The first book I have read by this author and I will certainly look for more.
Well written with great characterisation, the plot kept you turning the pages and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A good well written book from an author I am familiar with and enjoy her books, especially her last one. This was well written and gave all the family something to think of which didn't always bring the best out of them.

It did take me a bit to get into the storyline but that was just me, I have nothing negative to say about this book which I can thoroughly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atlantic Books (Corvus) for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

What I enjoy about Caroline Bond's books is the fact that she portrays the interpersonal dynamics of family life so very well. She writes her novels with nuance and a realistic insight into family.

This novel features three children who are assigned the task of dealing with their father's estate after he passes away. To complicate matters, there is a second wife, who their father had left their mother for, and a mother.

Each of the family members has their own secrets, or troubles in their personal lives, which affect how they enter into the situation.

I expected a few more twists and turns but, overall, this was a well observed and well written book.

I enjoy Caroline Bond's writing so I had high hopes for this latest novel. Disappointingly, I was not so enamoured to start with as I didn't warm to any of the characters and the emotional impact was dull, as if it needed a good watering.
HOWEVER, I am happy to say that as I settled into the book, I became more involved and interested in the motivations and decisions of the characters.
Jonathan Coulter has died of Motor Neurone Disease and we meet his partner, his three children, the carer and his ex-wife in what appears to be a family based drama about inheritance.
This might be why the novel starts in a dusty and dry way, as we are led to believe that Liv, Noah and Chloe are simply going to argue about who is entitled to what. And yes, there is a fair amount of rivalry, greed and squabbling.
What makes this novel interesting though is the individual lives behind the every day facades, so as we get to understand each sibling, we become more intrigued by their thought processes, what has gone before, and what might be about to happen.
Lisa, the carer, is the only one where a straightforward instruction has been left in the will, for her to receive £5,000. This provides an element of mystery as the rest of the estate is left for the 'children' to decide how best to divide it.
There is hurt and emotional pain and sadness, there is grief and fear and worry. And that is before you even factor in the aloof ex wife Eloise and the strangely passive much younger woman Megan, who lived with Jonathan until he died and who is held mostly responsible for breaking up Eloise's marriage to Jonathan.
I thoroughly enjoyed the modern day exploration of human behaviour and came to care about what would happen to all those people affected by Jonathan's death.
I particularly liked the relationship Noah has with his nephews and thought the ending between Noah and Josie really brought the book title, The Legacy, to an elevated meaning. Chloe's involvement shifts the dynamics between the sisters and brother and I was rooting for Liv to arrive at a certain decision.
All in all a book I would recommend to others.
Thank you to Netgalley, Pigeonhole, the author and publishers for the chance to read The Legacy.

When a family of three adult children are told they have to sort out their father’s will, or else it will all go to charity, I wondered how this could make a book – surely they would split it three ways and it would all be over in a few sentences! This book explores the relationships between the siblings, and with their mother and the younger woman who their father spent his final years loving. Not a lot happens in this book, and yet I enjoyed it immensely, finding out more about each person and what made them tick. A gentle, thought-provoking book.

Johnathon Coulter planned for his death meticulously, leaving nothing to chance. His will states that his three adult children must decide between them how to dispose of his estate. If they cannot come together over their inheritance, they risk losing it. But Liv, Noah and Chloe never agree on anything. And now, with only one weekend to overcometheir rivarly, tensions begin to rise.

I liked the authors style in writing this book. The charactera are complex. Liv, Noah and Chloe have to decide what's to happen with their father's estate or it will end up going to charity. They have to decide whether to give anything to Magan, their fathers partner, anTension rises between the three siblings whilst they try to make the right decisions. This is an intriguing read with a situation i wouldn't like to be in. I liked the reasons behind Johnathon doing this to his children. I really enjoyed this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, #AtlanticBooks and the author #CarolineBond for my ARC of #TheLegacy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. One of those "can't put down" titles that I'm then annoyed with myself for finishing too quickly! It reminded me a bit of Joanna Trollope or some of Deborah Moggach's books - the same detail for family dynamics and relationships.
Jonathan has died leaving three adult children, one partner (whom he hasn't got round to marrying) and one ex-wife. The only stipulation in his will is that his carer should receive £5000. He leaves it up to his adult children to reach a consensus as to how to divide his house and money. The story of the three children trying to decide what's fair was really gripping. As a second wife (my husband also has three grown up children!), I could really empathise with Megan, the heartbroken partner who's grieving Jonathan and having to put up with his children and ex-wife. I was enthralled!
This is well worth reading and I'm now off to buy the author's other books!

