I was really looking forward to reading this but it wasn’t for me. I struggled to the end but really didn’t like the characters or the story

On the face of it, this book sounded as though it would be right up my street, but in reality I was a little disappointed.

It was an honest picture of a woman’s marriage and her relationship with her children, told mostly retrospectively at the end of her husband’s life. Although the story was sad I struggled to warm to any of the characters.

I found a lot of the story disjointed and consequently often struggled to work out which character was speaking and at what point in time. I struggled to fully immerse myself in it.

This is incredibly well-written and brave, exploring the inner lives of characters who aren't particularly likeable but experience the thoughts and feelings that we all have but can't necessarily admit to. The characters aren't likeable but they are incredibly real. Highly recommended for fans of Annie Proulx, Barbara Kingsolver and Anne Tyler.

I was very interested reading this book however when I started, I found it quite difficult to continue. I found it hard to sympathise with main characters Marion and Sarah and couldn´t warm up to the storyline. I also found it confusing to follow the shifting narrators and the time jumps.

Thanks to the publishers via Net Galley for a complimentary ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

How It Was looks at the complexity of a mother/ daughter relationship, and how a mothers own childhood can affect this. Or at least it does in the case of this family.

The 1970s were a time of change for some women, but not the women in this story. Marion is the mother of two children: Sarah, 14 and Eddie, 7. She is unhappy in her life, and has been for many years. We look at her life through a series of flashbacks (and flashbacks through her daughters eyes at the same time) as she sits at the hospital bedside of her dying husband. We learn of the affairs, the terrible relationship with her daughter, and the catastrophic accident that cost the family far more than just a child (although this was quite traumatic enough).

I found it very difficult to empathise with Marion, she’s not a likeable character. She seems self absorbed, I didn’t like how she felt about her daughter (it’s as though she feels repulsed by her), and how she speaks to everyone is simply rude. To me, it seemed to be a mixture of boredom, depression, selfishness and desperation that drove Marion’s actions. Michael, her husband, is endlessly patient, perhaps scared that she will leave him. He puts up with some terrible behaviour from Marion. I really wanted him to stand up for himself.

It doesn’t sound like it, I know, but I really liked this book. It’s a book with a thoroughly unpleasant main character (in fact she’s not on her own on that score - watch out for Adrian!) and they do make for interesting story lines!

This is the first book I’ve read by Janet Ellis, and I will be looking for more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Two Roads for my copy of this book.

A rather piercing portrait of family dynamics in the 1970s and rivalry between mother and daughter. The change of narrative voice was occasionally disconcerting and abrupt, but it's a sharply observed piece of work.

Poignant, moving and so very beautifully written. A devastating story that will resonate long after you have turned the final page.

This book was interesting BUT you could not let your mind wander at all. If you stopped reading at any point it was easy to forget who was talking at any one point. The characters were so muddled, I found it difficult to carry on.

I read and really enjoyed Janet Ellis’ debut novel The Butcher’s Hook so I was very keen to read her new book. It’s different to her first book but I still very much enjoyed it. It follows Marian, who is sitting in hospital next to her dying husband. She reads him old cards that she’s found and slowly falls into recollections of their lives together. The novel meanders and it can be a little hard to follow at times as you try to work out what point you are at in Marian’s life but I realised that I had to let myself just go where it was taking me and it became easier to follow the timeline then. Marion has had such heartbreak in her life, and the way she had to hide her intense grief for someone earlier in her life was stunningly written. I felt like I was right there with Marion and could feel all of her emotions. Later as she has to deal with her teenage daughter and all the complex emotions that this entails again gave me such empathy for her. She’s a flawed person but it’s impossible not to feel for her. I enjoyed this book but it’s only now that a little time has passed and I find myself still thinking about it that I can see just how good a book it is. I definitely recommend this one!

