Truth of the Matter was the first book I’ve read by author Jamie Beck. I loved this book. It was very much a book about relationships..mother-daughter, husband-wife, fathers, grandmother, girlfriend, etc. The novel opens with a soon to be divorced woman taking her daughter back to the coastal town where she spent happy summers living with her grandparents. These are difficult times for mother and her teenage daughter as they figure out what they both want their new lives to look like. There are some serious themes in this book; they are not covered up but dealt with in a manner that I could really relate to. I am looking forward to reading much more by this author.

I loved this heartwarming book. The fluid connections between characters and the depth of each character kept me hooked from the beginning. The realistic descriptions of family dramas swept me up into their worlds so I ached when things were rough, and smiled when their lives were smooth. I will definitely be recommending this book to my circle of friends.

Truth of the Matter deals with some serious issues: anxiety that cripples, the effects of divorce, wounds from childhood that shape character and expectations, cutting, and self-realization. Ms. Beck has created characters that make readers want to cry, get angry, mourn and cheer. This isn’t a story that gets tied up in a pretty ribbon at the end, but in the expectation that something good might be on the horizon. It is women’s fiction at its best. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

What a wonderful view of what really goes on in other peoples lives. This is a very emotional story about the challenges women face as mothers, daughters, and wives. Anne and Katys story isnt easy but it is filled with love and figuring out their new normal as Marie delves further into her dementia.
This book will leave you reeling and wanting more at the same time. I highly recommend that women of all ages read this book as it will have you focusing on what women in your family may have gone through as well.

There was so much going on in this story of Anne starting over - her deceased mother and absent father, her divorce and move, her grandmother suffering from dementia, her teenage daughter Katy, a new romantic interest in Dan. I read book one in this series first in case it had any bearing on this story but it does not. I don't have a creative mind so I am always interested in characters that have artistic/music abilities. This story was about one woman and what how she put herself on the back burner to be a wife and mother as most of us do (except some of us work full-time too). Anne thinks she's being doing the right things only to be made to feel like she's not by her daughter's therapist. It's funny because in these days of COVID-19 and the restrictions being put on people, I've likened it to parenthood. That the governors are making the decisions they think are best, based on the info that they have and we probably won't know in the immediate future, or maybe for years, if the actions taken were best. Just like parenting - we don't know how well we did and may not know for many years into our children's lives. Good story. Interesting to learn about the reasons grandmother was possibly not always loving to her son.

You know that old saying .. we don’t know what goes on in other people’s lives... well this book is a classic example of that.
We see Ann, divorced, starting over, strong. When all she is really doing is surviving the wreckage of her divorce and wrestling with the choices of her past. Did she go the right thing becoming a stay at home mom after her daughter Katy was born and now trying to start over in the town that was always her happy place.
We see Katy a straight A student, popular, friendly and talented. We don’t see Katy trying to start over but how can she when she feels replaceable, first by her dad, then by her old friends and having to relocate to the town her mother wants, is not what Katy wanted. She didn’t want the divorce, the move, the challenges of a new school, friends and finding her place in new families and relationships.
This book deals with subjects we don’t like to talk about, divorce, starting over, dementia, anxiety, depression, and how we navigate all of that in our busy world, it also deals with growth, strength, starting over and second chances. There is only one author that can write this book as eloquently as it needed to be and that is Jamie Beck, she tackles these tough subjects with such grace and insight and understanding.
I enjoyed this book, I was complete absorbed in the characters and the storyline!

This is a wonderful story. Starting over, learning to deal with life and struggles, and finding the path best followed. The lives of three generations of women deal with the bumps along their roads and bring them all some peace, closure, and happiness

Jamie has done a wonderful job in depicting the wreckage that can be left behind in a divorce. Annie and her daughter Katy are trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Anne's divorce. Katy struggles with depression and self-harming and this new situation has exacerbated those tendencies.

The book is told from the first person viewpoint of three women... Anne, Katy and Marie who is Annie's grandmother and who suffers from dementia. Secrets from Marie's past are unearthed (literally and figuratively) and Anne digs into putting the pieces together in an attempt to help Katy.

Watching Anne and Katy navigate their "new normal" and their journey of self discovery and acceptance is what this book is all about. I enjoyed the book and would not hesitate to recommend it.

Truth of the Matter is a stirring heartfelt book that delves with a delicate frankness into the messiness of divorce and the devastation of mental illness. The story of mother and daughter Anne and Katy is intimate and often uneasy, but their story is also filled with love and a bond that is stretched to its limits. Their transitions, the reinvention of who they were versus who they are and who they want to become, are a lovely and emotional part of this story. Books I love best are those I read with my heart, and this book meets that criteria from the first page to the end.

Truth of the Matter
This book just blew me away, the storyline was intense. I loved they way Jamie Beck brought the characters to life, each had their own life crises to deal with. Past love lost, death, new blended family to deal with, the hope of a new love, and the work in progress of a HEA. Truth of the Matter is a must read the book will leave you with a good feeling, to live life to the fullest.