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I will now to be looking to read more of her books.
This is a story of family, of love, of loss and of the devastation that a terminal and debilitating disease has on the patient and those close to them.

When Jonathan Coulter left his wife and adult children for a younger woman the whole family were devastated. Much of the blame landed in the lap of Megan, the new girlfriend. Jonathan’s ex-wife Eloise and her feuding children Liv, Noah and Chloe have complex relationships between themselves and with each of their parents.

A MND diagnosis leaves Jonathan becoming increasingly frail and when he suddenly dies leaving a complex set of instructions for his children to follow, it seems he is looking at them from beyond the grave to heal and decide who will inherit what.

The writing style is excellent and the story carries you along, making you in turn find out about each of the characters and drops small clues about them and why they are the complex people portrayed in the book. As the story develops you find out why Jonathan made his final requests and see how his family adjust to their new roles and try and deal in their own way with his death.

There is also the mention of assisted suicide and although this is not explored fully it is touched upon and towards the end of the story, we see that Jonathan’s carer Lisa may have helped him and others to make their final journey. I felt that this could have been explored a little more and her story expanded a bit further as she was a character I wanted to know more about.

I felt quite an emotional response from reading this book. At a time when we have all suffered with huge changes to the way we live our lives and for many, including myself, the loss of a parent it was a tough but thoroughly enjoyable read and one that I would wholeheartedly recommend to others.

Thank you to Netgalley, Atlantic books, Corvus and the author for the eARC of this book in return for a honest review.

Jonathan planned his post death wishes down to the last little detail. His children can't agree on anything and now they are being forced to make decisions together. What lesson is he trying to teach them? Resentment, jealousy, secrecy and guilt are just a few of the emotions that surface in this novel. Read it and you won't be disappointed.

The Legacy is a fantastic story about life, death and everything inbetween.

Jonathan Coulter had Motor Neurone Disease (MND). At the reading of his will, his three grown up children are tasked with deciding how best to divide his estate. Bearing in mind they can never agree on anything, this seems to be a recipe for disaster. Over one weekend they get together along with their father's partner, Megan, and his ex wife and their mother, Eloise, in an effort to reach an agreement. The weekend is fraught with tension and arguments as expected. But on the other side, with every resentment out in the open, there is healing and acceptance.

The author brilliantly lets us observe each character reveal more of their story, and the metamorphosis is wonderful to see.

With sensitive insight into this most cruel disease, the story also raises questions about the right to die - who should have this final say?

A really beautiful book about family, life and enduring love.

One of the things I love most about Caroline Bond’s writing is the fact she places her characters in often controversial situations, their behaviour affected by the moral dilemmas they face which always makes for a thought provoking read. In The Legacy she tackles a most tricky subject, that of inheritance, which can be a difficult topic to broach with your nearest and dearest, especially when the family in question no longer exists in its original form. It’s a perfectly reasonable assumption to make that in this day and age many families are going to be of the blended variety, making the passing on or dividing up of assets fraught with complexities. In the Coulter’s case, husband and father of three Jonathan has remained living in the family home, The View, with partner Megan,until his recent demise from motor neurone disease. At the time of his split from wife Eloise, all three adult children cast Megan as the cuckoo in the nest, solely blaming her for embarking upon an affair with a married man which sounds the death knell for their parents marriage. The novel opens with the reading of Jonathan’s last will and testament with Olivia, Noah, Chloe and Megan in attendance, a scene that is excruciatingly awkward and tense given their open hostility towards their late father’s partner. However, things are about to get even more awkward when realisation dawns this is by no means a straightforward case of splitting everything three ways. Instead, Jonathan shocks them into stunned and quiet disbelief with his statement of wishes in which no provision has been made for his current partner nor ex wife, stipulating that his funeral should not take place until all three siblings have agreed on how to divide up his assets, whether that be fairly and squarely or not! His legacy is left in their hands, to do with as they see fit. This unexpected revelation is guaranteed to set the cat amongst the pigeons, a sign sent from beyond the grave that death doesn’t prevent their father from testing their mettle one final time.

