Tissues at the ready! I hadn’t read a Mike Gayle book in a long time, as I wasn’t sure his works are still relevant to my life. Reader-they are. I KNOW these families he is writing about – we all do. That's the beauty of the author's plot and characters: he has created a world familiar to so many of us. This page turner tackles issues of race family, marriage and love with real aplomb. I adored it and will be reading Mike’s backlist over the summer. Absolutely one to read pack and read on holiday.

I haven’t read many Mike Gayle books, but the blurb to this really hooked me in and I am glad I gave it a read.
A truly heartwarming believable read with interesting characters and moving storyline.

An easy and satisfying read.

It’s been quite a while since I read a book by Mike Gayle. I wish I hadn’t left it so long. I love his style and his characters are always so real. He’s one on the few male authors I read. I don’t mean to, but the books I tend to get drawn to are usually by female authors.

(I do have several Nicolas Sparks books on my TBR pile and if I enjoy those as much as I do the film adaptations, it’ll address the balance more)

Half a World Away is an emotional book. It focuses on Kerry and Noah who are half brother and sister, but were separated when they were younger and brought up very differently.

Kerry has been trying to make contact with Noah for a while and when they finally meet, it’s not quite the reunion she’d hoped for. Noah’s marriage is shaky and things aren’t that rosy for Kerry either. As the story progresses, they get closer and discover more about each others upbringing and how different they are.

Kerry is keeping a huge secret from everyone, and when it’s revealed, it has a life changing impact on everyone. No spoilers, but this book is so tender and heartbreaking.

I’ve downloaded Mike Gayle’s last audiobook, so I’m looking forward to listening to that soon.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advance copy of this book.

This is a beautiful story. A triumph of hope. Kerry Hayes is a hardworking single mother, bringing her son Kian up in a world of love far removed from her childhood in care. She has never stopped hoping to find the baby brother so cruelly taken from her when they were both taken into care.

Noah Martineau is a barrister from a well to do academic family and has no idea he had a half sister in a previous life.

The story explores their lives, their backgrounds and is simply a beautiful story. I was glad I had the time to get this finished in a couple of days, it was simply a lovely immersive read with characters the reader cares about. Not just the main players but those on the periphery of Kerry and Noah's lives.

#netgalley #halfaworldaway

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Mike Gayle’s writing. I’ve been a huge fan ever since I read his first book in the late 1990s and have eagerly awaited every new release since. Half A World Away his latest book is a warm, beautiful and compelling read which I devoured in two sittings and it did not disappoint.

Kerry lives in London with her young son, Kian. She has had a tough start in life – brought up in both foster and childen’s homes after she and her younger brother, Jason were taken into care. Jason was adopted by a family and given a life of great privilege and wealth. He is now called Noah, is a successful barrister and also lives in London with his wife and daughter. Kerry has written letters to Noah over the years, leaving them with the adoption services hoping that one day he will read them and they can be reunited. The thing is, Noah keeps his past firmly locked away in a box inside his head, preferring instead to look forward and hasn’t ever been curious about his life before he was adopted as a toddler. When a letter from Kerry arrives at his home his interest is piqued and he agrees to meet her – something which is life changing for both of them.

What can I say about this book? It is wonderful. Gorgeous. Mike Gayle has an uncanny knack for writing believable and lovable characters. Kerry is a firecracker; hardworking, loving, kind and with a wide and generous heart. She and Kian live in a flat on an estate and she works hard to keep him on the straight and narrow, making their home a clean and comfortable safe haven, taking him to and from school and making sure he keeps his head down and gets the best from his education. A single parent the burden falls squarely on her shoulders. There are no second chances, there isn’t anybody else to pick up the slack. The buck stops with her.

Noah’s ordered life is unravelling at the seams, his marriage is on the edge and added to that he discovers he has a sister he didn’t even know existed. Agreeing to meet Kerry is an uncharacteristic move but when his life is already upside down something to tether him to his roots may be just what he needs.

The differences between Noah and Kerry are stark. He is wealthy, has been privately educated, studied at University and dresses well. She left care at eighteen and went spectacularly off the rails and now cleans large houses owned by wealthy people to put food on the table for her and Kian. Rather than their differences pushing them further apart Mike Gayle uses them to bring Noah and Kerry together. It would have been easy to have Noah pity Kerry, to see her as a project or something he can fix, but in actual fact, he admires her tenacity and slowly, slowly, sees that they have similarities.

