A really enjoyable book. Rachel's adored father has just died and she has been jilted at the altar by the man she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with. She returns home to live with her mother, Eleanor, a successful artist, with whom she has a rather awkward relationship. Her mother tries to tell her something significant, but dies suddenly before she can. Rachel's need to find out what her mother wanted to tell her frames the story.

The book alternates between the aftermath of Rachel's failed wedding and her mother's teenage years and early twenties in 1960s London. This device is used by many authors, but here it is very effective and really allows the development of the story.

This is a book I would happily read again.

Beautiful, beautiful and beautiful. I adored this book. It moves effortlessly between past and present and I could feel the emotion in each time period. I cried and know that when I read this again and again I’ll cry each time. Truly beautiful.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

A real and full story that was completely relatable tracing a difficult relationship with your mother and what to do when she is no longer there to repair the relationship.

I really enjoyed this. I requested it purely on the recommendation of the wonderful Marian Keyes, when she likes a book I know it must be good!
I actually found it awfully sad in parts. I loved the story of Eleanor at art school in the 60s, the sense of time and place was very authentic. She seemed to have such a distant relationship with her daughter Rachel and when she didn't get to tell her the truth about their lives, it just seemed such a waste. I loved how the story moved back and forward from the 60s to the present day and when Rachel catches up with the characters from Eleanor's youth who don't really seem to have moved on very much! I loved Agnes, Eleanor's sister, she was very funny and brought a lot of humour to the sometimes tragic stories.
Very much a character driven family saga type novel, I found this to be an excellent read and I would certainly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. There is a charm to the storyline which switches between past and present. The present finds Rachel, jilted at the alter, and she has returned to her mother's home to nurse her wounds. The past explores her mothers journey. Eleanor is a talented and famous artist who starts her journey in a prestigious London art school. She gets sucked in a fast world of glamour which leaves her with a secret that she must share with her daughter Rachel.
I loved the characters and both them and London felt so alive. The story unfolded at a good pace with lots of treasured moments and the story felt new, Lots of love about this book.

I’ve only read Emma Kennedy’s nonfiction titles before, which I loved, so I jumped at the chance of reading this one. It’s not a completely original concept with the time jumps & the mother-daughter relationship, but the development of the characters and the little details portraying the different time periods really make this book special. This is definitely one I’ll be recommending to people looking for a nice read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book, the dual timelines and the also the two main characters. You could feel all the drama and heartfelt emotions of them both throughout. I found it hard to put down and eagerly wanted to know how things progressed.between mother and daughter. Setting some of it in the 60's made it even more of a success, brought back lots of forgotten memories. I'll definitely look for more by Emma.

This book is very evocative of the sixties as a young and innocent girl from the country is exposed to life in London. The excitement of this new life is mostly hidden from her family and ultimately changes her forever. The story hinges on the lack of disclosure to her daughter as to what happened, a secret protected by her sudden death. The daughter then sets about unravelling the past and, in the process, sots out her own future. This is a complex story which is well told.

A beautiful story of relationships and their complications.

This book is told in the then and now.

The then is the story of Eleanor, who moves to London to study art in the swinging 60s. Eleanor meets Jake on her first day at college, and he introduces her to the 60s Soho lifestyle, so far removed from her upbringing in Brill. Eleanor embraces the life and the relationships that develop, which then influence the rest of her life.

The now is Rachel, Eleanor’s daughter's story, which begins with her back in her mother's house after begin jilted by Claude at the altar. Rachel and Eleanor have a problematic relationship, in the present Eleanor is a successful artist, who has recently lost her husband Charlie, Rachel's father. Both women are struggling to come to terms with the pain of death and betrayal. Unable to comfort each other.

Eleanor tries to tell Rachel something important, but Rachel is so consumed with her own pain she does not want to get into something profound, but Rachel recognises that whatever it is, it's having a significant impact on her mother and then Eleanor dies suddenly and Rachel becomes obsessed with finding out what was so important.

The then tells the story of Eleanor's life and slowly catches up with the now revealing secrets about love and passion along the way. The now reveals clues for Rachel that brings her back to Soho where it all started.

This was a great read, I really enjoyed how the then slowly revealed what you needed to know to answer what was happening in the now. Also, the perspective from Mother and Daughter on their relationship was so at odds and provided a great insight into people's interpretations of life. Would recommend without hesitation.

Taramindo.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

I wasn't sure of this book when I first started it but wow once I got into it I absolutely loved it. The main characters are Eleanor who's story starts in nineteen sixties London and Rachel her daughter who was born in the nineteen eighties. It comprises of two love stories and all the up's and downs that they entail and how we can't always choose who we fall in love with. It's by no means a mushy hearts and flowers book, it gives you a good insight into the promiscuous sixties and gradually the story progresses to present times.

