A slightly slow start for me that made it hard to get hooked, but once I was past 30% in the story, it was fast-paced and I couldn't put it down. Great book

This novel is a truly well-written account of dysfunctional; familial relationships and their consequences for each member. "Beneath the Surface" is a book resistant to a single genre categorization as it is partly a crime fiction novel as well as a social commentary and family drama based on the -many- secrets and lies that lie at the core of disrupted parent-children relationships.

The four main characters are all the members of the Vermuyden family originally living in Cambridge and now relocated somewhere on the edge of the Fens. The story sets off when 10-year old Mia finds a well-hidden positive pregnancy test in the garage of their new household. Mia's older sister, Lilly, tells her that the test belongs to her and urge her kid sister to keep quiet about it as her parents, Grace, and Patrick. Grace is a strict, demanding mother with a troubled past which she managed to keep secret from her own family and Patrick is a quiet man who, nevertheless, has a few problems of his own. Things will escalate when Lilly suffers a seizure in her school that sends her in the hospital for nearly a month. Grace will soon realize that her daughter is living a kind of double life which is also the reason behind her illness. There are bits of information scattered on the text concerning the Anglo-Saxon history and the role of the -pregnant- women in that era. Furthermore, the author inserts the hint of supernatural involvement in the plot, adding to the mystery.

Neil adopts a mixed third-person narrative style as we witness each character's thoughts on the same chapter alternately. The pace of this novel is a bit slow but the reader never feels bored as Fiona Neil's prose is excellent and there are a lot of stimulating insights on the thought process of the protagonists which help us to identify more easily with the characters. The secrets and lies that torment them are revealed gradually and only in the, redemptive and highly-satisfying, finale we can see the whole picture and understand the characters struggle. In a way, the main protagonist is Grace as it is her character that carries the most hideous personal history, marked by a lack of love by her mother and the loss of her little brother, but Lilly is equally important as it is her who seems to know the most about her parent's secrets.

This is not your typical crime novel and you should be warned that "Beneath the Surface" is a character-oriented book that is not focused on its strong plotline but rather on the interaction between the members of Vermuyden family. It is a sad story but in the end, there is perhaps a glimpse of hope for Grace and her daughters, as they seem to reach the long-awaited atonement. I would recommend it to all fans of literary crime fiction who enjoy books written by Stuart Turton and Kate Atkinson and also to those who love reading a well-written fiction novel.

Grace Vermuyden had a chaotic childhood, determined that her two daughters will fulfil the dreams she’s was denied. She has built a strong, organised picture-perfect family so imagine what happens when the very foundations Grace has built are rocked to their core…

When her eldest daughter Lilly, her golden child, destined for great things falls ills and is hospitalised Grace’s carefully constructed life starts to unravel and so she begins the quest to try to revert her family life back to its normal. However, Mia her ten-year-old starts to link all the things that are happening to her family in her own unique way and tries to do the right thing for everyone with catastrophic consequences.

Each family member Grace, her husband Patrick and her two daughters Lilly and Mia all trying but without the others knowing seemingly all want the same thing, but they all have secrets and it’s those secrets that could ultimately destroy their family’s future.

This is the second Fiona Neill book and for me was a compelling read as the characters and plot are written with authenticity on the ups and downs of a modern family. Each character had their part to play in the unravelling of the story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I would highly recommend to readers who enjoy family dramas.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this one, I loved the characters of Mia (in particular) and Lily, whose poor broken heart will certainly heal. The mother , Grace , I was less drawn to despite her having the most ghastly upbringing. As for the father ? Useless. Mia and her strange little world take centre stage and there are moments of laugh out loud funny as the family are gripped in Lilly’s health woes.

Felt a bit rushed at the end and altogether contrived to conclude a storyline which could have run forever. I really enjoyed the Fens setting and the mouldy old house which was positively claustrophobic.

On balance a good read that I recommend

This was an interesting read, but ultimately I was a bit dissatisfied. Very atmospheric, intense, but I didn't quite feel belief in all the characters. When the whole crux of a book is the psychological exploration of secrets, lies and things unsaid then I want the characters to pop off the page.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book and the opportunity to review it.

Grace and Patrick have been married for 18 years and have two daughters, Lilly aged 17, and Mia 10. They are living in a new house in the Fens around Cambridge. The family used to live in a big house in central Cambridge but had to move out to the Fens over money issues. They’ve now got even worse problems as their new house’s damp course hasn’t been fitted properly so the whole house is now affected by damp issues. Patrick hasn’t disclosed to Grace the extent of their money issues and is relying on his successful brother Rob for money to bail them out.

Lilly is doing well at school and hoping to go to Oxford or Cambridge. Grace is pushing Lilly hard and is very keen for her to have all the opportunities in life that she didn’t have at that age. Then Lilly collapses in class and needs CPR. She is taken to hospital but they don’t know why she had the seizure.

