This for me is a 2* OK read.

It's an easy read about a family whose mother goes off to Greece and the family don't know why, although, the husband does, but, he's not saying. It wasn't difficult to guess the secret, but, that didn't spoil the overall read.

I'd say this is very much a beach / holiday read about family, relationships and loss. I'm afraid, for me, I wasn't invested enough in any of the characters to care that much, although, the thread of each member of the family was a good one and that's what held my attention.

Overall, a weak storyline, so, I can't recommend.

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

The story was an interesting premise and explored family dynamics fairly well. I wish the author had delved into the supporting character's lives a little more. And while we learned a lot about the past and how Cecily felt then, I don't think we got a deep enough look at how she was feeling in the current. I also wished we had a little more of Cecily's husband's perspective. The characters were fairly likeable which was critical in making this a good story. The pace was good. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I received a copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Thank you Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for my ARC. I absolutely loved this book!
I was brought to tears many times throughout this heart wrenching family drama. I thoroughly enjoyed every well developed character. The story begins with a text chain of three adult daughters speculating on their mother’s sudden trip to Greece. From there we are introduced to the Nightingale family where long held secrets are revealed. Consequences of past decisions come to light and lives are changed forever. This is a heartwarming story of loss, love and renewal.

I wish to thank Net Galley and Amazon Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is an engaging book about family issues and setting things right after 50 years of keeping secrets. Everyone has things in their past that they could change if they could. This is the story of one woman who spends a lifetime with regrets about choices she was forced to make as a teenager. The story is well written and keeps your interest and is one that has the reader asking, “What would I do?” The title suits the story very well. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to those who like family stories.

This was a lovely story focused on family and trying to make things right after 50 years. I loved the perspectives and knowing how everyone felt and how it all fit together and the plot was perfect. I loved how the sisters were nothing like each other and that we saw into each of their lives alongside the main storyline. This was such a quick and easy read and i read it in one sitting. I havent read anything by this author before but i definitely will in the future.

This was a quick and easy read. I loved the characters although I found it hard to read when Marnie was so rude. I imagine it would be hard to be adopted and not know your family for so long but I couldn’t help but hope for her to soften towards the family and develop a relationship with them. My favorite part was the author’s descriptions of Greece which is a place I hope to visit someday. Imogen does a wonderful job of describing it and I could picture it in my head. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Wasn't at all what I was expecting. I have read one other book by this author and it was fabulous and this was too. This is a story about a woman who had gotten pregnant at a very young age and her mother made her give the baby up for adoption. After 50 years that baby that was put up for adoption reaches out to her birth mother. What happens next is not at all what you are expecting. Will it be a happy ending ? Read the book and see how all of the lives are effected by this change in the family dynamic.

No matter how much we think we know about our family members, especially our parents, it is just the tip of the iceberg. They were fully formed humans before we came into existence as much as most children live in denial! One morning Cecily, who rarely ventures far from home up and leaves to the surprise of her children. They are perplexed, but also quite peeved that she had the audacity to disrupt their collective lives! She is on a journey she never planned on to suss out some things she thought she put to rest years ago. Things that Cecily thought were put to bed long ago and she closed off her mind and heart to rear up and must be acknowledged and dealt with. The family goes through the journey each in their own way. A truly lovely. compelling enjoyable read.

Cecelia loves her family. She has raised three wonderful daughters and is enjoying being a grandmother. A mysterious letter shows up in the mail and suddenly she is on a flight to Greece. Her husband Norman won't explain her absence, he merely tells their daughters that she will explain to them when she returns. This book is a heartfelt look at family, love, loss, and reconnecting.

Cecelia's trip to Greece is to meet the daughter that she gave up for adoption 50 years ago when she was 16. After becoming pregnant, she was taken to a mothers home to continue her pregnancy. Once she delivers her baby she will return home. Imogen Clark gives insight into how unexpected pregnancies were handled in the 1960s. The home was not a vacation. The girls went to class and had chores every day. This helped the time pass. It is moving to read how the pregnant girls were looked down upon by the local townspeople. Reading how the babies were turned over to adoption by people unknown to these girls is heart-wrenching. As a mother, I could feel and identify with their pain.

When Cecelia meets her firstborn daughter, it is not as she expected. The daughter, Marnie, is very cold and standoffish. Cecelia knows that it might take time for Marnie to open up. So Cecelia shares the story of her life and her pregnancy with Marnie. She invites Marnie to visit her at her home and meet her half-sisters. Several months later, Marnie contacts them and wants to visit. This visit is tense and awkward. Marnie doesn't commit to any further contact with any of the family. Devastated, Marnie vows to take it slow and build a relationship with Marnie and then bring her back into the family once she is comfortable.

