This is a spy thriller with English characters. Initially hard to get into but then a great gripping read as the book goes on. A great debut novel by Charlotte Philby.

I wanted to enjoy this book, as I felt that the story - of Anna, recruited by an unknown spy network, to investigate her father-in-law’s shady business dealings - could have been riveting. Unfortunately, I found myself getting very confused as to what time frame we were in, as the story shifted, seemingly at random, from Anna’s childhood, early adulthood, three years earlier and now. The chapters alternated between two characters, Anna and the Greek nanny, Maria, neither of whom are completely open and honest with each other, or with Anna’s husband David.

I felt that the story was missing some components - maybe an indication of David’s motives and actions - was he deliberately making Anna think she was going crazy or not? It was difficult to know who’s side the reader should be on, as I actually felt quite pleased about Anna’ Visit to the solicitors at the end of the story. Her character was quite selfish and at times uncaring.

Sorry, but not a book I particularly enjoyed and not one I would reread.

I found this book to be a most difficult thing. It's billed as a compulsive domestic drama/spy story and I really wanted to like it more. The blurb likens it to 'The Night Manager' which I enjoyed, but unfortunately, unlike TNM, I couldn't relate to/like any of the leading characters. It's a book that required a lot of concentration. The story jumps around a lot and is told by both Anna and Maria and sometimes because they are very much alike I forgot which was which. Anna was portrayed as an intelligent woman but oh my, was she really so naïve? Harry, David and his father Clive all came across as manipulative, angry and quite unlikeable.
I did read to the end as I was intrigued as to where the story was going...… but sadly it left me confused.
That said I do think that it might make a good screenplay for a tv drama,
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC in return for an honest review.

That seriously cannot be the end! This tale has left me with so many questions, I just want to turn over one more page. The Most Difficult thing is...where is book two? A thrilling, fast pace novella with an incredible twist. Read, share and repeat!

Very much enjoyed this book, the characters are complex and the story is well written.

There are quite a few twists in this book as you would expect from a spy thriller. Some I didn’t see coming and I really enjoyed that!

Anna Witherall has it all ... or so it seems. Married to David who she met at University, she has a successful career, a beautiful home and three year old twin daughters, Stella and Rose.

But Anna is hiding a dark secret, one that could bring her carefully constructed life crashing down around her ears at any given moment.

And so she is forced into making a decision.

The most difficult decision of her life.

Anna knows that if she herself doesn't make the decision, then someone may make a very different decision for her. And that definitely won't be a decision that Anna wants to be on the receiving end of.

This novel is one of those that you will find yourself unable to put down for any length of time. It's a bit of a roller coaster at times, and you need to pay attention if you don't want to fall off...

For me the most difficult thing about this novel, is the ending ... you never really get a satisfactory conclusion, and whilst for some novels that is absolutely fine, others need the loose ends tying up, and I feel as if this is one of those.

Overall a great novel though.

The Most Difficult Thing about this book is putting it down. From page one,the reader wants to know how it will end. It is a tale of dysfunctional individuals,treachery and lies. Every character has baggage from the past and most lead a dishonest life. The interaction between them is well constructed. It is unclear why Anna needs to have two lives and be dishonest about her parents and this is never really resolved. The story runs well but the ending,they me,was a bit unsatisfactory.

Enjoyed this book. The interactions between who and what we think is happening/real are well drawn out. The author has great insight into human need and relationships.

I really wanted to like this book but sadly I cared nothing for any of the characters and felt this was a tried and tested formula that other writers have done much better.

This is an extremely complex book- a good read but quite difficult to track at times. I think a bit more transparency of who is working for which agency would have helped me as it was all quite muddy (probably intentionally!) at times.
I liked the character of Anna, although her relationship with both David and her children was difficult to fathom as she seemed to be in it for all the wrong reasons but then with some of the right feelings.
The story was well paced although most of the action and twists to the tale were in the last handful of chapters and made it quite complicated to follow having been fairly sedate in the first few chapters.
Overall an enjoyable read but definitely one where you need to be able to commit to reading in big chunks otherwise it would be easy to miss some of the nuances.

I felt this book was well written and I enjoyed it. The plot was rather complex in places and I found the moving between each chapter with a different character was sometimes disorientating. However, overall i found the book held my attention.


The author did well to provide an emotional connection with the characters. It was easy to picture the setting and pick up on the family dynamics that were taking place. I must admit at one time I was never really sure who was the baddie! This kept my attention to continue reading.

Although the plot felt rather far fetched in places I still felt the book had a ring of authenticity about it. The complexities of spying are unknown to me as a reader so it was interesting to be immersed in the plot..

A good read.

