I really loved this tale, which is beautifully written by Beth Miller - I was intrigued by the bequeathed secret diaries written in shorthand by Pearl's unhappy Father, Francis, where he laments the life choices he has made; and which certainly offer an alternative perspective of events. The Will reading where the diaries were brought to light was amusing - with Benjamin, Pearl’s younger brother, providing some light relief, both during the Will reading itself and throughout the story. Jeanie was the wicked Stepmother, who you will not fail to loathe and Andrea, the Stepsister also proves to be pushy, frustrating and unlikeable.

The book jumps between different timelines and perspectives; interspersed with snippets from the diaries, which keep the story interesting - as did several of the sub-plots - like the stranger in the woods, which was also a lovely addition to the story.

I agree with the blurb that this is most certainly a moving story. It is very true that you can never know what happens behind closed doors and this book demonstrates the private hardships and trials which family members face - circumstances not always being as they might at first seem.

Though the title is intriguing and certainly one of the reasons I requested a copy of the book, I don't think it has too much relevance to the story, which is a moving and uplifting story about facing the past and reconnecting with family.

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. (Thank you NetGallery and Bookouture Audio) Sarah Durham narrated the story well and on the whole this was a joy to listen to.

This from the heart story, really was a roller coaster. Pearl is such a lovable character, you just want her to be happy. There are so many things she has had to cope with during her life- she’s a very special lady.
Parts of this book makes your heart sing with joy and other parts makes you cry with the unfairness of life- it’s wonderfully told as an audio book and I would recommend it to anyone.

The Woman Who Came Back to Life
by Beth Miller, Narrated by Sarah Durham

Fifty two year old Pearl Flowers lives in a fairytale cottage in the woods in France, with her husband, who built the cottage. For the last five years this life has been theirs, Pearl doing the hair of a few customers and spending time on her artwork the rest of the time, husband Denny, an introvert, watching over Pearl and building beautiful custom furniture. There had a been a time when Pearl's brothers were a big part of her life but something happened five years ago to send Pearl into isolation.

Pearl's father has died and he's left her a bequest that she can only get if she comes to his funeral. Pearl hasn't seen her father in over thirty years and now he has this demand. The bequest is a pile of her father's diaries, written to Pearl. When her father left her and her brothers long ago, Pearl thought he never gave her and them another thought. Now she sees his life as it really was and knows that her dad has given her a gift, even if it's too late.

Everyone one in Pearl's family seems to have secrets, some more important than others. Pearl has her own big secret that she's kept clamped down so long and hard that she doesn't think she can ever speak it. But from the grave, her father opens up an avenue that Pearl never imagined possible. There was also the event five years ago that estranged her from her oldest brother and his wife, who was Pearl's best friend. These losses were so profound and Pearl never thought it would be possible make her way back to the people she loved. Is Denny really protecting her or is his love a wall that shuts her in?

This story is about the stagnation and growth in families. So much of what is really happening in the minds of a loved one are just our imaginings. We can never know the hardships and trials of a family member unless they tell us and often, the things that hurt the most are what are hidden the deepest from sight. I felt very emotional while listening to this book because it made me think and made me see that things I believed might not be the way things really were.

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. The narration was excellent, I felt like I could see the characters through their voices. I look forward to more works by this author and this narrator.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a must-read-encouraging book that can not be missed or taken for granted. It definitely made me glad that I pick books by genre and cover because ironically, I do not read others' reviews -sorry not sorry- usually spoiled it for me. I am so thankful for that, this book needs that surprising fact. My mind was inevitably working on every little fragment that provided a bit of hint to reckon how things will turn, I LOVED IT!  My heart pounding to every turn this story took made me a Beth Miller follower.

Thought about the experience of the main character all night, I contemplated all the options I'd of had and the time and society I live in when I was that age, and I realized that I wouldn't be able to have choices, only God's will.

“He’d long been a complete blank, his behaviour inexplicable, his motives unknown. To find out, after all this time, what he was really thinking might be unbearable.”

The Woman Who Came Back To Life is the fifth novel by British author, Beth Miller. The audio version is narrated by Sarah Durham. A phone call in the middle of a private French wood turns the ordered life that Pearl Flowers had been leading upside down. Her older brother Greg rings with the news that the father from whom she and her brothers have been estranged for some thirty years, is dying.

No one, not her brother, not her ever-protective husband Denny, is more surprised than Pearl that she feels an urgent need to be there. Too late for last words with her father, she and Denny reluctantly hang around for the hastily-arranged funeral of Francis Nichols, partly because this is a requirement for the mysterious legacy he has left Pearl.

After the expected bequests of property and cash are dealt with, the solicitor tries to hand over a bag of notebooks to Pearl amid vociferous objections from Jeanie and Andrea Nichols, her father’s second wife and step-daughter. It seems Francis has written private journals for the previous thirty-seven years, and several of the family want to have first sight of what could be sensitive material.

“‘They cover the period from 1981 to 2018. I believe the final entry was made only a few weeks before his death.’ A chill ran down my spine. My dad’s life, laid out, for the entire period that I didn’t know him.”

The catch is that they are written in a shorthand that Francis taught Pearl. She returns to France in possession of her father’s legacy to her, not at all sure she wants to read the words of a man who ignored or rejected her attempts at communication after he abandoned her mother and his children. “I stopped writing to Dad then, and eventually, after some rough years of grieving the father I’d loved, I more or less stopped thinking about him, too.”

Those journals sitting in her study are unsettling enough; contact with the family she left behind after a traumatic event is unnerving; the trespasser apparently living in the woods around their secluded little refuge from the world adds to her unease; harassment from her step-sister Andrea about the diaries increases her stress levels; and then there’s a phone call from a young woman…

One of her dying mother’s last requests is that Caroline Haskett attends the funeral and take her measure of the family. The other is that she contact Pearl, something Carrie has no real desire to do. She has managed well for thirty-five years without, and is quite busy enough being the single mother of baby Emmie. But she has made a promise.

The story is carried by three separate narratives: Pearl and Carrie relate in the present day while entries from the journals Francis kept describe past events, giving an alternative, if not always reliable, perspective. The novel’s back-cover blurb is a little misleading, giving the impression that Pearl is more dysfunctional or obsessive than she really is. Some aspects of the story may be predictable, but there are also surprises in the journey to a rather satisfying ending.

Miller’s protagonists are much more than one-dimensional and reward the reader’s time investment with their emotional development. Pearl’s younger brother Benjamin provides some much-needed light relief with his comments and insults during the tenser moments (eg Jeanie’s nasty outburst over the diaries): “Pointing at the page, Benjy said, ‘Doesn’t this line say, “wow my second wife is such a cow”?’”, while Francis is responsible for quite a few, but not all, eyes-welling-up-lump-in-the-throat moments. Funny, moving and uplifting.
This unbiased review is from an audio proof copy provided by NetGalley and Bookouture

Told from different viewpoints including entries from a diary from a deceased father that's been written in code, this is the story of very complicated parent-child relationships. While this is mostly drama, there is a bit of mystery involved as details emerge and the past is revealed and we discover how each person plays into the story. I really enjoyed the writing and characters and kind of wish I could live in that little cabin in the woods in France! We can never know what's going through another person's mind or their true intentions. Sometimes the truth is only revealed when it's too late.

Thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.