Told in alternating chapters we get to know Kerry and Noah as their relationship grows and deepens. I fell for both of these characters and was willing them on, hoping that they’d find ways round the bumps in the road. It is a moving read, the darkness of their shared past casts a long shadow over Kerry and it is the depth of her love that carries them through the pain. This is a book about love, not the romantic kind, but the kind that most of us know first – that of love from your family. There is a purity to this emotion which seeps from every page. Noah’s love for his wife and child, for his adoptive parents and siblings and for Kerry and his nephew is hidden beneath layers of restraint but, Kerry’s powerful love for him break down these walls.

I think Half A World Away may be one of my favourite novels by Mike Gayle. He has a deftness of touch which make his books engaging and sentimental but never cloying. It is a beautiful and touching read which packs an emotional punch. Just make sure you have some tissues to hand.

What a beautiful read, couldn't put it down, a sad but uplifting story full of hope and love, some wonderful characters it was a pleasure to get to know, loved it, just loved it

wow what a beautiful but heartbreaking novel. This book just covers so many aspects of life that can have a massive impact on people and yet people just go about continuing to live their lives despite having these things happening to/around them.

I love how this book delves into the topic of adoption and what can happen when siblings are separated in the process of being removed from their parent. It also deals really well with the circumstances under which a child might be removed from their parents and the steps that could be taken to avoid that. The concept of looking forward and never back is also one that I think isn't dealt with enough in novels and how that can affect people around you so I love the fact that Mike Gayle explores just what that can mean in this book.

Noah is a great character to read about and the way he is described, he absolutely leaps of the page and I can imagine him standing here in front of me. He is trying to be a good man, a good husband, a good father and a good son and he can't seem to see why he isn't getting it quite spot on. I loved his integrity and I love how fiercely he really wants to protect those around him but sometimes he just takes the wrong steps to make that happen. I would have loved to have had someone like him in my life!

Kerry is also an incredibly strong character, these two main characters really are alike and we get to find out why that might be as the novel progresses. I love the bond that Kerry has with her son Kian and also her friends that she has made as she has been forming and growing her own life. She really does know what it means to multi task and seems to wring the most she can out of life.

I loved watching the relationship between Kerry and Noah form over the course of this story, the things that are thrown at each of them and how they each cope with those things. I liked the influence of th3e other people in their lives and as I previously said, I really felt like the issues covered in this novel are so well dealt with.

This book really is heartbreaking in parts but so honest and true to life it really is impossible not to read and rate it. Come to this one prepared with tissues but don't be put off picking it up because you'll regret it if you don't read this beautiful story!

Half A World Away is an emotional read that was well written with a good storyline that kept me turning the pages till late into the night.
Kerry is a single mother in a flat in a tough estate in London, she lives there with her 10 year old son and has her own cleaning business that she manages to make enough money out of to scrape through life. She has no family, having spent her teens in a children’s home as her mother was unable to look after her and an absent father. She has a brother who was only two when he was adopted and she has never forgotten him. This book covers the journey of Kerry’s life and trying to find her long lost brother and the reasons why she needs to find him are heartbreaking. Not saying any more as that would spoil it but get the tissues ready.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy Mike Gayle’s books, but this was by far my favourite one so far! It is such a brilliant read! It had me laughing one moment and almost in tears the next.
Kerry and Noah are half siblings who were separated when Kerry was ten and Noah was just two. Although they had the same start in life, at the point they were taken into care, their life’s took very different paths and their childhoods lead to them having very different opportunities in life.
Both Kerry and Noah are wonderful, likeable characters and it was a delight to read the book whichever one of them was narrating the story. Whether it was Noah, with his work as a barrister and his wife and daughter, or Kerry and her work as a cleaner, interacting with her clients and her son.
After so many years of Kerry and Noah being apart will they get on when they meet? Will the differences in their backgrounds and life experiences be too much to overcome?
Highly recommend this wonderful book!
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an absolutely beautiful and wonderful book. I have read some of Mike Gayle's work before ( Mr Commitment) but he's really written a winner with "Half a World Away." I adored Kerry as I thought she had a great personality and I loved the comedic aspect to the story. This wasn't all laughs though as the story clutched at my heartstrings quite a few times and I loved everything about this fantastic story, including the fulfilling ending. I really enjoyed every page of this incredibly moving and emotional book!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

★★★★☆/★★★★★

Book Review: Half A World Away by Mike Gayle

Strangers living worlds apart.
Strangers with nothing in common.