The Most Difficult Thing is the first outing for Charlotte Philby, whose personal history has created quite a stir with regards to the publication of this book. So I think with such a high calibre of recommendations and personal connections I came into this book with high hopes. Sadly this wasn't for me. It was a bit of a slog to get through, I found the characters all over the place, randomly making decisions that I just couldn't quite get my head around. And ultimately, I have absolutely no idea what happens in this book. I feel I investigated quite a lot of my time to end up with many, many, many more questions than answers. Whilst I like a good cliff hanger, there's a good cliff hanger, and then there's giving the reader absolutely nothing.

That's not to say there weren't some good parts of the book; the intricacies of the plot, the amazing descriptions of the surroundings were great. Maybe the author just tried to throw too much at this one? And going forward less will be more.

Unfortunately not just my cup of tea. But, it wasn't so awful that it would stop me trying Charlotte Philby again.

Anna or Marianne is haunted by the death of her little brother when they are children. She changes her name and lives a life of lies. At college she meets two people who are her closest friends. One Meg suddenly disappears from her life when she marries the other, David. However she is really in love with a Harry and has only married David to spy on him. Harry tells Anna that David’s father is a bad man and allows her to assume he works for MI6 and that he is her handler.

I had to work really hard to read this book. It was described as a spy story but the spying was just sneaking around and hiding a second phone where absolutely anyone could find it while pining for a man who pretended to be someone but wasn’t. I didn’t not like Anna. She spent so much time staring into peoples eyes and seeing so much, it became preposterous. Meg’s disappearance and reappearance seemed arbitrary and in the end meaningless. I spent most of the book wondering what Marianne had done to take the blame for her brother and what David’s father had done that Harry really wanted to know. And Maria’s part seemed so odd. Overall the story line was very interesting and the twist at the end was great but the characters were too thin for me.

Philby's debut novel is a triumph - a blend of domestic noir and spy genres, I found it a compulsive and gripping read. She has cleverly woven the plot so nothing is quite as it seems - with all the strands brilliantly pulled together with mounting tension as the novel reaches its conclusion. All the characters are well-drawn but I found Anna particularly fascinating as a woman protagonist in what we are used to seeing as a typically male profession, and the choices she makes that ultimately determine her fate. A great read.

“The most difficult thing”
Way better than I expected & kept me on my toes! I do definitely recommend it. Brilliant throughout with characters you could really identify with and lots of twists & denouements but the ending.......not happy! You’ll have to buy the next one

The Most Difficult Thing by Charlotte Philby, granddaughter of the infamous Kim, is part spy thriller and part domestic drama and is mainly told from the POV of Anna, whose life encompasses uni student (where she meets David) to friend, girlfriend, spy, mother and wife in that order. The other POV is Maria, David's Greek childhood friend, who is later employed as a nanny for Anna & David's twins. I struggled with the structure of the plot, which for me rather messily swung between so many different timelines, and the choice of using Anna and Maria as they were so alike. I didn’t like any of the characters and felt little or no empathy with them. Weird title and weird ending - sorry not for me. Thanks to HarperCollins for the ARC.

A mixed review from me. It opens with what seems like a tale of a marriage going south, but given the author is Kim Philby's granddaughter it's unsurprising perhaps that it turns out to have a strong espionage component. Ultimately I felt the motivations of the characters never properly rang true and too many threads were left unfinished, so was unsatisfied given I had been glued to it. The writing was good; the plot just didn't do it for me.

I received a NetGalley copy provided in return for an honest review.

Are the characters on self-destruct, hiding bigger secrets or victims in someone else's lies? Or all three? Clever book, captivatingly told and which will surprise you throughout as more truths - if indeed they are truths - are revealed..

The most difficult thing about this novel is understanding what on earth is going on. There are twists and turns all over the place. It switches from past to present without warning and the whole spy story is ridiculous. Anna is an unstable character who vomits and faints all over the place - how she manages to hold a successful carreer is unbelievable. She is all about her "girls" but has actually had nothing whatsoever to do with their upbringing. David loves her and seems to hate her. Maria adds her own version of events to muddy the waters further. Harry and Meg, Anna's mother and even Felicity of the park bench pop in and out of the story. All is revealed in the end with a series of contradictory letters which explain (!?) what has happened. And the ending - what the ****???? The basic story is not good enough for all this intrigue.

Unput-downable (is that a word?)
One just had to keep reading to discover who was who and what they were doing. That wasn't easy. Anna, Maria, David and the peculiar Harry, all had something to hide, all involved, apparently, in spying or criminal worlds. Anna was perhaps the chief character, and I wasnt sure whether to feel sorry for her or whether to find her unbelievably selfish.
I did have to go back several times to be sure I hadnt missed something. The timelines were sometimes difficult.
And the ending....???
Thanks to NetGally for a review copy.