Narrator 5 stars
Such a beautiful soothing voice

Story 4 stars
This book was incredibly beautiful, yet also sent me on a roller-coaster of emotions. I really enjoyed hearing from the fathers prospective and the reasons why he appeared to not have a relationship with his children.
First time trying this this author but would gladly buy another book from her.

I wasn't sure that I was going to finish this book, but at about 30% I was more than hooked.

I listened to the audio; the point of view changes between chapters between Pearl and Kerry (or Carrie?) and entries in the diary. Initially I missed that in the first couple chapters and was a bit confused, but it didn't take much to keep an ear out for the changes between POV's.

Pearl and her husband had basically cut themselves out of circulation from family and friends and were hidden away in a forest in France; very secluded. Pearl's father passed away; evidently Pearl's father left her and her two brothers when the oldest brother was 15 and Pearl was in middle school. There are several complications, and I don't want to give the story away, but I loved how this story progressed.

I liked some of the dry sense of humor situations such as ...
"I closed my eyes and hung on tight and said "help" (but very quietly because I didn't really want anyone to hear). I tried to assess the height of the drop realistically, if I jumped, would I be more likely to break my ankle, hip or kneecap."

Thank you to NetGalley, Beth Miller the author, Sarah Durham the narrator and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to review The Woman Who Came Back to Live in exchange for an honest review.

Pearl Flowers lives in France with her husband Denny and travels back to the England to see her father before he dies. She’s been estranged from her father for all her adult life and isn’t particularly close to her siblings. She stays for the funeral and will reading and receives a legacy of her father’s diaries, which causes conflict with other family members.

Pearl translates her father’s secret diaries, written in shorthand, and learns about her father’s life whilst they were estranged. She starts reviewing her last few encounters with her father and his wife Ginny and reviews them against his diary entries. She discovers that her father’s life wasn’t as she’d thought, which changes the way in which he views him and her siblings. Families and blended families can be complicated, but that can change.

The story is told from the perspectives of three family members, Pearl, her father Francis and Carrie.

I absolutely loved this book - it was an incredibly moving and hopeful read.

The narrator, Sarah Durham, was excellent.

Huge thanks to the publisher, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for making the audio ARC available to me.

In a Nutshell: This is a beautiful book, but I have no doubt that I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I read it than heard it.

Story:
52 year old Pearl Flowers lives in a small cottage secluded in a wood in France. Her only companion is her husband Denny, and their daily routine is safe and predictable. However, when she receives a phone call that her estranged father Francis is dying, her life begins to fall apart. Pearl is forced to make many tough choices, confronting her past and impacting her future. All this upheaval is primarily triggered by the legacy Francis leaves her on his death – his personal diaries.
The book is written in the first person perspectives of Pearl, another character named Carrie, and Francis (speaking posthumously through his diary entries.)

The book delivers brilliantly if you love reading about dysfunctional or broken families. The tussles between family members, estrangements and reunions, misunderstandings and misbehaviours, jokes and sarcastic remarks, support and strength – everything that can happen in a typical family is covered in this book without succumbing to most usual tropes. The basic glue that holds families together is the notion of ‘forgive, forget and move on’, but is it as easily done as it is said? That’s what this family drama strives to convey - the beauty of second chances.

As the book deals with multiple families, there are quite a lot of characters. But once you get a hang of who’s who, it never gets confusing; that’s credit to the wonderful character sketching by the author. Every character is so realistically created that you find it easy to connect with most of them. There is hardly anyone who is outright black or white; everyone has secrets. I love books with such well-crafted and layered characters. They add spice to the experience.

A special shout-out to the finale. The book ends at just the right point, bringing all the ribbons close enough but not exactly typing them into a neat knot. After all, life isn’t perfect; why should books end on perfect HEA notes? Brilliantly done!

The only thing I might change about this book is its title. It creates a very different picture in the mind and though striking on its own, doesn't suit this story, though I know that it indicates the main character Pearl when it says 'the woman who came back to life'.

My rating dipped primarily because of the audiobook. For a book with three character narratives – one by a woman in her fifties, one by a woman in her thirties, and one by an old man, having a single female narrator simply doesn’t work. All the more because the points of view are in first person but the narrator’s voice sounded almost exactly the same for all three of them. If you miss the start of the chapter, it is very easy to get confused about which character is being voiced. To add further to the confusion, there are many entries with dates at the beginning as the story covers the period from 1981 to 2018 and these aren’t in linear order. I had no issues with the general performance of the narrator, but the single reader experience fails to create magic in this 10 hrs 22 mins long audiobook. It needed three distinct narrators.

