In Just One Day by Helen McGinn
Pub Day 5 August 2021
Everything can change – In Just One Day
Flora has always adored her brother Billy. Born just eighteen months apart, their childhood was spent like two peas in a pod – no one could separate them. Now, as adults, they remain the best of friends. And as Flora is immersed in family life, Billy is always there to lend a hand.
But, in just one day, everything changes.
In just one day, Flora's life falls apart.
In just one day, Flora has to learn how to live again.
From the nostalgia of seaside Britain to the breath-taking beauty of Venice, in tears and laughter, join Helen McGinn for this emotional, uplifting and joyful story about love in all its guises. But above all, this is an unforgettable story of one little girl and the brother she adored.
A well-written, moving and emotional story that a lot of thought has gone into. It is always challenging to write about loss as everyone grieves differently; the author has done a fabulous job with feeling and sensitivity.
I want to thank NetGalley, Boldwood Books and author Helen McGinn for a pre-publication copy to review.

In Just One Day by Helen McGinn. This is another book I was able to read through NetGalley. I chose this book because the cover was so beautiful and it looked like something I would enjoy. The main character in this book is Flora and the relationships she has with her family, mainly a close connection with her brother Billy and there just 18 months between them but as the title suggest in just one day Flora’s life is turned upside down and we see how Flora comes through that. I always write notes as I’m reading through a book,
I find it’s the best was to gage the way i am feeling and 37% into this book and I’m wasn’t sure, it wasn’t giving me the feels or to be honest gaining my interest, coming across as bland and slow. At this part of the book if was giving me the feeling that it was a book of many layers and secrets, like there’s more to this story than I think. I felt like with every chapter ending I was on the edge of something being revealed almost. Something does happen, something that changes the characters lives but it happens so suddenly and not where you expected the book to go, it kind of fills misplaced, like your not reading the same book that you were. One chapter you are talking about the main characters and then suddenly you turn the page and this set of new characters are introduced and I had to think twice about what was happening and weather somehow I’d pressed something on the kindle and was reading something else. What happens in the book is awful, incredibly sad, heartbreaking and unthinkable but as a story you get those books that visually play out like a film in your head, grab your emotions in every way possible and you can’t help but be in tears, this story is incredibly sad but for me it didn’t grab me for some reason and that was true from very early on. I dont know if that’s because the awful thing doesn’t happen to a main character you were invested in or weather it was what happened was sudden and I was to busy thinking about these new characters that appeared out of nowhere. One positive thing I felt is that the book does look at both side of what is a tragic accident, from all parties involved which was a nice touch, a great perspective to read it from at times and it would have been nice to see more of this perspective rather than what felt like a lot of unnecessary page filling, with snippets of plot that was neither needed, wanted or enhanced the story. Overall an ok book which I’m sure others would enjoy.

I was invited to read this book from the publisher, and I am very glad they did, because it isn't a kind of book I would have picked otherwise.
Reading the blurb I was very keen to know about Flora's relationship with her brother Billy, because I have a brother whom i'm very close to, as well, so I was a bit taken aback by the fact that over 10% into the book there was still no sign of Billy. But I have to say that when finally Billy comes into the picture, he does it fully and engrossingly.
It was a very heartfelt theme for me, and the author touches it beautifully: "Grief lasts forever but, eventually it might not hurt quite so much", this quote will stay for me forever.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic slice of English life! Love, life and wine!!!
Flora's world looks like its going to change, she is studying wine, but her job at the local wine shop looks precarious to say the least. Her family and friends mean everything to her, and they support her well with her journey.
The story is both ordinary and extraordinary, well thought out, and easy to relate to.
Helen McGinn depicts the relationships and characters brilliantly, especially how they evolve with the circumstances life brings.
I learnt alot about Italian wines, and had to keep pausing my reading to check out where I could get a couple of bottles!! My only wish is that we had a decent wine shop locally! Helen's knowledge and love of wines, Hampshire and Venice was just a joy to read, I loved it.
If you are not a wine lover there is still plenty to get involved with in this book, especially tha family dynamics that we can all relate to.
Thank you to NetGalley for the early read- fantastic!!

Flora is on an emotional journey and I travelled through it with her! I loved this book, a fantastic family read with all the feels! Sometimes it’s wonderful to read a book and immediately feel a connection, this is the perfect feel good story!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks so much to Boldwood Books, NetGalley and huge congratulations to Helen McGinn!

Anything and everything can change in an instant. Flora’s life is idyllic. She has a lovely family, a wonderful job in a local wine shop, a great relationship with her parents and brother, and is almost finished with her wine diploma tests. One day the owner of the wine shop informs Flora that he can no longer make ends meet and he has to close up. Wishing there was something Flora could do, she and her husband come up with a business plan to take over the shop and run it together. One the night of the shop’s grand opening, Flora’s brother was in a car accident and passes away changing Flora’s world forever.

