Another killer read by a very talented author. I enjoy Ms Kelly's book, and will definitely read more by her in future. Just sad that I didn't get around to this book earlier.

Omg omg omg .......... this book was amazing I could not put it down I read every word on the edge of my seat I loved the story line, i loved the way the story just kept us guessing all the way threw I loved all the twists and turns and would defiantly recommend this book it was so believable and kept the reader engaged I love it

HE SAID/SHE SAID was an incredible book so I was eagerly awaiting the author's newest offering. It was atmospheric, tense and compelling but didn't quite reach the heights of her first book.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book.
This was a strange one for me - I liked then I didn't. The story was split into three parts which threw me a bit, but it was well written and interesting and the characters intriguing. I was waiting for the bit twist / reveal and where was it, it didn't happen. I would give it 4 stars but because it left me wanting I am only giving 3 - I would have given 3.5 if I could have!

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Interesting psychological thriller. Great storyline very different from most books out there. The book was very well written.

There are many things that draw me to an author. I admire good plotting, enjoy dark mysteries and love a good thriller, but nothing puts me more in awe of an author than the ability to make characters live and breathe on the page. Erin Kelly has that ability in spades and it is what draws me back to her books every time. She is an understated writer, but her books are full of nuance, layered and complex with characters whose lives you feel you understand because they are so well drawn.
So it is with We Know You Know (previously in hardback as Stone Mothers). Marianne Smy came from a small town, Nusstead, in Suffolk,which depended on the work offered by the gothic building that was the old Nazareth mental asylum. When it was shut down in a campaign led by Helen Greenlaw, then the Chair of the Health Board, despite the protestations of all those who knew it’s closure brought poverty, she and her boyfriend Jesse would go there for romantic trysts and to explore the ramshackle structure. What they discovered one night would change their lives and destroy their relationship.
Marianne left soon after. She left in body and in spirit to become a very different person. Now she is an History of Architecture lecturer and has returned to spend time with her ailing mother. To her horror she finds that her husband has surprised her by buying her a flat in the very building that has never left her troubled dreams.
Not only that, but Jesse, who has never left and never made anything of himself, is taking his wounded pride and using their shared secret to force her into an action she doesn’t want to take. For so long she has kept her secret from her husband and their daughter and now everything she has is in jeopardy if she doesn’t agree.
The story begins in the present but flits back from time to time to Marianne’s childhood and to the 1950’s when the Asylum was fully operational. Erin Kelly beautifully evokes the deeply troubling times of the 1950’s when attitudes to mental health among the medical profession could be nothing short of barbaric and when women were concerned, the slightest indication of wayward behaviour would be sufficient to have them committed.
Mental health is a theme throughout this story but nowhere does it hit as hard as we learn what terrible treatment young Helen receives at the hands of the Nazareth doctors for the crime of having heartless parents who knew nothing about dealing with an independently minded young woman.

Kelly’s prose is compelling. She shows us how the three main characters became inextricably linked at the same time as she draws a picture of social inequality, social mobility and searing injustice towards women. As she traces the lives of Marianne, Jesse and Helen, she peels back the layers to show us how they became the people that we see today. Not always the most popular, certainly not always likeable, but formed from one extraordinary experience that links them forever and makes us understand that this experience was utterly real.
Verdict: I liked the storyline and found it gripping, but it is the beauty of the characters; their nuanced thoughts and actions that really spoke to me and made this an enthralling and beautifully realised read. Highly recommended

We Know You Know is another absorbing thriller written by Erin Kelly. The first part is set during the present day and through a series of hints, we discover that Marianne has a secret from her past that she desperately wants to keep hidden. It has links to an ex boyfriend, Jesse and an abandoned lunatic asylum near her home town. The book then moves back to the 1980’s where we learn more about Marianne and Jesse’s relationship and the tragic events that happened when they were teenagers. The final part, and most engrossing for me begins in the 1950’s when a young woman is admitted to the lunatic asylum and escapes the only way she can.
I found this book quite slow and frustrating to begin with, and only really started to enjoy it from part two onwards. The story then started to unfold at a much better pace and kept me engrossed through the much more realistic and relatable characters. Marianne in the present day created a real feeling of stress and exasperation for me but as I learned more about her past, her character and behaviour made much more sense.

I enjoyed this book. The story was interesting and the characters intriguing (I loved Honor and wish she'd been a more present character). However i kept waiting for the big twist, the big reveal and it never happened. The story is told in three parts and i felt it lagged a little in the middle.

3.5 stars
When I first saw the description for this book I was immediately drawn to it and up until around the middle of the book, it lived up to my initial expectations.
To begin with the whole notion of the asylum was incredibly gripping and interesting.
You felt as if you were there, it was that well described.
However, from about half way through, it then became very slow and felt drawn out.
But sadly the ending was a big let down. It all felt a bit silly for me, which was disappointing.
It started so strong but petered out towards the end.
I would be interested in seeing what else this author has written.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really like this author and this book did not disappoint, fast paced, page turning thriller that will have you hooked all the way through.

This is another clever, well written offering from Erin Kelly. It’s probably not my favourite one by this author, however it’s still a great psychological thriller.