As the book goes on we learn more about Grace’s dysfunctional childhood and why she behaves like she does towards her daughters. Mia is precocious and behaves oddly. Her best friend, a boy called Taz, lives at a nearby traveller’s site. I found Mia’s character quite unbelievable at times as while you can describe her as precocious there were times when I could not believe that even an extremely mature 10 year old would say certain things. Such as on finding her older sister had been pregnant while a speaking globe was giving the population of nations around the earth “Mexico 132 million, Indonesia 269 million’ Mia was tempted to ask Lilly if this was a good example of irony. I’m not even sure a teenager would think that let alone a 10 year old. On hearing that the baby is not to be Mia is regretting the niece she will never know and thinking ‘They could have gone on holiday together and taken the train to London to go shopping. A period to mourn the loss properly would be required’. These are hardly the likely thoughts of a 10 year old no matter how precocious.


The other characters were no more likeable with Patrick. the father. seemingly being spineless, Grace being pushy and irrational and Lilly making some very strange decisions, even for a teenager, not least sharing her pregnancy news with her 10 year old sister who seems unable to keep a confidence ever.

Lilly is in hospital for 29 days! This is for a seizure which was later found to be caused by psychological effects. You’d be lucky to be in for 29 hours for that. They have you out within hours after being fitted with a pacemaker! And she didn’t have her mobile phone for those 29 days. Mainly as her mother was using it to pretend to be Lilly and finding out more about Lilly’s personal life. Hard to believe a 17 year old is separated from her mobile for 29 days. And then her consultant gave Lilly a leather-bound book as a present when she left hospital in which to write down the triggers for any future seizures. I found that hard to believe given there was no development of any relationship between the two other than a normal professional doctor-patient one.

As well as finding none of the characters endearing in the slightest there was also the eel. Yes, the eel! Mia kept an eel which she’d caught in the Fens in a bucket as a pet and this eel had quite a starring role in many parts of the book. Bizarre really.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my copy of Beneath the Surface in exchange for an honest review.
This is a beautifully written book that is a distubingly accurate portrayal of living through marriage and motherhood following a traumatic childhood. Every character is quirky and some are hard to like, but it all flows together so well and is a real page-turner. Not an easy read in parts, but an excellent one. I really enjoyed it.

A family drama set in the Cambridge Fens. Beneath the Surface follows a dysfunctional family who are hiding many secrets from one another.

When Lilly suffers a seizure during an English class the family are besides themselves, especially Grace, her mother, as it stirs up a traumatic memory from the past. Mia's best friend also experiences a seizure the next day as well as an older girl. This sparks an outbreak from the community and fears of more people becoming unwell. As the truth behind what is causing the seizures comes into light so too does the secrets that each of the family members are keeping.

An easy read which keeps you intrigued until the bitter end. Full of heartache, mistakes, love and protection. Many thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my ARC of Beneath the Surface.

Hmmmmm. This book was ok, set in the fens there was an air of mystery that gave the story an interesting twist.

Grace and Patrick have two children Lilly and Mia. Grace’s childhood was not great so she tries to make Lilly and Mia’s perfect, which presents its own challenges.

I didn’t find it as pacy as I liked but I thought it was ok!

When teenager Lilly Vermuyden mysteriously collapses in class one day, the secure family life that her mother Grace has worked so hard to build and maintain starts to unravel. What follows is a tense, well-plotted and well-paced psychological tale that is a real page-tuner and which kept me engaged throughout. It’s a multi-layered story, with many subplots and minor characters, quite a “busy” book, but on the whole Neill keeps control of her subject and brings it all to a (fairly) satisfying conclusion. There are some missteps along the way, however, some scenes that are overwritten or implausible – for example, Grace finds herself walking behind a group of Lilly’s friends one day and they helpfully fill in a lot of background detail about Lilly’s life – and there’s a rather unnecessary subplot about an eel that Lilly’s sister keeps in a bucket. (I found myself more and more worried about this eel as time went on.) All in all it’s perhaps a book that merits racing through and enjoying for what it is rather than thinking about too much and I found it an entertaining and enjoyable read.

It is the second book I read by Fiona Neill, it was ok but not more than that. It is the story of a rather dysfunctional family. Grace the mother had a really bad childhood and is obviously still traumatised by it, Patrick the father has lots of debt but is keeping quiet about them. The two children are Lilly, a very popular student who is supposed to go to Cambridge and Mia a 10-year-old who is definitely on the spectrum and is smart but in her own way. It is a family with quite a few secrets.

The main problem in this story is that very successful Lilly starts to have strange seizures with no evident reasons. I found the story a bit slow and the drama not much of a drama, the youngest child Mia was the most interesting character, Lilly was the typical teenager. Overall there was not a memorable character and it was not a book that kept me awake at night. There are a few twists at the end but again for me the problem was that I did not relate much to any of the characters so I was not particularly shocked to find out the truth. Not an unpleasant book but not one that I would recommend to everyone.

Beneath The Surface is the kind of book I wish I'd written. It is multi-layered, with several currents running through the story. Racism, parental expectations, the dynamic between older and younger sisters, family secrets and historical ones too. This is a brilliant, modern novel, even including a new build home which is falling down around their ears, with a perfect blend of commentary on socio-political issues, and fast-paced mystery which thrills and excites.

