I loved this book!
When Nancy and Eleanor meet up for a meal, Robert calls Eleanor to find out if his wife is with them as she hasn't returned home. Nancy is later found dead, and the way in which this story progresses really had me invested in the characters and the outcome!.

Brilliantly paced, wonderful characters, and twists you don't expect. A definite must read.

I’m afraid this one wasn’t really for me. I often struggle with a cast of unlikeable characters, particularly when they’re very selfish and thoughtless women.
Though the plot was intriguing and the writing flawless, I just couldn’t get past this fundamental issue, which is certainly my own problem rather than a problem with the book itself.
Thanks to the publisher for gifting me this digital review copy.

Nancy, Eleanor and Mary met at university and have remained friends ever since. One morning Nancy is found dead under suspicious circumstances and as her death is investigated the lies, secrets and betrayals are revealed as we find out what happened.

The pace of this domestic thriller wasn't for me, it kinda reminded me of an itv drama my Mom would watch, predicting the whole plot in the first few pages. A lot of observations were made of the expectations of women and female friendship and Araminta Hall was successful with her portrayal of these characters in evoking a strong reaction in me. Imperfect Women is the perfect title, these women!? As a strong advocate of the "dump him" movement I was constantly groaning outloud at the choices of these women.

I recommend this book to those that wants to read literary fiction because it is so wonderfully character driven with excellent social commentary on the patriachy. However it is a disappointing thriller with the death becoming a secondary plot point.

Mary, Eleanor and Nancy have been close friends since freshers week at university and have been there for each other, through life’s ups and downs!!

Nancy appears to be happily married to Robert, but after she tells Eleanor that she is having an affair she is murdered!! Eleanor knew that she was trying to break up with her lover. Who was the lover?

The story is told from the friends perspectives. The title “Imperfect Women” is perfect as these women all have their own flaws. I loved seeing into their lives and discovering their secrets and lies.

A book that kept me intrigued. I love a story about friendships and secrets, so this ticked all the boxes for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

A great read that I managed in one weekend - I liked the female friendship represented in this book! Gripping and interesting.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately I found the story a little slow and it didn't really grip me.

Written in three parts exploring three women, friends from university leading different lives now but still close. A murder but more, A story of friendship and relationships. Lots of secrets and guilt. A really good mystery with a good twist of whodunnit. A good read.

Enjoyable read about three friends and how their actions / lives affect one another. Lots of different sub plots, some of which were hard to guess but which also kept your interest.

It took me ages to read this book.
The characters were complicated but I think the story was very drawn out.
I really did not enjoy this book and found it a bit of a chore to finish.

A good and interesting read!

I would recommend this to everyone who loves a good story with captivating characters! Definitely a good read!

This book really gripped me and gave a good insight into the life of 3 very different women and their friendship over the course of a lifetime. It also focused on how we, as women, tend to just crack on with life and the fact that everything may look all rosy on the outside is really, very different to what it actually going on in the inside. Kept me gripped right up until the end provided a great twist on the 'whodunnit' murder!

I was glad to receive a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Having read an earlier book by Hall, I knew I was in for a tense and atmospheric book. Imperfect Women tells the tale of three friends who met at university almost thirty years ago, Mary, Eleanor and Nancy. When Nancy is found murdered, the story of their relationships and intertwined lives is unravelled. Hall writes beautifully and really unpicks the female psyche. All women are flawed and imperfect, despite their desire to live perfect lives and from the outside people might be mistaken in thinking their lives are perfect. Told in interspersing narratives, the story of what happened to Nancy had me guessing and turning the page. One to hunker down with this autumn definitely.

The bones of the story are pretty basic but don’t let this fool you into thinking this is a simple book. It is a well written exploration into relationships - those between partners, those between parents and children and mostly the relationships between friends. It highlights that we are not infallible or perfect and this is the charm of this book that keeps you wanting to read more, even if the ending is somewhat signalled. A very good well deserved four stars.

Three friends meet at University.
Eleanor – she’s never been married or had children but has always had a secret crush on her friend Nancy’s husband. When she first met him she believed him to be interested in her, but he contacted her as a route to get to Nancy. She’s never found serious love and concentrated on her career.
Nancy – the beautiful, glamorous one who gave up her career to bring up her family. She has a daughter Zara and a husband who loves her, but she’s bored with her life and looking for excitement.
Mary – mother of three who gave up her career to bring up her family. She met her husband, a married university professor, when she worked for him as his assistant. She was younger than him and fell for his charms. When she got pregnant he left his wife for her. She is treated badly physically and emotionally by him and it is rumoured that he has had many extra-marital affairs.
One night Nancy is found dead. Mary knows that she was having an affair but believed it to be over. Neither of her friends knew who it was with but believed it to be with an author, Davide. There are twists and turns which surprise us all the way through.
After Nancy’s death Eleanor starts a relationship with her husband, who she’s always had feelings for. She has to battle her feelings of love for him with her feelings of guilt over her friend’s death. She is also battling feelings of guilt over the death of an elderly neighbour she felt responsible for.
The book explores friendship, betrayal, breakdowns of relationships and the guilt all women feel every day trying to juggle work and family life and the many roles women are expected to play. All the characters are relatable and you love, dislike and empathise with them all at different points in the book.
This is a brilliant book that I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to all.