Marianne grew up in the shadow of the old asylum, a place that still haunts her dreams. She was seventeen when she fled the town, her family, her boyfriend Jesse and the body they buried. Now, forced to return, she can feel the past closing around her, Jesse, who never forgave her for leaving, is finally threatening to expose the truth. Marianne will do anything to protect the life she’s built; the husband and daughter who must never know. But Marianne may not know the whole story – and she isn’t the only one with secrets they’d kill to keep.

The beginning of this is weak. I found it quite dull and uninteresting and there was not much that enticed me to keep reading. Do not get me wrong, I loved the premise, setting it around an old asylum is very eerie and sets the perfect atmosphere and there was tension as we unravelled what Kelly’s plot was going to be. Eventually, this gets going and it ends up being an intense, atmospheric read, it still does not go at a million miles an hour but there is enough excitement to get the read going.

Although this is not a thrilling read, I loved how it was told. We start in the present day and then Kelly takes us to the past through the eyes of various characters, it was here that the book came alive for me. Reading about the past of the characters made them much more sympathetic, it gave them a background and a reason for why they behave the way they do in the present. Suddenly, characters I did not like in the present, had a meaning, they were likeable and I enjoyed getting to know their pasts.

Given the nature of this book, the plot is not always an easy one to read, it is very emotional and difficult to read at times, but perfect for the plot and the atmosphere that Kelly is going for. Kelly’s characters are perfect for the plot as well, they are so complex and realistic and I could not help but get involved in their story.

‘Stone Mothers’ is an increasingly dark, intriguing read that will tug at your heartstrings just prepare for a dull beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy.

This was definitely a slow burner and took me a long time to really get gripped but that hits around 2/3 in, quite a long way in my opinion BUT wow, when it gets going it gets going!

Broken down into different parts with the later parts going more into the history within and behind the long abandoned Asylum which is written about from the get go.

The opening scene is actually really fast paced and intense, literally gripping you, sadly that tension almost depletes straight after but keep with it.

I must say one of the biggest positives for me was the actual setting. The Victorian mental institution is so well described you can picture it as clear as day in your mind. The building seems to take on a life of it's own, superbly written.

I can't go into much detail without ruining the plots twists, all I can say is give it a go and dont give up!

4*

Thanks to netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.

3.5 stars.

Why does Marianne fill with panic, shock and terror when husband Sam makes a surprise purchase of a luxury apartment in the newly converted Nazareth Hospital, originally the East Anglia Pauper Lunatic Asylum. The conversion is stunning and it has beautiful features. It is close to where Marianne was born in Nusstead, Suffolk and it will mean she can be close to her very sick mother and not impose on relatives who have little space. Her feelings seem to be linked to Jesse Brame who was her boyfriend for a few months when she was sixteen. Even more mysteriously how do Jesse and Marianne connect to Dame Helen Greenlaw, now in the House of Lords, former MP for the area and an activist for the closure of the original hospital. The story starts with the purchase of the apartment in 2018, tracks back to Jesse and Marianne’s story in 1988, then further back to 1958 to Helen’s story and the full circle back to 2018.

There are some excellent descriptions of the old hospital especially from 1988 and 1958 and this oozes atmosphere which at times is very chilling. The 1958 treatments and attitudes are very powerful sections. The area in Suffolk is also well depicted, people rely on the old hospital for employment and times are hard economically when it closes which creates resentment. The characters are well portrayed although not all are likeable. The most interesting story is Helen’s which is both appalling and shocking although sadly not unusual at this point in mental health treatment and this has well documented elsewhere too. There are a number of elements in the story but I think the strongest is injustice and powerlessness.

However, I find parts of the story confusing especially at the beginning, in places it’s drawn out, the pacing is uneven and the mystery/ thriller element is not as strong as it could be. The end is a bit disappointing as it seems to peter out.

Overall, it promises more than it delivers. It’s a really good premise but the storytelling is uneven although there are some really good sections.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

Took me a while to acclimatise and figure out what the book was actually about. I much preferred the narrative from Part 2 onwards. With "We Know You Know" Erin Kelly has shone a light on the old stone mothers and the horrifying practices therein. It's a book which reminds us that things are not always what they seem and situations are rarely straightforward.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, it held such promise, but, for me, this promise went unfulfilled.

There's some beautiful, descriptive writing, for example: "Anyone who thinks predictability is a poor reward for security cannot have known real fear".
Sam has secretly purchased an apartment in an old building as a surprise for his wife, Marianne, not realising it's the basis of her nightmares.

I was honestly gripped at the beginning. However, the book then meanders and is slow and plodding. I'm afraid by the end I didn't really care who did what and why?

Not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

#WeKnowYouKnow #NetGalley
No one can write psychological thriller like Kelly.
This novel was so unsettling that it kept me on my toes.
A lifetime ago, a patient escaped Nazareth mental asylum. They covered their tracks carefully. Or so they thought.
Thirty years ago, Marianne Smy committed a crime then fled from her home to leave the past behind. Or so she thought.
Now, Marianne has been forced to return. Nazareth asylum has been converted to luxury flats, but its terrible hold on her is still strong. A successful academic, a loving mother and a loyal wife, she fears her secret being revealed and her world shattering.
She is right to be scared.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Straighten for giving me an advance copy.