Beneath The Surface tempts the reader to keep going with the promise of secrets to unravel and increasing tension between the four main characters. The whole family, Grace and Patrick with their two daughters Lilly and Mia, all carry secrets. They all believe they are doing what’s best for the family by keeping those secrets, however this leads them to cause further pain and puts pressure on the family, I struggled to relate to anyone in the family, and I think that was due to how much drama they created. I felt the book could have easily focussed on the secrets of two family members alone, rather than involving all four, as this complicated the book too much. One character in particular felt he had secrets in order to give balance to the book, however this made him seem very peripheral to the main story and not as involved as he should have been.

An enjoyable read that keeps you involved right to the end. The characters are very clearly drawn and make you care what happens to them.

I found this story quite intriguing as you knew there were things under the surface bit it took time for it all to be revealed, which is what made the story good to read.

Beneath the Surface is a family drama set in the Cambridge ferns. Family secrets come to the surface when the teenage daughter collapses during a tutorial. This is a dark and troubled story with well written characters.

This was an excellent portrayal of the inadvertent damage that can be caused by parents loving children too much. There are a couple of red herrings that are nicely tied into the story giving the overall plot some layers of complexity which make this a very robust novel.

'Beneath The Surface' has so many rich layers to it that it is difficult to know where to start. It's a literary exploration of the lives of a family-2 brothers married to very different wives, Patrick, teacher, scholar, hider of secrets is married to Grace, who struggles with her own troubled background,is a journalist which is not meeting her expectations of a dream job.Patrick's brother, Rob and his wife,Ana, are unable to have children, something loudly aand explosively revealed at the very start, at the barbecue from hell where Lilly and Mia, Patrick and Grace's children are hiding in the garage with secrets of their own.

This one scene perfectly places all the players in the novel, the reader immediately gets the sense of the role each one occupies and then  Fiona gradually strips away layer after layer as events surround and consume them all.

Lilly collapses at school, laving her family and medical staff confused at to what the cause was-Grace, on going through Lilly's phone looking for clues to a hidden relationship with a boy she was unaware of, finds herself further away from younger daughter Mia and her husband Patrick. Whilst Patrick is burying his financial worries ever deeper, Grace and her dissatisfaction with the life she hoped to build for her family, is becoming ever more volatile.

The title is absolutely perfect, it neatly reflects the allegory of the English Fen location of the book, where Mia's obsession with ancient history,such as the tale of 'Beowulf' and the malarial sickness, Ague, reveals that plagues were rife until the marshlands of the Fens were drained. What is then exposed may not be pretty -the plotline about the archaeological dig is simultaneously heatrbreaking and educational-but is a neat allegory for this family in crisis. Lilly is keeping a secret that has literally made her sick. Grace has overlooked Lilly because Mia is such an odd and demanding child and is struck with guilt about this. Patrick is borrowing increasingly large sums of money off his childless brother, Rob, to keep his perception of what should be a good life afloat. All these lies are making them sick and as with the cure for the Ague, they seem to sleepwalk soporifically through their existence.

I did find it hard to believe that when Grace has to attend yet another parent conference for Mia, that a 10 year old would say the following to their teacher-

''We've been talking a lot today about the importance of honesty,haven't we Mia?'she says all kindly tone and steely glare.

'You have,'says Mia.

'And what did we learn?'

'I learnt that you think my truth is a lie,'says Mia flatly.'I don't know what you learnt,Miss Swain.''

Mia is a mix of odd contradictions for a child her age, she is forthright and very intelligent yet still believes in superstitious routines such as praying to ancient gods to help her traveller friend Tas. As the archaeological dig continues to expose ancient relics , it is encroaching on the land that the travellers use to camp on and she is massively concerned that Tas will have to move.

Lilly has been lying to her parents , her parents have been lying to each other and themselves over and over, until it becomes impossible to hide the truth any longer .And at the sidelines are Ana and Rob who see first hand the cost of parenting whilst desperate for their own child.

A searing portrait of a very modern family with such a precise and well rounded sense of location, history and place , it shows that what may be hidden will always find a way to come up to the surface and reveal its secrets. It's a stunning and very moving, almost hynotic read that pulls you under and is completely engrossing.

My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and Netgalley for my gifted ebook copy of 'Beneath The Surface'.

An unusual book and very different from what I was expecting. It charts the unravelling of the history and relationships of a family living in the Fens from the first glimpses of a near-perfect household to the complex and interconnected deceptions of the individuals involved. It centres around two sisters, Lilly and Mia, whose stories are gradually revealed alongside their mother's well-hidden past, eventually coming to the surface over the novel. After a rather slow start, an interesting and absorbing read.

Not quite what I expected, but nevertheless a good read. Drama, secrets, lies, plenty to get your teeth into. The story centres around Grace, her husband, and her daughters, Mia and Lily and a series of events. Poor Mia who my sympathies lie with struggles to fit in....
An atmospheric, strange tale tale, where Fenland history and landscape comes to life... intertwining past and present.