This is a literary romance with bags of charm and a gentle pace.

Addie lives on a tiny island running a women's retreat with her mother, who has controlled her every move her whole life. She dreams of getting away but doesn't know how. Sol is visits a neighbouring island, deep in grief for his mother, feeling a deep awkwardness about what it means to be a full-grown man.

They catch sight of one another and begin to fall into one another's paths, until their lives are entwined though never fully together. They are both lonely. Sol wants so badly to be in love, and while Addie yearns for happiness too, she is desperate for her life not to be contingent on another's.

Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly is beautifully written. I could see and feel the island of Rokesby as I read. Sol and Addie are both intriguing characters and I became rather desperate for them to find a route to happiness. They felt fresh and real.

I did at times get frustrated at Addie not seeing what Sol was asking for, but that was just part of their journey (and I would wager she did have the more difficult life as a child/teen). A satisfying and well-told read.

British author Joanna Glen is back with another wonderful tale of love, family, grief and tricky relationships. I found it slowly mesmerising, and didn't want it to end.

Addie lives on the remote (fictional) British island of Rokesby with her mother, running a luxury secular retreat for women. She can turn her hand to most things, but her two great loves are sewing and swimming, both of which she can immerse herself in from Rokesby. And that's lucky for Addie, because she rarely has the opportunity to leave the island due to an odd kind of guilt/emotional control that her mother exerts over her. She is starting to push back though, and has begun to try to talk to her mother about having more freedom, or at least being paid for her work.

Vicar's son, Sol, has arrived on Ora, connected by a tidal bridge to Rokesby, for more of a religious retreat at the hermitage of Brother Andrew. He's the only guest there and he has a few things to figure out, having recently been blindsided by a letter from his unloving father. Sol has a good job as a teacher and to all intents and purposes lives a fairly normal life, but he does have two great regrets or secrets that he holds very close. He wants to work on one of those things while on Ora.

Two awkward individuals, both wanting to change their lives. When they meet on Rokesby, neither realises just how much impact they will have on each other.

As with Glen's previous novels, the magic here is in watching the story unfold. Recommended.

I have enjoyed other books by this writer but this one didn’t really work for me. There are beautiful descriptions of nature but I didn’t tell with either Sol or Addie (in fact Addie was quite annoying). It is a slower paced read that other readers will probably enjoy more than me.

I was so excited when I was given a proof of Joanna’s latest book as her previous novel, All my mothers, is one of my all time favourites. I have also read her debut (The other half of Augusta Hope), which I found incredibly emotive, to the point that I did have to put it aside and pause reading it a number of times. So I wasn’t sure what to expect from Maybe Perhaps Possibly.

It is quite different from her other two books but with the same wonderful writing style, and a book I thoroughly enjoyed. In my view, it was easier on the heart, which was, for me, a big plus this time.

“We want to choose life over death, but there is no life without death - they’re one - and we want to choose love over grief, but they too are one.”

We follow the story of Addie and Sol, who both have grown into adults, unsure of themselves and how to be with others, because of their relationships with their parents and how they were brought up and how grief has shaped them. Addie has lived pretty much isolated from others and from ‘normal’ life for years and her mother is dominant, whilst Sol’s mother was incredibly loving and kind but she died and he misses her immensely. Missing the feeling of being loved, they each want to reach for something new in their life but neither is quite sure how to make that next step. When Sol visits close to where Addie lives with her mother, their lives collide and change irrevocably.

This is a wonderful love story where we see both Addie and Sol grow and blossom into something greater than what they were prior to their meeting. It’s not an easy path for them and I loved being on their journey and see where it would take them.

I highly recommend this book. Another gem from this wonderful author!

As always, I scribbled down some lovely quotes from the book. My favourite ones are below:

“Love is what makes us big […], not muscles or status or power.”

“It’s hard to live a life we can’t imagine, […] our future starts inside our own mind.”

“People have lots of selves. We’re all like Russian dolls.”

“That’s being human. […] Having past, present and future all at once.”