In Just One Day explores the topics of grief and loss through the experiences in life. Suffering from grief comes in many shapes and forms and no one’s response to it is the same. This book is eloquently written and shares many fascinating details about wine.

Thank you to @netgalley, @boldwoodbooks, and Helen McGinn for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I loved Helen’s previous book This Changes Everything and this one was an Unputdownable read.

This is an emotional, joyful and uplifting story.
A story of the love between a sister and her brother.

Flora, whose always loved her brother Billy, they spent their childhood always together, never alone.

Even now, when they are living their own lives, they are the best of friends. Billy is there to help Flora in any way he can as she’s busy in her family life.

But, one day, everything changes, and Flora’s world/life is never the same again. In just one day she’s got to learn how she’s going to live her life over again.

Set in British seaside, as well as the breath-taking beauty of Venice. This is a story of a girl and her brother, she adored.

Highly Recommend It

Book review of In Just One Day by Helen McGinn
Wine, grief and a trip to Venice
What happens
Flora loves wine, she studies it and works for Mack in his wine shop, Ten Green Bottles. When he announces to her that he is not making enough money to keep the shop going and is planning to sell, Flora has an idea. She and her husband decide to take over the wine shop. Meanwhile there’s a tragic turn of events when her brother is involved in a car accident. Will Flora and her family be able to pull together and deal with their grief? Will Flora and her husband be able to make a success of the wine shop?
My thoughts
At its heart, this book is about how a family deals with an unthinkable tragedy. The central character Flora and her family have their own ways of dealing with the death of Billy, Flora’s beloved brother. The aftermath of his tragic death was sensitively and realistically portrayed I was quickly hooked into the story, following Flora as she navigated her way through her feelings.
For me, each character came off the page with their own issues and problems. The family dynamics in the book played out well with a strained relationship between Flora and her mother Kate as well as problems between Flora’s parents. Johnny and Flora were a likeable and relatable couple who I could imagine living down the road with their children.
The novel gave a voice to the perpetrator of the car accident and his mother. It portrayed the perpetrator as a real person with failings. I felt this was important in the novel as it showed how Billy’s car accident affected everyone involved. Again, this was very sensitively and also thoughtfully handled.
I can’t fail to mention the wine in the novel - the various wines that feature in the book were so richly described that I could almost taste them. I also thought that the writer brought to life the city of Venice well with vivid imagery and description. I enjoyed armchair travelling to this country.
Overall, I would recommend this novel. It’s a good, realistic and heartfelt family drama with an added glass or two of wine.

In Just One Day is a heartbreaking yet uplifting novel about the loss of a son and brother and how to live again despite that loss.

It's the first book I have reviewed by Helen McGinn and is powerful and sad.

The author deals with the hard parts of the plot in a way that they tell it like it is, but with a sensitivity towards the reader so that it is upsetting but respectfully written in a way that is captivating and made me want to keep going and never stop.

Far from shying away from difficult subjects, Helen mcGinn embraces them and I do too as I love a book that really grips me and makes me feel. In Just One Day is definitely one of those.

What makes the novel make a huge impression on me is that Flora and Billy are only eighteen months apart in age.

Thanks to Helen McGinn and Rachel's Random Resources for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

5 stars.

This read was full of emotion that left me crying multiple times throughout the book. The author did a great job of writing about what it means to be come together as a family during times of live and loss. While Flora grieves the loss of her brother, each character also process loss of their own. This book made me think back to when we lost a family member suddenly in a car accident as well. My question around that time was “how do you measure someone’s grief over the other, The loss of a child, brother, husband, friend, coworker.” One person isn’t just one thing, they are many to all those they walk life with. So whose grief is greater?

Helen McGinn took four years to write a book, and her thoughtfulness in each sentence she strung along the page didn’t go unnoticed. Beautifully crafted, and well told, this emotional read is a must for fans of JoJo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and Anita Shreve.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I would not normally have read this book, but was intrigued by the author (a wine expert) and that part of the plot features Venice.
I felt it seemed a little superficial and contrived at the start with the theme of the wine shop and the obvious use of the author's wine knowledge but once the drama took off with a tragedy that encompasses Flora and her family the emotional destruction and recovery of severe grief was described very well. Interested later to discover a personal link with the author on this.
The setting in Venice was beautifully described and I liked the link with the past and the family and how the healing process takes place. The inclusion of another mother and her story was a powerful undercurrent to 'moving on.'
I was less convinced by Flora's female friends, somewhat stereotypical portrayal of middle class mums....but I am sure the book will be popular with many especially wine lovers.