What absolutely amazed me was the insight that Imogen Clark had to the thoughts and feelings of Cecelia and Marnie. I am an adult adoptee, finding the thoughts, prayers, and concerns that I have long felt in a book was astonishing. Imogen Clark is able to provide the reader with loving insight into such an emotional situation. The ending of this story is bittersweet and beautiful. This is an absolutely wonderful book..

Imogen Clark tells a beautiful story of family and some of the true to life conflicts that can arise. Cecily went through a journey in her teens and later in life the story of this journey is told with such detail and emotion as to place the reader there beside her. As she is reliving this her family is also going through their own journeys of joy and pain. There are two stories tied into one and the very talented Ms Clark gift wraps it for us with a page turning bow on top.
I received a requested advanced copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I enjoyed how this story unraveled. Cecily receives a letter that prompts her to drop everything and fly to Greece for a week alone. She knows why, but as a reader you are left in the dark for a bit. When she finally meets the person she is looking for, the book breaks off into another part where you get a wonderfully descriptive flash back to Cecily's past which brings the reader up to speed in a quite clever way.

You also you get to know her 3 daughters back at home. Each one has a very unique personality and are struggling with their own issues in addition to the unusual behavior of the mother they each rely on in different ways. Upon Cecily's return home, the storylines begin to converge. This is where the book became a little "rambly" for me as I eagerly waited to everything to come together. Not all of the characters are particularly likable, but I think that was the author's point. There are a couple of turns that are interesting, but nothing overtly twisty. As for the ending, it is either clever and poignant or abrupt and frustrating. I believe that is all in who you are and how you approach the story.

A very readable book. Once I started it I couldn’t put it down and just wanted to find out more about the Nightingale family.
The characters are well described and very believable. The different characteristics of the sisters and indeed their mother is so well portrayed that the reader feels they really understand them.
This is a book about family, it’s secrets and it’s love for the family members even when life doesn’t turn out quite as you expected.
I received a free advance copy from the Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Imogen Clark's THE LAST PIECE, Cecily is the matriarch of a family with a puzzle-loving husband and three daughters who are as different from one another as one might imagine. When a long-buried decision by a teenaged girl shows up in her life, the delicate balance of who Cecily has been, who she dreamed she would be, and the life that she lives right now topples into an authentic, truth telling life. This is a very light, fairly predictable read -- a gentle escape into a different world. The characters feel like people I might know -- and even the secondary characters are intriguing.

Cecily has three grown daughters, Julia, Lily, and Felicity. They are all thrown, in quite different ways, when their mother just takes off for Greece one day. She isn't flighty. She doesn't do this. The sisters are very much sisters. Julia enjoys shocking the others with the news. Felicity is overwrought, but mostly about her own convenience and not what the heck is happening with her mother. They descend on their father for answers. Dad only reveals that Mom was invited, so she went.

I think I was drawn to the sisterly relationships most of all. I'm a sister many times over and, man, those can be complicated and simple at the same time. My relationship as a daughter is complicated. My relationship as a mother is simple. But my sisters....I see that reflected here. There is so much to sisterly relationships because there is, at least in theory, an evenness to them that is not there in mother/daughter relationships. Yet, they aren't even. I don't know if I make sense. I only know that this got me thinking of the varied relationships I have with my 4 sisters and how different those have always been than that with my brother. We judge each other much differently. And support each other much differently.

Cecily's journey had me drawn in slowly. She is attending some sort of retreat and someone paid for it. We don't find out right away what was in the letter that brought her to Greece. Its a mystery but solving it wasn't really pressing for me. It took longer to be really involved in her part of the tale. Then we learn of Marnie. Her other daughter.

This was a short book about the relationships of women in a family. I know it well. Thank you to Netgalley, Imogen Clark, and Amazon Publishing UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 1st book that I have read from Imogen Clark. I am always looking for new authors to try and the premise of this book intrigued me. I usually love dual-time, historical and time-slip novels, but every now and then I like to read a family drama, this novel fit the bill

The story starts with the mysterious disappearance of Cecily, the mom to three adult daughters, Felicity, and twins Julie and Lily.. Okay no murder mystery here, Cecily has taken herself off to Greece with the encouragement of her husband Norman. Wait what is this? Mother is not at my beck and call? (Felicity) How humurous (Julie) and I hope all is well (Lily) is the reactions of her three daughters,

The story has a personal interest to me due to the story line which I will not spoil here. I really enjoyed the modern day stories, as well as the past story of Cecily in the 60’s and the life choices that lead her to take an unexpected trip to Greece.

If you like family stories with a bit of mystery and drama but a lot of love thrown in, I recommend this book. This is my 1st book by Imogen Clark, but will not be my last.

Thank you to Netgalley, Amazon Publishing and the author Imogen Clark for a chance to review this book.

