A complex and emotionally gripping story which is a little slow to start but worth sticking with. Great characters who are brilliantly observed keep you invested in this gritty family drama.

Janet Ellis' latest novel How It Was is an emotionally captivating and immersive read that brings the complexities of the 1970s to life. In this coming-of-age tale, readers follow the Deacon family, an ordinary suburban family trying to cope with Marion's desperation for something more than a mundane life and the hurt it causes her family.

Though an outsider may look at Marion and think she is a regular old woman, her history tells another story as her inner turmoil clashes with her daily routine. It's clear that something happened that shaped the person Marion is today. With this emotional read, Ellis manages to perfectly capture the powerful emotions and relationships between the family members, making it feel almost like a real life experience.

In short, How It Was is a compelling read that covers issues of family, dreams and the dangers of allowing expectations and envy to overtake our own lives. An emotional page-turner for sure, it's the perfect read for anyone looking to be absorbed into a realistic tale of the struggles faced by one family in a difficult period of time.

It's great to be in a position to recommend much more diverse books to our young people at school. Building the senior school library as a place where students actually come and find books that they want to read as opposed to books that teachers think they ought to read is an important responsibility and one we take really seriously.
Books like this are such a positive move as they will appeal to a broader set of readers than we are usually attracting. Dealing with modern issues in a clear and captivating way with a strong narrative voice and characters that the students can relate to is critical as we move forwards. This book is both an intelligent and compelling read that will hold even the most reluctant reader's attention and keep them turning the pages long into the night. It keeps the reader on their toes and ensures that you give it your full attention too. I found myself thinking about its characters and events even when I wasn't reading it and looking forward to snatching kore time with it and I hope that my students feel the same. An accessible, gripping and engrossing read that I can't recommend highly enough. Will absolutely be buying a copy for the library and heartily recommending it to both staff and students.

How It Was wasn't for me, unfortunately. I found the plot quite static and empty, with no tension or sense of drive. A shame as the blurb had real promise.

Slow to start but super emotional. The message was really poignant but I found myself struggling to connect with the main character which took me out of it a little.

Marion Deacon, middle aged wife to Micheal and mother to Teenage Sarah and 7 year old Eddie. Marion is bored with her mundane life, jealous of her teenage daughter and fed up of the bickering between Sarah and Eddie. Marion previously embarked on an affair when Sarah was very young and now that she is bored with her existence along comes a handsome stranger and both mother and daughter are taken with him. Marion is not a likable character and with the story from Sarah's point of view you will see why.

Couldn’t finish so can’t review..

Gave it a chance but didn’t like it enough to continue reading.

What...a...story!! My eyes kept opening when she unfolds the story...wow.
When mentalities were/still are in some families, when people try to manipulate and dont want to evolve...be afraid. Excellent book!

A beautiful book, poignant, painful, and emotional. An exploration of the often difficult mother daughter relationship, and the pain that can result.

Marion Deacon is a wife and mother sitting at the bedside of her dying husband. She looks back on her life, her mistakes, and the relationships she damaged in the process.

I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this book and I have to say I did not really warm to Marion. However, for an unremarkable woman (as she thinks of herself) I found her story compelling. The writing was fantastic, the author fleshed out Marion's completely normal life in such a way that I couldn't put the book down.

It aroused some really interesting internal questions such as why am I struggling to connect with a woman like Marion? She was someone looking for excitement, enjoyment, fulfillment... don't we all want those things? The issue for me I think, lay in the way she connected (or rather didn't connect) with her daughter. I found the underlying rivalry there incredibly sad and my heart really went out to Sarah.

This was such a thought provoking character-driven novel with interesting and complex relationships.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having loved Janet Ellis back when she was a Blue Peter presenter, I was really excited about reading her novel. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work for me. Very much in the vein of Margaret Forster family observation stories, it's about a woman waiting for her husband to die and looking back over her life, comparing it to the freedoms her daughter has.