But it wasn't always that way...

Kerry Hayes is a single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never hope to afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot ever forget her past.

Noah Martineau is a successful barrister with a beautiful wife, daughter and home in fashionable Primrose Hill. Adopted as a child, Noah always looks forward, never back.

When Kerry reaches out to the sibling she lost on the day they were torn apart as children, she sets in motion a chain of events that will have life-changing consequences for them both.

Review: I really liked the writing style with the alternating point of views. Kerry's 'voice' was great, her character jumped out of the page at me, she came across as almost larger than life with a heart of gold. Noah's chapters showed an educated man who cared very much about his family.

Half a World Away is well written, engaging, funny and heartbreaking in equal measures. I wanted to pull Kerry and Noah out of the book and give them a huge hug at several points in the story. I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye out for more by Mike Gayle, his writing is definitely for me.

As always, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, for granting me early access to this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Hard-working single mum Kerry has never given up hope that she’ll one day be reunited with her younger brother Noah, who was adopted at the age of two while Kerry was taken into care.

Kerry lives on a rough London estate and cleans people’s houses for a living, but has used her difficult childhood to spur her on. Noah is a successful criminal barrister and enjoys a comfortable life, but doesn’t remember he has a sister and struggles connect emotionally with his past.

The siblings are finally reunited just as they need each other most.

Half a World Away is a beautifully written, poignant and captivating read. Mike Gayle creates relatable characters with touching warmth and introduces clever plot twists and intrigue. The bittersweet conclusion is heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time. Gorgeous.

Intensely moving. Kerry and her younger brother were separated when she went into a children's home and he was adopted. Kerry never gave up trying to find him and wrote countless letters in case he ever looked for her .
He did not remember her at all ,or his previous life. She eventually tracks him down as she desperately needs help coping with illness and her son. Beautifully written, the novel evokes every emotion.

Kerry is a hardworking single mother, raising her beloved son Kian. Life for her has never been easy. She was put into care as a child and changed foster families like you change your gloves, ending up in a home. Getting pregnant after few years of reckless and dangerous living made Kerry change her perspectives. She was determined to give her son the loving, stable home she has never had, even if his father is not interested in him. The only other person that Kerry has loved as much as her son was her little brother Jason, taken into care and then being adopted. Unable to find him, Kerry started to write letters to him via adoption agency. However, Jason is now Noah Martineau, adopted into a white middle class family, and he has been given any opportunity that he cleverly took the chance. He's a barrister with his own perfect family, or at least it looks like this, and he actually never wanted to know about his previous life. So when a litter from Kerry arrives, he couldn't be more than surprised. Will he get in touch with his sister? He has no idea that for Kerry it may be the matter of life and death.

In this character - driven novel the characterisation is absolutely perfect. It is told from Kerry and Noah's perspectives, and they both have distinctive, strong voices. The way they tell their story makes you quickly immersed and engaged in their lives and I immediately found myself rooting for them both, sitting at the edge of my seat and biting my nails. Kerry was absolutely brilliant, down - to - earth, realistic characters, who, despite life not being a garden full of roses, didn't lose her sparkle, her love to colours and Mariah Carey. Noah was great, clever and realistic, and there so much to him that you could think at first.
Watching their relationship develop was like an emotional rollercoaster ride, with all its ups and downs, so incredibly uplifting but also sad, as there were so many challenges thrown under their feet. It was moving, it was poignant and it simply felt SO. REAL.

It was absolutely Mike Gayle at his best - he's back in the best form ever and "Half a World Away" only shows his real talent. It is a book that's going to pull you in immediately from the start, a story that's going to break your heart and give you tons of hope. It's emotional, it's full of feelings, heart and soul, it's bitter - sweet, raw and honest, brilliantly written and touching family saga with a difference.
It was a beautiful, tugging at the heart - strings but also not too wishy - washy and overdone story about family dynamics, about choices, letting go and learning to hold on. The author touched upon many difficult issues but he does it with easy humour and gentleness, and this plus the great characterisation made me feel a part of this story. Mike Gayle is a great observer of a human nature and he can effortlessly and eloquently put his observations into words. Actually, guys, you should simply treat yourself and read it the book asap. Highly recommended!