If I had read this, I feel I might have rated it at least a 4.25. But as I heard it and it turned out to be a dissatisfying experience, I can only give it a 3.5.

A must-READ for sure. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to those who loved complex characters portrayed with genuine emotions rather than over-the-top reactions. It’s a feel-good read that will move you with its strong combo of poignancy and warmth.

My thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Woman Who Came Back to Life”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

Unique plot to two intertwined stories, one a mom an who chose to leave her family behind and start a new life with her husband and another of a man who betrays his wife with another woman and goes on to live a new life estranged from his first family. One is the father and one is the daughter, how the father leaves his diaries to explain his sorrow and regrets, how the daughter goes through trauma and heartbreak to settle for a quiet controlled life. Finally the daughter comes back to her life, faces her fears and understands so much more about her journey. The characters are well developed and although you don’t know the full story at the beginning you learn to understand each situation as the book progresses. Well thought out and enjoyed the narration as well. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

Pearl Flowers has had nothing to do with her father for years. His second marriage to a woman determined to drive a wedge between father and daughter was a resounding success. Now, with her estranged father recently deceased, Pearl learns he has left her a diary. Reluctantly, she travels to England to retrieve the diary and is shocked to discover the feelings of loss and separation Pearl was feeling were shared by her father. He has thought of her every day for forty years, and even though her father has gone, Pearl discovers that it’s not too late to face her past and revise her memories of her father. This is a beautiful story about the power of love and forgiveness

This was a great read. A well told story of complicated family dynamics that really resounded with me. It was emotional and gripping and I really felt for all of the characters. I loved how the fathers character changed as Pearl slowly made her way through the diaries, and how the other characters grew and developed through the book too. The narrator was so easy to listen to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced listening copy.

This book made me cry so much! Sad tears and happy tears, it covers every emotion you’ve got and some you don’t know you had too.
Perfect as an audiobook.

I absolutely loved this emotional, heartbreaking and uplifting book. Told from the three perspectives of Pearl who has moved to France to escape her old life; Pearl's estranged father Francis; and Carrie. We see the different families from the various perspectives, with the father's additions slowly revealed through his diaries. There is a lovely sense of compassion woven through the story. Pearl goes through such a lot but is a wonderful caring person.

Beautifully written and very well narrated.

It took me a little while to get into this book and get to grips with who’s who but when I did I was sucked in! A great story about family, relationships, love and loss.

The final week of 2021 found me involved with two stories about family dynamics. This story deals with a woman who has been estranged from her family for 30 years. Now, it was easy to see why she walked away from her father. He pretty much abandoned his first family for his second wife. But she’s also avoided her brothers. Now, her father has died and she returns to England from her home in France. She’s told there is a bequest she can get only if she attends his funeral. She has no idea what it could be and is shocked when her father’s lawyer hands her a series of journals written by her father. They’re written in the shorthand he taught her when she was still a child. Of course, his wife and stepdaughter are horrified and try all manner of things to get their hands on them, worried about what they might say.
We also hear from Caroline, who’s dying adoptive mother asks Caroline to attend the same funeral. And finally, we hear snippets from the father’s journals. He infuriated me, the way he allowed his second wife to drive such a wedge between him and his kids. I also couldn’t help but wonder if his abandonment of his first family led Pearl to make a bad choice with her husband (who also irritated me to no end).
The story immediately drew me in. There’s nothing like a death to shake up family dynamics and this book proves that in spades. Miller does a good job of handling all the different emotions that Pearl goes through. As would be expected, the book has a lot to say about what it means to be a parent. It also has a lot to say with living one’s own life and facing challenges. It’s an aptly named book.
I was not impressed by Sarah Durham, who narrated. To my ear, all her voices sounded the same. If I missed a chapter heading, it sometimes took me a few sentences to realize whose story I was hearing.

This is a complex story about fractured families and relationships. It was well written and I really enjoyed living through Pearl's journey, looking back on her past and how it has shaped the woman she has become today, the discoveries she makes, family secrets revealed and explanations for peoples actions, mistakes made and wrongs attempted to be righted. The story covers loss and grief in all of it's forms but the story is never depressing, just a real look at the intricacies of family life and difficult decisions and situations that we are sometimes faced with. The book has a satisfactory ending with ghosts laid to rest and relationships mended and we can see how Pearl becomes stronger for it. The story flicks between different times and there is a fair amount of characters which took me a little bit of time to get my head around but once I did, I became fully immersed in the life of Pearl. I listened to the book on audio and the narrator was excellent. Overall a great 4* read.

This book is hauntingly good! It tackles family drama and relationships.