I do enjoy reading about flawed characters, but there still has to be something that makes you care about what happens to them and I struggled to make that connection here. This is an okay, not a brilliant, book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

In a 1970s village in rural Kent, lives go on in an unremarkable way. But Marion Deacon, struggling with being a wife and mother, is about to set events in motion that she cannot control in a story of love, motherhood, betrayal, and long-hidden secrets . . . because everyone has at least one secret.

Unravelling secrets is the theme in this book by Janet Ellis that will have you guessing until the end..

I really like Janet Ellis as a presenter, and was looking forward to reading this book. I found it to be beautifully written and very moving. Telling the story of a family, set predominantly in the 1970s, it is a multi-narrator novel which has a lot to say about families, love, secrets and regrets. I found it to be sensitive and honest, and engrossing. I will definitely keep an eye out keenly for Janet Ellis’ next novel.

I received an advanced reading copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, John Murray Press, and the author Janet Ellis.
This book was heartbreaking and painful to read, but gripping at times. The main character, Marion, was fundamentally unlikeable, and it was torturous to watch her hurtle towards catastrophic decisions, while being given premonitions of how the story would end.
'How It Was' is a domestic novel full of secrets, jealousy, and betrayal, and the tension towards the end made it a compelling read.
Well written, but with an unlikeable cast of characters (except one), although maybe this was deliberate to make the ending all the more agonising. 3 stars.

I just couldn't get on with this book. I'm not sure if it was because it was a pre released book from Netgalley but the chapters didn't flow, It wasn't clear who the chapter was about, if it was the mother or the daughter or if it was the past or the present. I'm sorry, I did try but not for me. I've given it 3 stars as the story wasn't bad.

A very nice book by Janet Ellis. I’ve never read a book by this author before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story and the characters.

After finishing How It Was by Janet Ellis I was left feeling conflicted. I wasn’t sure what I was feeling and then it hit me. I was unsatisfied. Not by the novel, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading How It Was but Janet Ellis has brilliantly managed to make her reader feel the same sense of ennui that her protagonist feels.

Ellis perfectly balances displaying the humdrum but also making you feel the desire that Marion Deacon feels for a different life. The novels languorous pace highlights the stifled feelings of our protagonist who takes any kind of excitement where she can and her lack of appreciation for the things that she has.

How It Was isn’t a frenetic novel. You keep pace with the mundane existence of the characters everyday lives which allows you to feel things as they happen. It is a novel that shows the consequences of wanting for more or thinking that the grass is always greener. It is almost a warning of be careful what you wish for.

How it Was by Janet Ellis is available now.

For more information regarding Janet Ellis (@missjanetellis) please visit http://janetellis.com.

For more information regarding John Murray Press (@johnmurrays) please visit www.johnmurraypress.co.uk.

For more information regarding Two Roads (@TwoRoadsBooks) please visit www.tworoadsbooks.com.

After reading some of the reviews for this book, I very nearly didn't bother reading it. How glad am I that I ignored the negativity and got stuck in. It's a fantastic read, telling the story of Marion Deacon, wife to Michael and mother to Sarah and Eddie. Whilst sitting at her husband's bed waiting for him to die, Marion's memory takes her back almost 40 years to a time when she was young and reckless, filled with desire for another man. Her relationship with daughter, Sarah, leaves a lot to be desired, whilst son Eddie, is an absolute joy - by far my favourite character. The story is narrated by the three of them in turn. I would have loved to have heard Michael's side of the story. I was really surprised to learn the author is Janet Ellis of Blue Peter fame. I'm excited now to read more of her work.

I was so looking forward to reading this book and was not disappointed. May even buy this in hardback now it’s out!

I’’d like to start off by saying that in general, I love books that are set in the 70s. I also love books that explore the different dynamics that can be found within a family and I love books that give us a little peek into the darker side of human nature. After all who doesn’t wonder what’s really going on in the house up the street ...the one with the seemingly perfect little family? I love all that stuff. But I loved THIS book mostly because Janet Ellis is a bloody good writer. I was totally engrossed in this clever and emotive tale of the Deacon family and their struggles to deal with their feelings towards each other ....and with the secrets that they keep. Loved it.