This is the first book by this author that I have read. A fact that I actually find quite embarrassing considering how much I really loved it. The obvious flip side of this being that I have now added a bunch more books to my ever growing TBR! It is a very emotional read with cracking characters playing out a brilliantly crafted storyline. The whole trifecta of needs for me in a book.
Kerry is a single mum with a dark past spent in care. She is doing her best bringing up her son despite her own struggles. Noah is a very successful barrister and, when we first meet him, a solid relationship with his wife and daughter, living in a fashionable area of London. He appears to have left behind his own childhood woes, having been adopted by a solid family and cared for well, and has grasped all the opportunities given him in his rise to where he is today. But there are cracks forming which we find out later.
Kerry has always wanted to reconnect with Jason, the brother she was separated from when very young. With adoption laws very strict, she has written and sent countless letters to him via the agency, hoping that one day he will try and make contact with his past. But then she goes a step further in her endeavours. A step that will have far- reaching, knock-on consequences for both her and indeed Noah.
Oh my, talk about the full gamut of emotions. This book was devastatingly sad and wonderfully uplifting in equal measures. It had me laughing out loud, smiling with pride, and reaching for the tissues throughout. It is so incredibly well written. Kerry's and Noah's lives are polar opposite in nature, on face value, but suddenly, when their worlds collide, well, I wish I could do justice in my review as to how things pan out but, obviously, you know, spoilers. But I can say that these two characters drew me into their individual and combined stories and captured my heart and squeezed every bit of emotion out of me. I was completely and absolutely spent by the end. But left with a beautiful, underlying feeling of hope.
Woven round Kerry and Noah's stories are some equally wonderful supporting characters that add their own colour and narrative into the mix. Rather than distract from the main story, they enhance it and add some brilliant respite for the reader from some of the things going on therein. Again, I'd love to expand and wax lyrical about some of the things but I think it's best discovering each as the author intended, for maximum impact!
All in all, a brilliant read that has catapulted itself into my top ten of the year (book count currently at 149) and I wouldn't be surprised if it's still there by the end of 2019. Just need to find room to sneak some of the author's back catalogue in soon. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This book made me WEEP! So brilliantly written, full of heart and humour and characters to root for. I've not read a Mike Gayle before, but this has made me want to read all his books!

A very moving story of a mother trying to trace her brother 30 years after they were both taken into care. As the story progresses, it gets more and more moving. Very well written, had me in tears. A very emotional read.

Mike Gayle you’ve done it again, brought me to tears!

Two siblings, separated when they were children, Kerry was taken into care and Noah was adopted by a wealthy couple. Kerry lives on a council estate with her son, working as cleaner, whilst Noah is a barrister, married with a daughter. They have had no contact since they were children, until one day Kerry decides to see her brother again.

None of their lives will ever be the same.

I was so immersed in this book that I honestly could not put it down and the twist, when it came, was so unexpected that I was left reeling.

When you read this book you will need a box of tissues at your side- in fact my eyes were so blurry I could barely read to the end.
I’ve read one other Mike Gayle book and so enjoyed it that I was excited to find this review copy on NetGalley.
It tells the story of Noah and Kerry, linked by a shared past but living in totally different situations. Noah is a barrister who has a relatively affluent lifestyle and Kerry is a single mother working as a cleaner, struggling to make ends meet. When they find each other after many years apart they gradually get to know each other again and find they have shared values.
The construction of the plot means that each chapter is told from alternate viewpoints, Noah’s and Kerry’s. There are also letters written by Kerry to Noah over a course of years.
This is such a heartwarming story, both bittersweet and compelling.
I loved Kerry’s down to earth character and her amusing commentary on her work as a cleaner.
Noah was charming but also interesting in that he found it difficult to express his feelings leading to his marital problems.
This is a great read and I highly recommend it. Five stars from me.

What a simple but great story,it had me smiling and then in tears.
Its the story of Noah and his sister Kerry who were both given up separately for adoption when they were young.
Kerry never gives up hope of finding her brother and writes regular letters to him.
This is the story of their journey to meet up.It's a story of family and friendship and I don't want to give anything else away!