Gently paced, this lyrically written literary fiction has two almost otherwordly naive protagonists who, through their connection, find a way to move forward in the secular world. Addie lives on a remote island, helping her mother run a retreat. Young and keen to taste what life can offer her, she feels like a prisoner and wants to escape. Sol is grieving the loss of his mother and is on a retreat to come to terms with his loss. Both have complex family relations and a love of the natural world, which draws them to each other. It's an intricate story that needs concentration and time to appreciate.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for this ARC!

This book centres around Addie and Sol. Addie works at her mother’s women’s retreat on a remote island off the coast but dreams of escaping to the mainland and living a life of her own, not controlled by her mother. Sol, still grieving the loss of his mother, ventures to the neighbouring island of Addie’s home seeking refuge with a priest. When the tide is low, the two islands meet and Sol and Addie instantly connect. Sol helps Addie leave the island and start a new life but it’s not long before an incident causes a rift and their relationship becomes complicated and at times strained.

All My Mothers (Joanna Glen’s previous book) was one of the best books I’ve read this year. So when I was approved this one on Netgalley I was so excited and my expectations were very high. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t feel the same for me, it could be because this one is very focused on Addie and Sol and their love for each other and the other parts of their lives are merely adjacent to this.

Ultimately, my feelings are mixed. It started well and then got too slow for me in the middle but the very end picked things back up. I loved the nature, animals and birds theme and just like All My Mothers there is beautiful symbolism and circularity in the writing. By way of plot, I enjoyed the family dysfunctions and the long distance aspect of Addie and Sol’s relationship and how they had to contend with that but there was also a lot of mundane narrative about their story and love for each other which I found tedious at times. I found myself skim reading certain parts just wanting something more exciting to happen. It’s a very slow burner with lovely imagery. Just like All My Mothers, there’s so much wisdom in the way the author writes.

The characters were believable and layered, both affected by parental traumas in different ways they develop nicely and their connection came across as genuine. I didn’t love the juvenile dynamic of their relationship but their inexperience and naivety were essential parts of their characters.

If you like slow burn romance, nature imagery and a wise and perceptive narrative, you’ll likely enjoy this.

Addie is helping her mum run a retreat on a small Scottish island - or an unpaid slave.
Sol is recovering from his mothers death and the betrayal of his father and seeks comfort from a prayer house on a neighbouring island.
They meet and find joy in their surroundings and friendship.
Could it become more?

I really enjoyed The other half of Augusta Hope when I read it a few years ago so I was excited to get my hand on this, the author's latest book. Although I didn't enjoy it as much as her previous, I found it to be just as emotional and a decent read in itself. Maybe my expectations were set a tad too high.
So... in this book we follow two main characters, Addie and Sol, as they meet and fall in love. Addie is stuck helping her mother run the women's retreat that she had set up on the tiny remote island of Rokesby. She doesn't want to be there, she wants to follow her father and brother and get off the island into the world, but she is stuck. Sol is grieving and has taken himself off on a retreat of his own. He is holed up in a prayer house on Ora, an even smaller island attached to Rokesby by a tidal causeway, spending his days in quiet contemplation, bird-watching and reading.
The two connect when they spy each other from afar. But given their pasts and their different but sheltered upbringings, they struggle to make things work...
This book is slow... and there's an awful lot of description and brooding and not much action for huge chunks... it's definitely a slow burn and, as such, I very nearly gave up. I think it was only the fact that I loved her previous book so much that I kept the faith and stuck with it. And, at the end of the day, it proved to be the right call as my faith was rewarded.
Pacing was a bit hit and miss, dragging for ages but then things happened all at once, reverting back to slow thereafter. It did irk me a bit as it was hard to fully immerse myself into the book. Another thing that did grate a bit was the same scene from two perspectives. Now, done well, this can be effective but, in this case, there wasn't really enough difference to really warrant the inclusion of the dual perspective and occasionally just became repetitive, slowing the whole narrative down.
But, as I said, it was worth slogging it out to the end. I guess some books favour the journey, others favour the destination, occasionally they favour both. This one was very much of the destination kind, the journey being a bit wayward.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Th is was such a gentle read following Addie and Sol.
The pair are brought together when Sol visits a neighbouring island to the one Addie lives on with her mother running a retreat. Addie dreams of a life elsewhere and spends her time swimming and watching the nature on the island. Sol is a man who is grieving and is looking for some peace and tranquility but you also feel he is a bit lost.
They are interested and attracted to each other and we follow them over a couple of years as their lives take different paths but fate brings them back together again.
It look me a while to get into the flow of the writing but I was soon immersed in their story.
I loved their times together and their struggle to communicate and I felt the author kept the reader unsure if they would make it together or not.
A thoroughly enjoyable read which shows the complexities of love and family relationships and I’m sure it will be a huge success on publication.

