Beneath the Surface is a potent mix of psychological thriller and domestic/family drama, and once again Ms Neill has crafted an utterly breathtaking read. You may have guessed from the somewhat enigmatic title that the story concerns secrets, lies and skeletons in the closet just waiting for the perfect time to reveal themselves, and you would be right! The reason I enjoyed it so much is that there are so many different facets to it with each coming together to create a tense, nail-biting tale and one you will abandon life in favour of. The gossip that ensues when teenager Lilly unexpectedly collapses has the locals theorising about what has happened to her and why. You can feel the desperation and pressure felt by all involved to get to the truth of the matter. The way Neill keeps the cards close to her chest means we are never sure where this is heading.

We watch as the Vermuyden family attempt to deal with everyday problems but they are all quite annoying as they act in ways that become increasingly frustrating to the reader. Grace lives her life through her daughter Lilly and is completely consumed by paranoia, her husband, Patrick, is the eternal optimist who sits back while debt mounts and mounts and teenage daughter Lilly probably behaves the most normal. She's rather selfish and there's increasing evidence that she's been leading a secret life. You do, however, warm to them and the reason they act the way they do is revealed later on. The vivid descriptions of the beautiful, vast surroundings of the Fens is my favourite part, though, and you can tell that the author knows this area well. Many thanks to Michael Joseph for an ARC.

Oooo what an ending. Chaotic yet satisfying yet not satisfying at all - I want more! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I very much enjoyed this book. As I've said before, I am a huge fan of original books that surprise me, either by the writing, the choice of protagonist, or hundreds of other reasons. This one hit the nail on the head with a great choice of protagonists. We flit between four members of a family, each with their own secrets and plans (hint: everything really is Beneath the Surface) and its astonishing to see how they view each other.

I vehemently enjoyed how secrets turned to lies then turned to consequences. I didn't see some things coming, and I certainly was in the dark about some of the mysteries from the very beginning. I love Mia as a protagonist, and how her logic seems perfectly reasonable for all her decisions, in a way that makes you forget she is 10 years old and shouldn't need to be making such choices. It really makes you understand her as a person and her relationships with her family.

I also like how things seem to come full circle, and how the parents past lives influence their current ones. There is a symmetry between them and their daughters which is incredibly intruiging. I also like how there are so many different stories going on, but I never seemed to get confused or lost. It was chaotic without being chaotic, which was great to read.

The only criticism I would have is that the ending didn't tie everything up in neat bows the way you'd like, but after giving it more thought, real life isn't tied in neat bows and it made the story feel more realistic.

4/5 stars!

I thought this was an excellent book. It is about, more than anything, relationships. Between the individual members of a family and their wider peer groups. The context, the home built in the Fens which is suffering from severe damp problems serves as a great background to the story. I found the way Grace reacted to the world around her which stemmed from her own background (careful not to spoil here) to be fascinating. I thought all the characters were well drawn and well developed and I liked the ending.

Having read great reviews for this book, I was looking forward to reading it, but found it really slow. I ended up reading out of duty to the publishers who had provided me with an advance copy. Although I usually like this genre of books, it wasn't for me but reading other reviews I am in the minority. I'm sure an awful lot of people will enjoy it.

I'm in two minds about this book - hence the 3-stars.

This is the second book I've read from Fiona Neill (the other being "The Betrayals"). Whilst I found the story interesting, I developed an intense dislike for some of the characters (in particular Grace, Rob and Cormack), and found the constant references to the damp atmosphere rather depressing (the book is certainly no advert for living in the Fens!) I was also disturbed at the idea of Mia keeping a wild eel in a bucket - the eel seemed more of a prisoner than a pet.

I did enjoy a lot of the book. The plot was good, and some of the characters were interesting - particularly the intelligent but eccentric Mia. There were some comical moments (eg: the reference to "Staying Alive"). The book ends dramatically - but without really ending, so I wonder if a further chapter in the lives of these characters is planned? I'd read it if so.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book even though it’s a bit different to my usual reads. I like the hidden meanings in the storyline and really enjoyed reading about the family. I liked the characters and loved Mia and her personality! The writing was really good and definitely made it easy for me to imagine the characters as real people. I like that you learn about Grace’s past, as it helps you to understand her character better. The reason for my 3 star rating is because I have a few questions, and I feel like the story wasn’t finished very well. There’s lots of things that I would still like to know, and if things were wrapped up properly then this would have been 4 stars for me. This book was a nice change from thrillers, and I would definitely be interested in reading more from Fiona Neill!