Naturally you can expect a certain amount of fireworks between Liv, Noah and Chloe as they invade Megan’s space for a weekend spent thrashing out an agreement as to the best way forward. If you’re already familiar with this author’s writing then you’ll know that in no way will she treat this matter in a sensationalist manner. Instead this novel is a thoughtful, sometimes beautiful, sometimes poignant, honest but never overly sentimental portrayal of a family in the throes of a crisis, each member dealing independently with their grief as well as any other problems that may exist in their personal lives. Caroline’s understated, eloquent approach to this sensitive subject combined with her depiction of every character affected by Jonathan’s sudden death, trapped in a state of heightened emotions, contributes to the powerful impact the narrative has on your own thoughts and feelings. As the author exposes individual flaws and the complexities in the relationships between each sibling and their father and with each other two things really struck me. Firstly the fact all three siblings honour their father’s statement of wishes, given that it’s not legally binding and secondly that by coming together in one household they automatically revert to their childhood selves and the roles they adopted as youngsters. How many of us will recognise this bizarre state of affairs in our own sibling relationships?!? The author has a keen eye for the nuances of family dynamics, an astute observer of human nature and it’s fragility so you can expect nothing less than believable, realistic characterisation. You wouldn’t think they were adults at all but all three children play their allotted roles to perfection as do the much aligned Megan, aloof, indifferent ex wife Eloise and the calm, unflappable carer Liz. Liv as the eldest, uber organised, juggling motherhood with a demanding job as an A & E consultant, naturally takes control of the situation, whilst baby of the family Chloe lives up to the low expectations held by her siblings as aimless, helpless and frankly useless, content to fade into the background. Middle child Noah in my opinion is the most complex of the three siblings and I couldn’t help feeling his outbursts and selfishness hide an inability to cope with his true feelings surrounding his father’s death. As the narrative progresses you can form your own opinions regarding these characters personalities and the way they conduct themselves but for me it is Megan who steals the thunder in terms the dignified way she copes with the Coulter family descending en masse and their evident hostility towards her.

To read The Legacy is akin to slipping into a warm heavenly scented bath, sinking into a state where you can allow all these characters emotions to percolate and seep into your consciousness. Every conceivable emotion is enmeshed in their behaviour, from petulance, resentment, bitterness and rage to secrecy, jealousy, blame, guilt and denial which makes this a very human novel, a novel to luxuriate in. Perhaps the most poignant aspect of this storyline are the snatches of conversation the author treats us to between the dying Jonathan and his lover relating to his illness and the ravaging effects it has on his body and their relationship in general. Moving, brutally honest and sincere the prose speaks volumes about the dying process, death and grief; grief which manifests itself in all manner of ways and every character present is living proof of that.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter whether you like or dislike these individuals because Caroline has excelled herself, yet again, in creating perfectly imperfect characters, all of whom undergo transformations throughout the course of their weekend together and in the aftermath of Jonathan’s death. In many ways, they are unrecognisable from the group of people we first meet in the solicitor’s office and it’s impossible not to wish them well. Perhaps that’s the real legacy Jonathan has left behind for his loved ones. A first class read and one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read.

Really enjoyed this book! The plot was interesting and so where the characters. This is a new author for me and I wasn't disappointed.

This started with a promising story line when Johnathan dies leaving his estate to his 3 children to sort out amongst the family else it passes to charity. I did not like the characters that seemed to spend much of their time moaning. The plot did not hold my attention particularly well and I gave up half way through as time is to short to plough through something I am not enjoying.

A very moving book and well written.

Johnathan dies after a long illness leaving his partner behind and a will that leaves everything in the hands of his three adult children to sort out or his money goes to charity.
It goes through every family member and how they cope with their loss and how everyone copes differently.
A lot of anger and resentment of their father`s partner who is very weak and you end up screaming at her to stick up for herself as the family all come together one weekend to sort out the will.