A big fan of Joanna Glen’s previous two novels, The Other Half of Augusta Hope and All My Mothers, her new novel, Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly was one of my most anticipated reads of the year.
In this novel, we meet two misfits Addie and Sol. Addie lives on the tiny island of Rokesby and works for her mother running a women’s retreat. Addie dreams of escape to the mainland and finds solace swimming in the sea around the island.
One Spring, Sol arrives to the neighbouring island. He has come to escape the grief of losing his mother and to process a betrayal by his father. He spends his time enjoying the nature and solitude, but a chance encounter one day with Addie stirs something in them both. We follow them over the course of two years as they wrestle their feelings and contemplate if they can be happy together.
Glen is a master in creating characters you feel great empathy for, who may have not had the best role models or experienced unconditional love earlier in life. Addie and Sol are no exception. Through no real fault of their own, they are both clueless when it comes to love and many times I was desperate for them to just communicate! Told in a dual storyline, we really feel their inner turmoils. Young love is full of anxiety and uncertainty and this really comes across. This is a novel that builds slowly, that examines the complexity of relationships and the compromise that is needed to make them work.
Glen’s writing is immersive and in this novel the depiction of nature is stunning- the birdlife as well as the rugged landscapes of Northumberland and the Scottish Isles. It took all my efforts not to book a holiday instantly to the Farne Islands! Different in style to All My Mothers, this felt more like Augusta Hope to me, but like both these novels, I thoroughly enjoyed my read of Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly.
A big thanks to @netgalley, @harpercollins and @boroughpress for the chance to read this ARC.

On the tiny island of Rokesby, Addie helps her mother run a women's retreat. Dreaming of escape, she consoles herself by swimming in the ocean that surrounds them. On the neighbouring island, joined to Rokesby by a bridge at low tide, Sol has sought refuge at a wind-swept prayer house, grieving both his mother's death and his father's devastating betrayal. Alone and anxious, he takes comfort in bird watching, books and the sounds of the sea. Introverts with turbulent pasts and wary hearts, Sol and Addie are both drawn to nature far more than to people - until they catch sight of one another in the wild. Can they break free from past lessons in love to risk a better future together?

This is a bit of a slow burn, slowly building the story and the characters up. Addie and Sol were unique characters. They have both led sheltered lives. It did take me a few chapters before I was fully invested in this story. It's a story of love, compromise and a love of nature. There was a lot of repetition near the end of the book, the story could have been much shorter, we had nothing happening for a while then everything would happen. I didn't love this book, but I didn't dislike it either.

Published 18th June

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #HarperFiction and the author #JoannaGlen for my ARC of #MaybePerhapsPossibly in exchange for an honest review.

A gentle tale of love & the accompanying insecurities that love can evoke in us all. Addie lives a sheltered island life when she meets Sol who is on retreat following the break up of a relationship & the death of his mother. They are both misfits looking to escape their own lives when they discover one another. A pleasant read… 4 stars.

This for me was a very powerful story, a story of sadness, grief, loneliness and love. I loved reading the journey the characters took, how they went through their different lives and how they overcame their sadness etc at the end.