This book by Fiona Neill is unlike any that I have read previously. There are so many complex relationships. Ostensibly about two sisters, the book tells of their relationship, of their parents inability to deal with the issues life is throwing at them, of the elder sister, Lilly and her early steps into adult life, of the confusion of Lilly's younger sibling Mia.
There are complex relationships at all levels. Lilly has what appears to be a seizure, this throws up the uncertainties of her parents relationships. Mia lives in a world fueled by her imagination. Grace had a dysfunctional family as a child and has difficulties with her own mother /daughter relationships. Patrick is a financial mess and can't face up to it. The book touches on so many important issues and leaves you wishing the family well. So many things go wrong that it's hard to see a way forward.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it took me by surprise but I found it hard to put down and a pleasure to pick up again.

This was a wee bit different to my usual reading material. I spent the majority of the book wondering where exactly we were headed and it turned out to be nowhere I had thought of. I feel a bit protective towards Mia and wish I could revisit her in a few years time just to see how she is doing. She is certainly the stand out character here. A slow, brooding sort of read that somehow manages to be gripping.

This is a book about the lies and secrets that people tell and hide to protect the people they love but if they are not careful it will catch them out and damage the very people they are trying to protect.A very deep story which can be very disturbing.

This novel is an emotional, slow burn family drama, full of secrets and lies. The characters are well drawn as is the setting. The pace is a little slow but I still found myself compelled to read to the end. My thanks to Net Galley, the author and publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

In this book we meet a family who are struggling. Patrick with his financial problems, Grace trying to escape her past, Lily and her first love and finally Mia who thinks she can fix them all.
Mia is by far the most endearing character in the story. She is under appreciated by everyone even though she tries so hard to please.
Read this book and then give those close to you a big hug.

Family life in all it’s madness, complexity and the things that aren’t talked about. We all underestimate the ways in which our own childhood can affect our lives and relationships. This story may make you reflect on your own childhood and evaluate how it has made you into what you are now. The characters are all very believable and ...Wow...what an ending! I am not saying anything...read it for yourself.

A complex and insightful exploration of the modern family.

Grace, Patrick, Lilly and Mia are on the surface an ideal, nuclear family. As the story progresses, the layers are peeled away, and the controlling behaviour, emotional damage, lies and secrets are revealed, and the family implodes.

This stories most poignant message is that children need protection, sometimes even from their parents, to ensure negative behaviours, unrequited ambitions and hopes, are not instilled into them.

Mia’s chance discovery during a family barbeque has a devastating effect. Not, only the revelation, but the chain of events it catalyses, and the secrets it forces to the surface.

The characters are multi-layered and realistic, Mia is the antithesis of Lilly, the ‘golden child’. They are both intelligent but influenced by their mother’s attitude towards them.

The story is suspenseful, with an underlying layer of menace. You are constantly waiting for something bad to happen, and this makes it riveting and unnerving to read. The authenticity of the setting, and characters adds to this.

I like the ending, it brings together everything that has gone before, through nail-biting action scenes and a poignant, yet hopeful final end.

I received a copy of this book from Penguin Books UK – Michael Joseph Publishing in return for an honest review.

The tale of a dysfunctional family, Patrick and Grace, and their two daughters, Lilly and Grace, and the secrets they are all harbouring. I loved a lot about this book - Fiona Neill writes very well, the descriptions of the Fenland setting are outstanding and Mia is an intriguing and beautifully drawn character. Whilst not a fast paced book, and more of an emotional slow-burn family drama, the twists and turns as secrets were uncovered kept me interested for most of the book. However, as it came towards the end I felt it lost its way a little and the ending felt very abrupt.

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for an advance copy.

Secrets and lies are indeed buried beneath the surface of the Vermuyden family life. Personally, I was annoyed by the almost paranoid Grace who seems to be seeking to live through her student daughter Lilly, destined for Oxbridge. I had no time for her husband Patrick, a seemingly ineffectual, optimist who sat back overwhelmed by creeping debt. Lilly a typical selfish teenager, constantly at odds with her mother, while 10 year old Mia was precocious, a strange mixture of naivety and maturity.
So why did this family story keep me reading until after 4.00 a.m.? It was a roller coaster ride through near tragedy yet there was humour in Mia's clumsy contribution to the saga. I found that I really cared for them and Mia stole my heart. As Grace's tragic background became clear to us (although not to her family) so we began to understand her paranoia.
The dramatic literary depiction of The Fens was remarkable and can only come from a writer who has lived and breathed the miasma in which the family struggled to survive.
The ending left me mapping their future based on the past Fiona Neill has so effectively shown us. A sure sign of a good book!
Beneath the Surface needs to be on the reading list of every Book Group. It will engender so much discussion. It also cries out to be filmed. I have no hesitation in recommending this superb novel.