In this book Helen McGinn has drawn on her own experiences not only as a wine expert but also her personal experience of sibling loss.
However this book, despite the grief, is not maudlin, it deals with forgiveness, acceptance and hope for the future.
A quote from Helen in her acknowledgements says "Grief lasts forever but, eventually it might not hurt quite so much" I think this is a true sentiment for anyone who has lost a loved one
This book centres on a family who's lives were changed forever one fateful night. Flora lost her brother and her parents a son. But we also hear from the other "victim", the mother of the boy that caused the tragic accident.
This was a lovely book written from the heart, it makes you cry and smile.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I immersed myself in this book. It is a story of loss and recovery. There is loss of loved ones, loss of relationships, loss of innocence. Everyone deals with loss in their own way and everyone finds joy again in their own way. My favourite quote from this book is “ living your life trying to change the past will keep you stuck in the same place forever “. I fully enjoyed this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read it.

In Just One Day by Helen McGinn is a story about grief and explores the varied ways a family deals with the loss of a son, brother, and friend. However, it’s not an overly sad book, instead, it’s a book about recovering from grief and it’s full of hope and inspiration. It’s also a book about wine and a wine shop, but thankfully, not a book about using wine (or alcohol) to recover from grief.

Flora and Johnny, parents of two adorable children and are both made redundant at the same time. Flora was working in a wine shop, and the owner Mack is selling the shop due to lack of sales. Soon after this devastating news, Flora learns her brother Billy had perished in a car accident. This story chronicles the lives of Flora, Johnny, and Flora’s parents as they rebuild their lives and learn to live with their overwhelming grief.

I enjoyed this story and was rooting for Flora and Johnny through the entire book. Although a terribly sad subject matter, and there were some very sad parts of the book, it was told with hope and a gentle touch as to not be overwhelming. The author is a wine expert, and it showed in her descriptions of the wine shop. All the characters were realistic and well developed.

I highly recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you are attempting to read this book on an empty stomach or without a glass of wine, you are making a mistake.

After all, the author is a TV wine expert and has paired each chapter’s events with a suitable vintage. Her knowledge is extensive, and it shows in this story. Flora works for Mack in his wine store, Ten Green Bottles, and when Mack retires, Flora’s husband, Johnny, buys it and the couple run the store. Just as they are about to celebrate the grand re-opening, disaster strikes. This is the tale of the day everything fell apart.

Every single one of McGinn’s realistic and loveable characters has suffered a loss of some sort; a sibling, a wife, a marriage, or a job, and yet they remain focused on the future and helping others as a way of helping themselves heal. McGinn reminds us that grief is so different for all of us and it affects us in different ways. I love how she drove home the fact that although things will never be the same again, life can be good again. It takes work. It’s hard. It’s doable. At first, I disliked Kate, Flora’s mom. I couldn’t believe her behaviour and wondered how her husband could stand it. As the plot progressed, Kate’s motive for her behaviour is revealed and I softened. It was a good reminder that everyone needs to be treated with kindness because we don’t know what battles they are fighting.

I loved the armchair travel to Venice and was able to reminisce about our visit to Harry’s Bar, our extortionate Bellini, and our awe-struck wander through the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice because I needed to see Titian’s paintings.

McGinn’s emotional read was written over four years and the subject matter is personal. I believe this has added to the success of the story as McGinn is writing from the heart. It’s authentic and oh so very real. By writing the story from different points of view, readers get to see the effects of 'just one day' in many lives, not just the protagonist. It gives food for thought.

Publishes August 5, 2021.

I was gifted this advance copy by Helen McGinn, Boldwood Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the advance copy of this book to read and review.

I have to admit that I have also experienced adult sibling death and it’s been a really hard thing to deal with. The author notes at the end explain that she too lost her brother, years later she was able to write this. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been ❤️ I find most things about that time of my life to almost feel like a blur of pain and grief.

So, in this book Flora is a wife and mother and works in a wine shop while studying wine.

When her husband Jonny who works in business/IT is retrenched, they work together to take over the ailing wine shop and bring it into today’s world.

Flora has a relatively close relationship with her parents and adores her younger brother Billy.

But on the night of their wine shop opening, Billy is killed by a young reckless driver.

This changes everything for both Flora and her parents, and they are all trying to cope in whatever way they can.

A lot of this book is about them finding acceptance in their own way. ❤️

Thank you for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Well written, great characters, good plot. Perfect book to spend the afternoon in the chair with a drink.

Recommended

This book certainly lays claim.that life is to be truly lived, loved and enjoyed to the maximum as none of us can be certain of what can happen the next day. As they said, wine is the elixir of life which led Fiona, Johnny and Mack to continue Ten Green Bottles. All parties in this book suffered significant loss but remained hopeful in what can happen in life if you are open to the opportunity. I was glad to have a portion of the book devoted to Billy and his joie de vivre. A wonderful read.

I received an advance copy of, in Just One Day, by Helen McGinn. This book has a lot going on: death, secrets, affair, love, and friendship. A good read.