A little obvious but a good read none the less
I really liked the concept of this book so was very happy to receive a copy to read and review thanks to #NetGalley.
I really got into the book, the characters were interesting and relatable with very intertwined complex lives.
I did however guess who was the murderer but I don't think in this instance it really spoiled the read so I would definitely recommend.
#ImperfectWomen

Imperfect Women tells the story of Nancy Hennessy, Eleanor Meakins and Mary Smithson. The three women are in their late forties and met at university 28 years ago. They've all stayed friends over the years but their friendship has naturally ebbed and flowed due to different life events and at times they don't really seem to like each other very much.

Eleanor is single and more career driven than the others; she runs a small aid charity. Mary has a husband, Howard (59), and three children (Marcus, Mimi (15) and Maisie(13)) and doesn't work, and Nancy is married to Robert, a human-rights lawyer, with a daughter called Zara (18).

After an evening out with Eleanor, Nancy is murdered and, as the police investigate her death and her family and friends try to work out why she might have been killed, we discover that the three women are hiding all kinds of secrets.

Told in three parts, from the viewpoints of Eleanor, Nancy and then Mary, the novel cleverly builds up the characters and reveals what they're really like. We learn about their lies, secrets and guilt and what really goes on behind closed doors.

All the women are rather flawed and imperfect, and their husbands are selfish and unpleasant. In fact, very few of the characters in the book are actually nice at all but that's what makes it such an entertaining and gripping read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and it had some surprising twists and turns. I'd sort of guessed how it was all going to be resolved but it came together well and I was shocked by some of the revelations!

I have heard so much about this book. All the reviews gave me mixed feelings about it. At some point, I wasn’t sure that I’d like it. In the end, it was an enjoyable read. The writing was pretty good. A book with no chapters? Color me intrigued!

This is the story of Mary, Nancy and Elanor, 3 very imperfect women. The 3 have been friends for a very long time. I don’t think I liked any of them but I sympathized with them at different points. The husband though, were absolute trash. I can’t think of any of their positive attributes. Nevertheless, even with such unlikeable characters, this certainly was a memorable story.

Imperfect Women by Araminta Hall is narrated by the 3 women in 3 sections. The book has no chapters, a fact that I found disconcerting at some point but eventually got used to it. There were sections that drew me in and held me captive, my favorite being Nancy’s because I was curious about her death. Unfortunately, there were other sections that were bogged down and seemed to drag a quite bit.

This is a story of 3 flawed women. It is a story of love, secrets, betrayal, loss, family and friendships. In the end, I might not have loved this one as much I thought I would but I certainly enjoyed reading it.

Amazing and astonishing. Araminta has excelled herself with Imperfect Women. All the protagonists were relatable. Gosh.. it was a super, super engrossing read and I was sad when it ended.



Brilliant!!

Thoroughly enjoyed "Imperfect Women" and will be reflecting on it for some time. Araminta Hall's story of female friendship, relationships, love, lust, secrets, lies, guilt and shame follows three friends from university through to their forties. At its heart is sudden death - deliberate or accidental? Who is really responsible? However the novel is not centred on this nor on mundane domesticity but rather on the role of women, motherhood, patriarchy, expectation, oppression, ageing, fantasy and freedom. This is no light romance nor is it a psychological thriller or a whodunnit. It's a thoughtful feminist novel.

I absolutely adored Our Kind of Cruelty so was very excited to see Araminta Hall had a new standalone psychological thriller out and when I was offered the opportunity to read it alongside 80+ THE Book Club members over a 3 week period I jumped at the chance.

The story revolves around 3 central characters and is split into 3 parts - Eleanor, Nancy and Mary - so the reader gets to follow the story via 3 completely different personalities and opinions.

These 3 "imperfect" women have been best friends since University and whilst each of their lives have taken completely different journeys they have remained close throughout their adulthood.

When one of the women gets murdered, their lives are sent spiralling. Each part of the book delves deeper into the background and personalities of the 3 women, and honestly, none of them are particularly endearing or likeable which made me feel slightly disconnected to the story as it unfolded.

Both of the 2 male characters were flawed, unlikeable, controlling and really got up my nose which their behaviour.

Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading this book over 3 parts with a group of readers and discussing the plot and characters and our own little conspiracy theories, the book fell a little flat for me as I just couldn't warm to any of the characters.