I really enjoyed this tale of two people who weren't quite sure what they wanted, or how to go about resolving their issues. Sol and Addie really needed someone to talk to and give them a good talking to and some advice. But the story was very well written, I do enjoy this author's style and the settings for this book were perfect for the tale. A good ending.

Living up to its title, this thoughtful, slow paced love story is full of uncertainties, but that’s also a large part of its charm, which is enhanced by the author’s captivating writing style.

As their tentative relationship gently develops, Addie and Sol, the main protagonists, reveal how difficult long term relationships can be, especially for such inexperienced, shy individuals as these.

With both of them coming from backgrounds where parental love hasn’t been freely lavished on them in an accepting, unconditional way, they are wary, full of insecurities and unsure about having a romantic relationship.

Yet as the bridge between Addie’s home on the isle of Rokesby and Sol’s temporary prayer house retreat on a neighbouring island disappears at high tide, they begin to build a bridge toward one another that can seem equally submerged and precarious at times.

Despite several setbacks, they maintain a strong link to each other’s hearts. A bond that’s strong enough to help Sol overcome the raw grief over his mother’s death, and assist Addie to break away from her mother and become her own person rather than an unappreciated glorified skivvy.

It didn’t quite enchant me like All My Mothers or The Other Half of Augusta Hope which I loved, but it’s still a finely crafted, insightful book with evocative descriptions of nature, and an intriguing storyline. Grateful thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the eARC.

Maybe Perhaps Possibly is a gentle read about two like minded lonely souls Addie and Sol who meet on an isolated island.
Their lives have not been happy for different reasons but they have a mutual love of nature.
The descriptions of the wildlife and the island were beautiful and Addie and Sol were sweet and likeable.
I adored Joanna’s previous book All My Mothers.This one was more of a slow burn but a beautifully written will they wont they story which I really enjoyed too.

Maybe, Possibly, Perhaps by Joanna Glen
This is the story of two misfits – people who have been affected by their upbringing and the needs of their family. Addie is a young girl in her 20’s who loves on the remote island of Rokesby where her mother runs a retreat just for women. It seems that Addie does all the work and her mother runs life coaching sessions for the women. She has been kept on the island to serve her mother’s purpose but her mother contends that she would not be able to cope with people or life elsewhere. Sol, the son of a clergyman, arrives on a nearby prayer island and he too is searching for answers. His late mother has sent him there in search of the “thin places”, where it is possible to be nearer to god.
The descriptions of the island and the nature which abounds on it are beautiful and were a pleasure to be immersed in. The writing is poetic and touching. It is obvious that the meeting of Addie and Sol will bring a change in their lives but a relationship is something which has to be worked at and worked through. The book is about faith and hope and also about how two so called misfits can fit each other perfectly. I found the first part of the book very engaging but it seemed to lose pace in the middle of the story. I would probably give the book 3 and a half if I could for this reason.
Many thanks to the author, the [publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.

A very gentle story of finding your place in the world and doing what you feel is right. I was a bit confused about characters at first and I didn't love it as much as previous books by this author but it grows on you, a nice read

Joanna Glen is so good at writing melancholic main characters with parental issues!! Don’t ever stop girl

This book was lovely - it was slow and savoured in building itself and its characters up, and had the familiar focus of grief, sense of self, religion, family, and longing, which Glen is so great at portraying. My only gripe was that it felt a little too long, and was slightly repetitive towards the end, which got a little frustrating storyline wise.

All My Mothers can never be beaten in my Joanna Glen ranking, but I think this has taken the second spot. The imagery is stunning, and the detail that goes into describing the scenery of each location is incredible. I think particularly the first third of this book really shines.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To the story's credit, Joanna Glen is an excellent writer. She writes crisp sentences, uses nicely observed description and apt metaphors and many readers will enjoy a well executed, long, slow read but I found myself frustrated with Addie and Sol's romantic incompetence and wearied at their inability to communicate what they wanted and needed to say