The story of family life, secrets and betrayals throughout the years, mainly told by Marion as she sits by the bedside of her sick husband, Michael. When I started this book I thought I was really going to enjoy it, the plot was interesting and the writing flowed well. Sadly the more I read, the less I liked it, the main bugbear (a huge one) was how, unless you were 100% concentrating, you didn’t know who was “talking” and I’m afraid that I just cannot continue after having reached almost half way. It was disjointed, no breaks, let alone pages for different memories by different people. You cannot afford to let your mind wander at all, otherwise you will get totally lost! The only likeable character was the son Eddie, the others being quite awful and very selfish.

I loved the 3 family members perspectives. A very emotional read- I loved the premise of looking back over your life, the good and the bad, things we should maybe have done differently. A fresh narrative.

I enjoyed this. It was a nice read. A woman looking back over her life whilst sitting in the hospital beside her dying husband it explores their relationship and the flaws within the family. Written from the perspective of 3 members of the family brings a deeper understanding to the issues faced.

Well written, good plot and well developed characters. An emotional read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and John Murray Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review

How It Was is a story about the complexities of a mother and daughter relationship, set in rural Kent in the 1970's.

As Marion sits at the bedside of her dying husband and looks back to when things started to go wrong for them, she's haunted by her memories of events from almost forty years ago.

The story looks at her experience of her daughter, Sarah’s, adolescence and the rivalries and jealousies it brought up between the two of them. This novel of secrets, betrayal and love is full of tension and frustration and makes for quite a compelling read. A beautifully written, bold and highly recommended, character-driven story, told through a mother's experiences.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from John Murray Press via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Beautifully written and so emotional. A lovely tale that I thoroughly recommend. Thanks for the advance reading

Absolutely gripped reading this. I’m fast becoming a fan of Janet Ellis as a writer.

The story of a woman, unconventional marriage and of ageing.

The 70s style cover is spot on as the story takes us back there. Memories, dysfunctional family relationships all brought back from the contents of her bag.

Resentful of her life, begrudging what time has been lost. It unravels into a super read.

Read in two days it left me excited for Janet’s next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read it.

This book has multiple points of view and multiple time settings. It can be confusing at times to know who is the narrator and which time period is being referred to. The main characters are a family of four, Marion, Michael, and their children, Sarah and Eddie. With the exception of 7 year old Eddie none of these characters or the more minor characters in the book is sympathetic or even interesting. The plot of the book concerns Marion reflecting on her life as Michael, from whom she has been estranged for many years, lies dying. Perhaps Janet Ellis has written this book to reflect on women's role in the 1960s but I did not find this a convincing narrative of suburban lives but rather a tedious telling of a selfish woman's self-absorption.

Thanks to the publishers via Net Galley for a complimentary ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

DNF. I requested this book because I absolutely loved Janet Ellis' debut, but sadly this one didn't work for me. The jump in times and in perspectives was very confusing for me, and I wasn't drawn to any of the characters nor to the plot in general. I will still keep an eye on this author in the future, because I love her style, but sadly this book wasn't for me.

When I first started reading this book I wasn't sure whether it was because it was a proof copy that I got from Netgalley or the way it was written as I found it quite confusing. The narrative jumped from person to person and from the past to the present with no way of knowing what was what. I spent a lot of time rereading former paragraphs trying to work out who was speaking and when.
Once I'd got used to this, however, I enjoyed it immensely.
The story takes place in the present but looks back to the seventies. Marion sits by her dying husband's hospital bed thinking back to their lives when their children were young. Marion and her husband, Michael, don't seem to have ever been in love with each other living in the suburbia of the seventies. One day Marion starts reading her daughter Sarah's diary and we see the entries as they are written. Sarah is a teenager, beginning to be interested in boys and indeed men. Eddie her younger brother by seven years is the apple of his mother's eye coming as he did after Marion suffers a miscarriage. When disaster strikes the whole family see what happens from different perspectives.
I've not read Janet Ellis's other book but she writes this one with great insight into the family dynamic. A very realistic read, nobody comes out of it all as totally likeable, but that's what makes it so good.

I found this book a bit confusing as it goes back and forth whilst Marion is reminiscing and it took me some time to get into the story, but about a quarter of the way in I began to enjoy it. It was a quite emotional book to read.