First, a great thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC; I was happy to read it and provide this review. Unfortunately, I found this book somewhat disappointing. One reason was due to the writing style - there were often short statements that didn't add richness to the writing -more just statements of fact. Second, the characters - the likable characters didn't have much of a story arc - for example, the three sisters should have really stood out and I would have liked to see more interaction between the sisters. And there was one character that was so completely unlikable and just flatly so - it didn't feel nuanced. I did very much enjoy the rich scenery in Greece and England and while reading it, I definitely couldn't put it down and was engaged to find out what happened ext.

Thanks for the chance to read and review. I give this book 3 stars. The writing flowed well but I felt the story line was a bit predictable.

I just finished the last piece. Impression #1 it is very hard to put down. The main story line follows the life of Cecily and each of her daughters. There are the normal plot twists and turns but then there is the unexpected. Clearly, the author did her homework regarding the issues at the time of the story which added authenticity.

But now that I've finished, I think the reason that I related so well to the story is that I am an adoptive mother. While I don't know the heartache of giving a child up for adoption, I do know the heartache of when a child realizes they are adopted. We have always loved our children through life's twists and turns. So I can empathize with Cecily and Marnie. Their story is their own and it is very real, very well told.

Ms. Clark, I look forward to reading more of your work.

The Last Piece is a sweet charming little book with an unexpected realistic edge.
Meet the Nightingales, living in Harrogate Yorkshire. Norman and Cecily are parents to three grown up daughters Felicity and twins Lily and Julia and grandparents to six boys. Like any family they have their ups and downs, sibling rivalries never far from the surface but it’s fair to say they are a close knit unit. That is until the day mother hen Cecily takes off on an unexpected trip to Kefalonia alone. Husband Norman is reticent to explain the reasons why so their daughters are left to jump to their own conclusions.

Scenes at the idyllic retreat in Kefalonia where relaxation and isolation are the order of the day sounded absolutely blissful. I almost felt envious of Cecily having the chance to unwind, eat good food, swim in warm waters and soak up the Mediterranean sun until I remembered she was there to confront her past. I couldn’t help feeling she was in for a bumpy ride.

It’s fair to say that although much of the storyline is predictable it’s far from all sweetness and light. I don’t think I’m giving away spoilers here as the reason for Cecily’s spontaneous trip to Kefalonia is glaringly obvious (apologies if anyone disagrees!) I particularly enjoyed Cecily’s backstory taking the reader back in time to 1968, an era when it was still very much frowned upon to be an unmarried pregnant girl and mother and baby homes were still in existence. Hard to imagine now, living in such liberal times but in those days adoption for these babies born out of wedlock was incredibly common. The impact on both mother and baby and any future reunion makes a great basis for fiction, which the author has capitalised on, treating the subject matter with authority, warmth and compassion. I was easily swept up in the Nightingales own version of such a scenario, thanks to the sensitivity of the author’s style of writing.

It was interesting to discover how Cecily’s emotions regarding Marnie change over the course of the book. Her trip to Kefalonia at the beginning is one that is filled with hope and trepidation but also a sense that finally she can openly admit to having four daughters rather than three. Cecily’s time in the mother and baby home shows a teenage girl who is naive yet pragmatic, unaware how this momentous event will affect in her in the intervening years. Guilt and sorrow and even shame that she so willing gave Marnie up for adoption has clearly haunted her in the present day, prompting much empathy for her on my behalf. She is a loving, warm character for whom family means everything so I could understand her nervousness, anxiety and anticipation at finding the missing piece in her family puzzle. Is it any wonder that her emotions then are all over the place and not what she expects when she is finally reunited with Marnie?

Something else that struck me was the impact of Cecily’s bombshell on the rest of the Nightingale family. Felicity and Julia’s lives are in turmoil for very different reasons so to add a stranger into the mix is unsettling for everyone concerned, including Norman. The fact that Marnie is direct to the point of rudeness, frosty and taciturn doesn’t do her any favours but I have to admit to liking her prickly personality. If Cecily was hoping for a happy reunion then she’s much mistaken but Marnie’s hostile attitude I imagine to be quite realistic given the circumstances.
All members of this family are likeable, with traits that we might recognise in our own sisters but aside from Cecily good old Norman who is calm, sensible and unflappable won my heart. How can you not love a man who happily does jigsaws?!? In fact I thought the use of the jigsaw as a metaphor for the unravelling of this storyline was a lovely touch.

The Nightingales are such an ordinary family, each character believable with their own individual hurdles in life relatable. The Last Piece is perfect as a lighthearted but emotional read, just right for a Sunday afternoon’s indulgence. This is the first title I’ve read by this author but it won’t be my last. My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read.

The book features a mother who has been keeping a secret from her three grown daughters who flies off to Greece with no warning. Upon her return, the daughters will learn more about their parents and the effect the secret will have on their lives.