The Woman Who Came Back to Life by Beth Miller follows Pearl, a woman who is living in France with her husband who learns that her father, from whom she is estranged, has died and left her a task of some sort- a bequest, She can only know what it is if she appears at the funeral .

I was listening to this book on audio and the narrator was just so amazing and I loved the plot, the narration and the themes the author tackled.

Highly recommend. A huge thanks to the publisher for my complimentary copy.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

Content notes for this novel include: discussions about abortion, stillbirth, pregnancy complications, domestic abuse and discussions around trauma and mental illness.

The novel is about two women navigating a complex, mysterious family situation caused the death of a man they are linked to.

This is not the kind of book I normally read or listen to, but I'm really glad I did. The novel tackles really difficult discussions around trauma and psychological abuse. The main characters experience immense growth in their perspectives around themselves and their families, which is great for a reader to see. Plus, the prose is excellent.

There's not much bad to say about this book. Some characters did not really need to exist at all in my opinion, as the story could have developed completely fine without them. Nevertheless, an amazing read.

This is the first time that I have read this author. It took me a while to figure out the characters and how they fit in. Once I achieved that I sat back and listened to the emotional story. I enjoyed the lead character tremendously and felt sad when I listened to the final pages because I had to say goodbye. Pack your kleenex - you will need it.

I was intrigued by the book description. As I started listening, I wasn't sure I was going to like it though, with the main character coming across as weak. However, It was written well enough to hold my attention, and in the end, turned out to be a really great book. I loved how the characters' stories were woven together and how they changed during the course of the book. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful story.

Talented British author, Beth Miller wrote "The Woman Who Came Back to Life". I was very fortunate to read the e-book on my Kindle while listening to audio book, beautifully narrated by Sarah Durham.


Pearl lives in the London area with her husband Denny. They own a picturesque cabin in their woods and enjoy a secluded life together. Pearl has two brother's (Greg and Benjy). Their dad left them over thirty years ago and the family struggled to stay close. Suddenly, their dad Francis passes away, and the family is called together for the funeral/reading of the will. Pearl is mysterious bequeathed something private by her father that could drive the family further apart. This creates drama and chaos among the family members.


The story involves three POV's. This leads to some very interesting family secrets coming to light. I enjoyed the story, but thought it was a little lackluster in the middle. The ending was interesting and left me wondering if there is going to sequel. I sure hope so. I would love to read it..
The book will be published January 5, 2022.


Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture, and Bookouture Audio for the e-book and audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I really appreciate it!

Pearl Flowers has been hiding away for so long that she has forgotten what real life is like. Her quiet routine in a woodland cottage in France is a sanctuary, far away from her past life running a beauty salon. But even when she is sitting at the foot of a beech tree with her drawing pad, surrounded by birdsong, her mind is never still. If she keeps herself distracted and far away, her past can’t hurt her… can it?

The narration has good pace and flow,and the narrators voices seemed right for the characters they were portraying. I listened to this as an audio book and felt the narrators really helped bring the story to life. The narrator narrated the book beautifully, and I loved the depictions of the different characters.

A truly enjoyable read. The characters were complex with rich backstories that fueled their complicated family dynamics. As with every family, there are secrets, but these secrets are told through a journal written in code and bequeathed to the main character, Pearl, after her estranged father dies.

Pearl's father left her and her brothers when she was a teenager, and she always believed that he'd chosen to replace them with his new wife and her daughter. She learns through reading the journal that this explanation is far too simplistic. Through the journal, she is able to see into her father's thought process and start to understand his true motivations and intentions.

I found the use of the diary and its code as an excellent way for the author to provide details from the dead father's point of view, but also to provide that information slowly. Pearl has some difficulty deciphering it, so the information comes slowly, which I thought was actually a plus. While the story and the use of the diary was interesting and clever, I did feel like there was something missing in the end. Pearl and her husband both had solid character arcs, but I didn't feel like Pearl was able to obtain closure when it came to her father. There were some innuendos as to why the father chose to abandon his first family, but nothing compelling enough to make me think, "yeah that explains it."

But overall, I felt like it was an excellent read. There were parts that were intense, and it does touch on some very serious subjects such as stillborn children, abandonment, and suicide, but it also has some lighter, even funny moments.

I loved this audiobook so much!

It is beautifully written (and narrated) from three different perspectives: Pearl, her daughter Carrie that she had in her teens and gave for adoption at birth, and Francis, Pearl's estranged father that we get to know through his diaries.

I loved the way it evolves around family relationships of different kinds, making it a touching family drama with tears jerking moments as well as laugh out loud ones.

I'm definitely going to have a look at other books by Beth Miller, since I highly enjoyed this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review