Member Reviews
I loved meeting Norman Foreman so thank you for the opportunity to meet Danny and team.
A great mix of humour and thought provoking content. Another enjoyable read.
I will be sharing a full review on the blog tour
I found this book hard to get into initially, I think partly because I'd just finished a wonderful book, but also because of the way it began with Danny's drunken antics. I very nearly gave up on it, but I'm so glad I persevered, because it was brilliant. All the characters were great, though I have to say Lou's character pulled at my heart strings. The little boy was hilarious. This book was very insightful and I found myself wishing that I could write to Danny and receive a reply. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really tried to get into this book but struggled my way to 65% and had to stop. I just couldn't engage with the characters and found it really hard going. Sorry, but not for me.
Original, unique and thoughtful.
Danny is jobless, living in his bestie’s shed.
At the start, he gets arrested. Obsessed with the police officer if you make it past that it does get better as I didn’t appreciate the descriptions at the start.
This novel goes back and forth between the past and present.
The plot was very well thought out and it was consistent throughout. The characters felt very real too which I look for in a novel.
Overall, beautiful story about family and second chances.
Tried to start this one on a few different occasions but really struggled to get into it. All felt a bit disjointed and choppy. Not for me, sorry.
This is a funny, emotional and just overall heart-warming story about family, healing and making amends no matter how much time has passed.
I enjoyed every bit of it, the characters are not the most complex in the universe, but you find yourself attached to them pretty quickly, the story itself isn't too complicated either, but it traps you in it, rooting for these people. I specially loved the whole advice through the newspaper plot line, in my opinion it gave the character of Danny more depth and made him a lot more interesting.
A quick, heart-warming read that you will recommend to your friends.
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for an e-ARC!
A seriously enjoyable read that has unique characters and a simple but effective storyline. Danny has some fantastic friends and family around him that all contribute to his awakening.
I really enjoyed Sincerely, Me by Julietta Henderson. It was a nice feel good story and it grew on me the more that I read. I particulary enjoyed reading the letters and Danny's responses to them - his dad was a wise man.
Additionally, I thought the author focused on the nuanced relationships we all have with our own parents and how two people who shared the same home and upbringing could have quite different memories of their childhood and relationships.
Great book and I one I would happily recommend.
I really enjoyed this, it was a bit slow going, but I’m glad I persevered.
Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.
Danny lives in his friend Dom's shed and can't keep down a job. He also drinks too much. Then his niece Wolfie who he's never met turns up and his life changes
Having enjoyed Julietta’s first novel, The funny thing about Norman Foreman, I was eager to read her new book and have to say that it is a wonderful read.
We find Danny Mulberry re-united with his long lost sister of 16 years via his 15 year old niece, Wolfe, who he has never met. He lives in his best friend’s shed and has a dog called Gentleman. The story is as quirky as it sounds but at the heart of it is a very well written, character based story that is as funny as it is moving as you meander through Danny’s days.
The book covers many different emotional subjects in a clever way that educates as it entertains. Danny’s situation forces him to drag up some painful memories from his past that somehow become his strength going forward. The underlying love vs hardship of family life tested to the limit is done in a most wonderfully written story that builds as you read into a satisfying conclusion. You will enjoy this feel-good book in it’s own right, but especially if you are a fan of ‘Norman Foreman’.
The author’s writing style is very easy to read and so enjoyable, drawing you in to a group of people you feel you want to be a part of.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.
Danny is thrust into the spotlight with some unexpected publicity and is reunited with some long lost family. He's not sure how to react to these new relationships when he was jogging along quite nicely on his own. Full of humour and her usual perceptive descriptions of characters Julietta Henderson does not disappoint in this tale of rediscovery.
Took me a little while to get into this, to realise the connections and who was who, but when I did I became totally engrossed. Danny is drinking too much, feckless and nursing grief and guilt and regret but he has a wonderful friend, a laconic dog - and George. Through a bizarre drunken incident, family connections are gingerly revisited. This is wonderful, funny, poignant and remarkably wise and I shall carry with me some of the wisdom and some of the poetry of Walt Whitman: Happiness not in another place, but this place……not for another hour, but this hour.
Ah this book just had me hooked, slowly at first as I felt really unsure about Danny but then as soon as I got to know Wolfie, Lou, Dom & the phenomenal George, that was it, I was so invested in their complicated history and unbreakable bonds. Towards the end as secrets are revealed I was overwhelmed by the sad and authentic truth of the estrangement between Danny and Lou and how trauma shapes us in so many ways. Aswell as how everyone has their own story and need for connection.
After reading Julietta’s first book and falling in love with Norman I was looking forward to this one. What a delightful story. I loved how sensitively and humorously the characters came to life with all the flaws and quirkiness I’d expected. What I didn’t expect was the heartfelt kindness and wisdom that Danny expressed. Words to build a better world with as he was rebuilding his own inner world. And it just goes to show that you don’t have to be a perfect person to be a perfectly good and kind one. Thank you, Julietta.
Danny’s life is a train crash. He bounces from one crappy job to another, getting drunk and is currently living in his best friends she’d rather than the bedroom he rents from him. George his best friends son has no problem telling Danny about the error of his was. How rescue dog Gentleman is far more forgiving. He hasn’t spoken to his sister in 16 years until a drunken night and some pavement graffiti lands him in a local newspaper causing his long lost niece to track him down. His sister has had a nasty accident and when he and his best friend Dom finally visit her they invite her and her daughter to come and stay with them. Will Danny be able to turn his life around and become the person his sister and niece need him to be? The other result of the newspaper story is Danny ends up becoming an advisor for people writing in for help. Something he finds that he is actually good at and something he likes doing.
I liked this book but at times found it slow and difficult to understand/follow. It has a great storyline and I would still recommend it.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
It's a slow start but we'll worth staying to the end.. I really enjoyed it especially as a change from my usual murder mysteries. Danny has lost his way but is supported by an old friend Dom. Everything changes when his long lost sister and niece turn up. It's a feel good story with a touch of humour plus a sprinkling of mush. Even though not quite as good as Norman Forman, it's still one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year.
I had found myself in a bit of a reading slump lately, I couldn’t get into a book that really gripped me until I was very kindly granted my wish to read this story by Julietta Henderson, and boy did it grip me. I fell in love with George and with Gentleman and even with Danny a little bit too, it made me laugh out loud and definitely brought a tear to my eye on a couple of occasions. It’s a story of family love, family mistakes and family grief, as well as touching on mental health too, I read Norman Foreman by Julietta last year and it was by far my favourite book of 2021, I don’t think this one beats it but it’s definitely a close contender and I loved it. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the privilege of receiving this early copy.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Ah, Julietta Henderson, she's written another lovely novel. How the author manages to entwine sadness with love gets me every time. She's very insightful and gives so much meaning to her work. Your childhood really does have an impact on who you are as an adult.
The characters are all beautiful, that I feel book hungover after finishing it. How I hope there are families out there like that one, mending and forgiving (finally) everywhere.
I loved this book, I loved the humour and I cried at all the poignant passages, it is definitely not a love story in the usual sense of the description.
The plot was all about family, friendships, misunderstandings and recovery. I cared about all the characters including grumpy Ray. In fact I wanted him to have a larger part in the story - in my mind I wanted him to be Rich T. One character, Dom is almost too good to be true, but everyone else seemed to have the flaws one would expect in human beings.
Perhaps most importantly this book sheds light on what it is probably like to be a juvenile carer for an adult.