This is a lovely interesting book set in the 1960's and today, about Eleanor an artist who falls in love with Jake,whilst at art college,but he is gay.
They keep in touch over the years and she has a very happy marriage with Charlie and a daughter Rachel.
When Charlie and Eleanor have both passed away, Rachel wishes she had been closer to her mother and discovers a secret in her mother's belongings.
Highly recommended book. Thanks to Netgalley for an Arc.

A beautifully written novel of Eleanor's past hedonistic student life, love and loss interspersed with Rachel's (her daughter) current life.
The author transports you straight to Soho in the 60's with the fashion, the art and the student hangouts so well described I felt I has been there despite not even existing in that era! Eleanor's young life was so exciting that it is hard to reconcile her with the mother in Rachel's part of the story but I guess that is an accurate reflection of how we all change as we age and become responsible!
Rachel in turn clearly has no idea about her mum before she was a mum (as is true of so many of us) and her point of view is so very different that it is easy to understand the underlying animosity between the pair.
The whole story is one of love and loss but there are real moments of joy and humour interspersed, particularly via Agnes and her letters to Eleanor as a young girl but also her attitude to life as an old woman- she is definitely the aunt we all want!

Rachel is devastated, Not only has her father died just six weeks before she is due to get married but on the actual wedding day, her fiancé, Claude fails to turn up. She returns to live with her mother, Eleanor with whom she has a somewhat difficult relationship. They live together in a somewhat prickly setup but then one day Eleanor tries to tell Rachel something. Rachel, impatient, says it can wait but when she returns that evening her mother is dead. Set in two time periods, present day and the sixties this is a compelling tale of two women coming of age and coming to terms with themselves.

I loved this book. Anyone who has suffered the loss of a parent will identify with Rachel as she realises she will never again have the opportunity to relate to her parents, to hear their stories and know them as people. A lovely book which I strongly recommend.

I loved this book, from start to finish it had me wanting to keep reading! The book is set in the 1960's & present day & is mainly about the life of the artist Eleanor and her daughter Rachel. It is funny, sad and intriguing a must read. I honestly was sad to get to the end.

Eleanor is an art student and falls in love with Jake. A good man but he likes men more. This, in a way, is their story. A wonderfully readable book, referring to past in parts but it is needed to keep the story flowing and to complete the story. Good description of the characters and places. It is a funny, touching story. A very good read

Written in dual time frame, this novel is an absolute gem. I loved everything about it and would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Cornerstone Digital for my copy, sent in return for an honest review. The novel revolves around Eleanor a mother and her grown up daughter Rachel who have always had a tricky relationship. They love each other it’s true, but there are various tensions and feelings of awkwardness that have never been addressed.
Throughout the story we learn that Eleanor is a talented and famous artist whose career rapidly escalated after her first triumphant exhibition. Thereafter she has always been very much in demand for portraiture. Born in the swinging sixties; she enjoyed her life in London surrounded by a small circle of good friends. She and Charlie, her husband, were undisputedly brilliant, hands-on parents who had waited sixteen years for the birth of Rachel and who had focused their nurturing, love and devotion on their only child.
Rachel, however, has always felt that she lives her life in her mother’s shadow. She feels that she has never been good enough set alongside her famous mother; that she has always been a great disappointment to her. She adores her father and every photograph her parents had ever taken featured her with her father; her mother obviously the photographer.
As the story starts Rachel has been jilted by her fiancé Claude on the morning of their wedding day and with nowhere else to go has been forced to return to the family home. The distance between her and her mother feels like a giant chasm, and as that long hot summer draws on she feels out of sorts and miserable. She can feel the tension rising. She cannot face her new life of unhappiness or her unsatisfactory relationship with her mother. Then one evening her life changes in a heartbeat. Nothing will ever be the same again. This is Rachel’s story and what a tremendous, engaging and beautifully written story it is.
I loved the storyboard and the way the characters were developed in the story. They worked their way into my heart and the rogues were truly inspired. I like stories about families and I enjoyed this story especially. This author has insight and compassion and is an excellent storyteller, wise and full of empathy. I also loved the themes that made up the story and the way they were seamlessly resolved. I particularly loved the brilliant finale to the story, everything pulled together to give the reader a heart-warming and immensely satisfying ending. I highly recommend this novel as a breathtakingly excellent read.

This is a light, chick-lit style story. There is nothing original in the structure of the book (then and now), or the characters and setting, and the outcomes were predictable. I did read to the end and the writing was OK, but I like something with a bit more tension.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. This proved to be ideal reading for passing the time on my sunbed by the sea.