After a chaotic childhood, Grace Vermuyden is determined her own daughters will fulfil the dreams denied to her. Lilly is everyone's golden girl, the popular, clever daughter she never had to worry about. So when she mysteriously has a fit in class, Grace's carefully ordered world begins to unravel.
Consumed with paranoia, and faced with increasing evidence that Lilly has been leading a secret life, Grace starts to search for clues. But left to her own devices, ten-year-old Mia develops some wild theories of her own that have unforeseen and devastating consequences for the people she loves most.
I feel I’m sitting on the fence with this book, it was well written, the characters were well portrayed & the pace overall was good but it didn’t grab me & I found myself putting it down & reading something else then reading another couple of chapters, so it took me what seemed like forever to finish which isn’t normal for me as I usually devour a book in well under a day. I’ll certainly try more books by the author but this one left me lukewarm.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I just finished reading this compelling, original story and was blown away by it. Set in the fen land around Cambridge, it features a family which outwardly seems cohesive and strong, but who knows what goes on beneath the surface? Grace married Patrick in the hope of love, security and a happy family. Many of us do this, but who knows Grace's motivation, and how her own upbringing will shape her adult life? Is Patrick as safe and sensible as he seems? Their two daughters, Lilly (17) and Mia (9) are intriguing characters. Lilly is very intelligent, popular, beautiful and stylish, while Mia is a creative and curious soul who struggles to write out her ideas but gives her all when subjects catch her imagination. Everyone has their secrets, and struggles to keep them shut into their boxes but the pressure increases. When Lilly is taken ill in class at school, is she grievously sick, the first victim of an epidemic or is something else at play? Can the lid be kept down on what lies beneath the surface? What is the truth and can they survive? An intriguing, intelligent and topical book which rewards the reader and would be an excellent book group choice, it really deserves to be widely read.

When ten year old Mia finds a used, positive pregnancy test, and her sister Lilly says it is hers, all Mia's subsequent actions are geared to protecting her sister's secrecy, with devastating consequences. Her mother has her own secrets to protect, and Lilly is trying to manage everyone's expectations of everyone else including herself. The plot turns on what they each know, that isn't so, and the consequences of the best of motives based on wrong assumptions.
Having read a little about the author's other work, I did not expect this novel to be to my taste. I was wrong. The author specialises in compelling family dramas which are deeply, darkly psychological, and this one appears to echo those themes. The narrative, which is shared by Lilly, Mia and their mother, held my attention. It is a powerful, pacy, story with well-drawn characters. Mia's voice may be written too old for a ten year old in parts, but her motivations and actions are very much in keeping with a child's perspective.
Overall, this novel is beautifully written, its themes explored in a compelling and intelligent narrative. The setting is intricately woven into the story. I will look out for more by this author.

Another gripping tale from Fiona Neill. This isn’t a genre I usually pick up- I prefer a good thriller to a tense, mysterious “contemporary” (if that’s the right description?)- but Neill’s work just has a quality about it that I rather enjoy.

Grace and Patrick’s family is on tenterhooks, really, each keeping secrets from the others, including daughters Lilly and Mia. When Lilly collapses in class, these secrets begin to come out. I really enjoyed trying to work out the truth behind each character. What really happened when Grace was young? What really happened at the festival between Lilly, Cormack and their friends? What really happened with Mia and Tas? I didn’t manage to work out any of these truths before their reveals, and that is what I love about this book. So many answers and twists that I just couldn’t guess at.

The pace of this story is slow most of the time. It moves along like the waters of a Fenland river, quietly deceptive but perfectly capable of running wild. It allows the reader to wade in deeper and deeper until fully immersed, unable to back away, committed to going through to the other side.

The Vermuyden family have recently moved to a new build house in the Cambridgeshire Fens. All the houses on the estate are falling apart and no-one seems prepared to accept responsibility for the problems. To me, the state of the decay of the house perfectly mirrored the state of the Vermuyden family dynamic.

Patrick wanted a successful teaching career but despite doing everything right and being the perfect son his life isn't turning out the way he wanted and he has to borrow money from his free-spirited younger brother in order to, quite literally, keep his head above water.

Grace had a feral childhood. The neglect, trauma and abuse she endured have led to a deep-seated need for order and certainty in her life. She is determined to provide her daughters with the safe, comfortable, controlled lifestyle she never knew while growing up.

Lily is seventeen. A teenager coping with the fallout from a doomed summer romance while facing all the pressure that comes with being academically gifted.

Ten-year-old Mia is prickly and difficult to be around, but she is fiercely loyal to the people she loves.

This is a complex story with characters that are, in the most part, well developed. It shows how little we sometimes know about the people closest to us.

There is a lot of misdirection going on in this book. I thought I knew what was going to happen, who did what, and the reasons for everything. I was wrong. All my assumptions were proved incorrect but that just made for a much more enjoyable read.