★★★✰✰ 2.5 stars

“People lie to cover their tracks all the time but in the aftermath of true horror, there is a window – minutes, even seconds long – where shock drives out dissemblance and there is only room for a kind of devastated honesty.”

This is a novel that never quite reaches its full potential.
Still, I'll try to first address the things that I liked about We Know You Know (also published as Stone Mothers).
I found the discourse on class and money (the way it can change you in ways that you might not be aware) to be very compelling. We see how money can distance you from your own family, your hometown, and even your younger self.
The novel also does a brilliant job in evoking this small English community and of how unemployment can damage a family not only financially but emotionally (there is anger, shame, guilt, and pain).
I also found it incredibly realistic the way in which Marianne's mother vascular dementia affected her loved ones. She only appeared in a few scenes but these were some of the few moments in which I felt emotionally involved by the story.
Nazareth is a building which emanates unease. It is oppressing and labyrinthine, yet I was fascinated by it. Kelly give this place a horrifying history, one that shapes the protagonist(s). Nazareth seems almost a character, if not the focus of the story. We are often given small details that consolidate this building's presence:
“When I was at school, we wouldn’t say anyone behaving eccentrically was going round the bend but ‘getting the number six’. Back in the day, the number six bus was the one that, after they closed the railway, ferried workers and patients alike from Nusstead and beyond to Nazareth. I’d assumed it was a universal idiom. It was only when I went to Cromer Hall that I understood that the phrase was something I’d have to censor, along with my history, and my guilt, and the accent I shed like a shell.”


Now on the things that didn't quite work for me...
Like many other reviewers, I found this book incredibly slow. I don't think that dividing it into four sections worked in the story's favour. It just created distance between each narrative (the first one is from Marianne 'now', the second is from Marianne as a teenager, the third is from a patient staying at Nazareth in 1958, and the last one is from another character). They seemed like these self-contained condensed stories that didn't merge well with one another.
The first section stresses this 'big bad thing' that Marianne did...and when we actually get the details I felt underwhelmed. Other things happen but they never seem 'thrilling' to me. The suspense felt a bit forced (especially the final section when there is this unnecessary vagueness that seemed to exist merely to prolong the narrative).

The characters...they occasionally seemed a bit clichéd but they did have 'moments' of credibility.
Marianne was just plain awful. I disliked her not because of the 'big bad thing' but because she often sounded like a martyr.She is supposedly 'clever' and 'smart' (something which other characters, her degree, and her career, seem to imply) but to me she seemed anything but intelligent. She didn't even convince me in terms of her age. She is supposed to be in her later forties, she has managed to leave her small town behind, made her a new life for herself, etc. etc., and yet, she sounds exactly as experienced and self-aware as her teenage self. She was so naive, so irritatingly self-dramatizing, that she would been a more appropriate protagonist in an 18th cent. novel. I'm thinking something on the lines of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady.
She spends nearly 60% of the book reproaching herself, bemoaning that 'big bad thing', her 'evil' deed seeps into her vision so that no matter her surroundings she will see a reflection her sins staring back at her (“The eels are back, and this time they’re sliding all over the sky”). Or she gives this dramatic descriptions: “His lips are white, like they’ve got bones in them.”. Jeez. When she spoke she did it with lots of exclamations marks (‘You saw her!’) and italics abounded, so that she often comes across as both juvenile and unrealistic. To begin with I thought that she was being sarcastic or disingenuous but she was turns out...she is just dense.
The other two narrators were less irritating but I did find that one point of view sort of 'ruined' what could have been an interesting individual. I was hoping to read from the point of view of a calculating, ruthless, possibly psychopathic woman...but what we get is a sort of vindication where we learn that she isn't bad but simply (view spoiler). The last point of view is from a character who seemed an odd choice as she only appeared way back when in the first section. I think the book would have been more effective without this last section.
(view spoiler)
The main male characters fell in one of the following categories: stupid, dull, w*nker. There were two male characters who were decent-ish but had brief inconsequential appearances.
Marianne's relationship with her husband was one of the least convincing things in the story. They acted like they just met each other and I kept thinking that he was her second husband or something. They have no real history, their interactions kept making me question if they really had just met or something (when they have been supposedly married for 20 years or so).
Lastly, I wasn't a fun of the way in which people experiencing or suffering a mental illness or disorder were presented in such a patronising way. They look 'broken' and just feel everything 'too much': “she lives life so deeply but everything hurts her, it’s like – she’s got splinters in all of her fingertips and glass in her feet.”

There is this vagueness that tries to make scenes more 'suspenseful' by making things appear more sinister than they are...
The storyline is so slow and uneventful that I was temped to abandon it once or twice. There were few moments that I found enjoyable and or entertaining...still, there were some nice descriptions and although I think this would have worked better if all of the narratives had been from the first point of view, I think that Kelly's writing has the potential to create a much more interesting story.