - in fact, the only contrivance about it is that final revelation (which I won't tell you now), and by then we are accustomed to fate intervening to alter reality. betrayals are the name of the game - big and small - among friends and generations - and extended families are included. you have to read closely but you really, really want to! well done and adept writing, carefully planned.

It's been a couple of days since i finished reading this book and i still don't really know how i feel. The writing is great but something about the story didn't engage me and i didn't feel a connection to the characters like i did with the authors previous work.

This was a book I couldn’t put down but I can’t say I liked it at the same time! ‘Compulsive reading about the selfishness of adults who act without regard for their children’ could be a byline for this one. It deals with themes of differing memory and perception in a family saga and how misconceptions can shape and alter futures.

Rosie Foss is sent a letter from her old best friend, Lisa – the woman who left her own husband years ago to go and live with Rosie’s rather weak-willed husband, Nick. This letter is intercepted by her daughter, Rosie who suffers from OCD and who sees it as emotionally manipulative, wanting to protect her mum from the contents. Lisa wants to tell Rosie something that she needs to know ‘before it is too late’. There’s oodles of anxiety and guilt in this family for so many reasons - Daisy feels she know the secret that is to be revealed, and wants to prevent it. Max, her brother who has been has been manipulated into co-operating with Rosie’s OCD traits feels his own guilt about this period.

The story goes back to a holiday at the home where Rosie grew up (and where Lisa and Nick now live after the divorce settlement) – when Barney (Lisa’s husband) finds out he’s lost his job and we are witness to the toxic breakdowns of the marriages. Lisa and Nick take up together and Rosie is left to get on with her life with her 2 children in London.

The story is told from the viewpoints of the 4 members of Rosie’s and Nick’s family – you see how each recalls events and interprets things in different ways. You see the OCD of Rosie and how this impacts hugely on Max – who is the only character I felt real sympathy for. I didn’t really like any of the characters, especially Nick (although he did go up in my estimation in his interactions with Gregorio, an ‘alternative healer’).

It was addictive, albeit with no big ‘twist’ at the end, but still a well written, compelling, ‘mixed-up family’ saga which I had to read in a single day.

I thought this book was very slow to get going but once into it found it to be strangely compelling. The story is told by the four main characters in individual chapters switching from the present day and eight years previously. Although I'm not a fan of this style of writing it worked well. I was disappointed by the characters who I struggled to warm to especially Daisy and Nick. After the 'secret' was revealed it seemed to fall flat and I was disappointed when the book ended as the story could have developed into so much more. Mixed feelings about this book. My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

Many thanks to netgalley & the publisher for providing me with this free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Last year, I read THE GOOD GIRL by the same author and adored it, so when this popped up on netgalley, I was straight in to request it! I love Fiona Neill’s writing. She has a way of telling a story that is non-linear, so you’re actually never quite sure what happened or didn’t, or actually quite what’s happening now.

THE BETRAYALS follows the story of the breakdown of Nick and Rosie’s marriage following his affair with her best friend Lisa, interspersed with their daughter’s battle with OCD and Lisa’s own battle with cancer. There’s also a wonderful balance between the darker narrative and humour – especially scenes where Nick interacts with Lisa’s “healer”, Gregorio.

I really like that balance between seriousness and humour – and I also like the scientific parts of the book, because I’m quite interested in science and learning science-y things. Each character in this novel is their own character with their own narrative voice, and their own flaws. I really enjoyed this novel – proved, really, in that I read probably 80% of it in one sitting!

I find this book difficult to review. After a slow start and then an unsatisfying ending, I should be saying stay clear of this book – but. The issues of memory, false memory and implied memory were very cleverly written. The way events were remembered by different people, how accurate these memories were and how the events were interpreted made the rest of the book very readable. Mix broken lives with unfulfilled promises and the result is a book of very good parts. Try it for yourself.

I found this an absorbing read, told from the different perspectives of several family members embroiled in an interwoven net of betrayals. The threads of the story unravel gradually as we discover new information about the central characters and relationships, and our view shifts according to which narrator is in charge. We are drawn into their lives and their backstories in order to review what we have already been told, changing our sympathies and allegiances throughout the novel. The sense of intensity and urgency is heightened by the exploration of OCD on the families, which builds suspense in the outcome of these interconnected misunderstandings and betrayals. An enjoyable page-turner.

Two families intertwined with friendship and shared history have strong bonds that seem unbreakable. However, as the children become teenagers and the adults become cynical and complacent things begin to change. Betrayal by those closest to you is surely the worst kind and after one summer holiday things can never be the same. As this complex web of relationships unravels itself, the reader is drawn into sympathy with one character after another, until its eventual shocking conclusion. My only criticism is that I would have liked one more chapter to be told the aftermath of each character rather than draw my own conclusions.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for a copy of The Betrayals, my review is unbiased and is based on my own opinion. This story is narrated between four people from the same family; although one of them has left the marital home thereby entwining the "other" family co-joined within this book. All the characters evoked different feelings in me -like/dislike/empathy to name but a few. One of the characters has in the past suffered with and has relapsed into the horrors of OCD and the author writes about this horrible mental health disorder in depth and knowledge so you really empathise with the victim and the people that surround her who are also pulled into it. There are many storylines within this book, some will make you angry, frustrated, some emotional. The only thing that I didn't like was the ending - what happened with the other characters.?? Saying that I would still definitely recommend.

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Thanks for the copy in exchange for a fair review!

I really enjoyed this book, it has cemented me as a fan of Fiona Neill. The Betrayals is a well written contemporary family drama about the effects of a marriage breakdown on all involved. It touches on themes of growing up, friendships, mental health struggles, and explores the faulty nature of memories. I found these fascinating.

Each chapter is written by a different character and Neill's ability to easily and completely switch between character voices really impressed me. It was obvious at all points whose chapter you were in, which I have found quite rare in other books where often it gets a bit samey. I found myself slightly heartbroken by the character of the younger brother but only because I think I identified with his struggles. Neill has captured the family dynamics involved when one child is unwell and the parents are struggling incredibly well.

There is a lot of ambiguity towards the end of the book which lends it a very melancholy tone but also which I found hopeful. Overall I thought this was one of the better books I read this year.