I thought the book would get boring all happening one weekend but I just couldn`t stop turning the pages to find out what would happen.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am in two minds about this book. I found the premise and the resulting relationship development fascinating to the point that I read it very quickly as I wanted to know more. However on the flip side I was disappointed in the characters. For one, I didn't really like any of them although my opinion of Megan improved over the book. Secondly I think I hoped that the people portrayed would change over the read with them either improving or perhaps degenerating! However although there was some new information coming to light in every chapter, I was left feeling disappointed. The same goes for the ending. I believe that the author mixed a trick in not including an extra twist in the letters given out in the last meeting with the solicitor. Unrealistic maybe, but it would have really made the book!

An intriguing and entertaining read. I guessed some bits but missed another fairly important bit. Actually the bit I missed taught me something, so what do you know, every day's a school day!

Caroline Bond is one of my favourite authors but I have to say this story didn’t grip me as much as her other ones. It was as well written as always and I still enjoyed the story and the characters but it just didn’t feel like all that much happened. I also wish there had been more backstory to how Jonathan and Megan got together. That being said I did enjoy it overall and will still definitely read more from Caroline. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Corvus for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

My first thought when I finished this was ‘ Do people really act like this? ‘. I’m guessing the answer is yes, but wow, I hope nothing like this happens to me. I found the fast pace at the start really enjoyable but for me it started to go downhill after that. There was enormous scope for so much more in this story. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters either.

‘A death in the family rarely brings out the best in people - even the deceased Jonathan Coulter planned for his death meticulously, leaving nothing to chance. His will states that his three adult children must decide between them how to dispose of his estate. If they cannot come together over their inheritance, then they risk losing it. But Liv, Noah and Chloe never agree on anything. And now, with only one weekend to overcome their rivalry, tensions begin to rise. Why has Jonathan left the decision to them? And why has he made no mention of his new partner, Megan, or the children's mother, Eloise? If he wanted to teach them a lesson from beyond the grave, what is it? And can the siblings put their differences aside for long enough to learn it? A powerful novel about love and loss, and what we truly pass on to our children.’

I was so excited to read this book when I read the synopsis, as my family are actually going through a similar situation (someone dying and members of the family deciding who gets what). The story was extremely entertaining along with some shocks along the way. Grief is a very interesting subject as everyone copes with it through different ways and I really liked how Caroline Bond portrayed that through each of the family members.
The way the story was written was beautiful. As the book goes on the author gives you more and more information about each of the characters which makes you want to carry on reading and finding out more.
This is an extremely emotional book and it really makes you think and act differently. Everyone at one point in their life have experienced a form of death and loss, but within the last year that feeling and experience has been heightened.
I really did enjoy this book and if it sounds like something you would like then I would defiantly recommend. At times I did find it hard to get into but I think this was more to do with me rather than the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jonathan Coulter divorced his wife, Eloise, after falling hook line and sinker in love with Megan, having met her at a conference in Newcastle. The feeling is mutual and Megan, half his age, moves from Doncaster into the family home in Scarborough shortly after the divorce is finalised. Needless to say his family is horrified.

A few years later Jonathan, suffering from Motor Neurone Disease, decides to re-write his Will and we first meet him when he pays a visit to his solicitor to make the relevant arrangements. He is very aware that his three offspring, Olivia (a doctor married with two sons), Noah (a hotel reviewer married with one daughter) and Chloe (a bit of a drop out now working as a supermarket checkout assistant and reluctantly living back at home), have never got on well together. The only thing that they appear to agree about is their dislike and disapproval of Megan.

Within a few months Jonathan is dead and the family are all called to the solicitors office to learn the contents of his will. Bickering starts before they even meet the solicitor and they are in uproar when they are each give a Statement of Wishes, written by their father, stipulating that the three siblings are joint executors and are forbidden from holding his funeral until the final division of his estate is agreed. The Will stipulates that a bequest of £5000 must go to Lisa Browne, his carer during the final stages of his life, but otherwise the division of his assets is up to them.

With Olivia taking charge, a weekend meeting at the family home is convened, with Megan having to cope with feeding Olivia, her husband and two sons, Noah and Chloe, plus Eloise who eventually puts in an appearance as well. Needless to say a weekend of mayhem ensues with some secrets being revealed and others concealed.

A fascinating book giving the reader a good insight into a very disjointed family!