Member Reviews

I chose this book as Lorraine Kelly is not only a well known TV presenter but she is also from the west of Scotland as am I! She uses many Scottish expressions with which I am familiar ( without it being dialect!) The story centres on Evie and her return to Orkney on the death of her father from whom she’s been estranged for twenty years. Something serious happened to cause her to leave Orkney and establish herself (unhappily) in London. We get to know her sister Liv, her friends Sophia and Freya and lots of Orcadian folk. The story develops over several timeframes as we get to know what caused her to flee the islands. The story draws together the themes of family, heartbreak, tragedy, revenge and love. It is an easy and cosy read. I did spot several mistakes which I hope will be picked up on proofreading. My only criticism is that in the first few pages there is a comment that “ the plane might drop out of the sky and it would all be over”. Given Lorraine was one of the first reporters to arrive at the scene of the Lockerbie disaster, I thought this sentence was unnecessary and perhaps a different thought could have been used.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion for a prepublication ebook in return for my review.

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Wow what a fantastic debut from Lorraine Kelly.
This book centres on the lives a woman’s life totally built on a web of lies. Evie’s father dies and she has to go home to Orkney which opens up old wounds. How can she stay when there are people ready to tell her deepest secret and how will her friends react when they find out.
Greatly written with compassion and empathy a bit cuddle in a book
Well done

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I was drawn to this book for a few reasons. Iir was a bit slow to begin with and some characters were a bit stilted. But overall I enjoyed this, not my usual book but really worth reading

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Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher/author for accepting my request to read and review this book.

I must say, I picked this book up on a whim on NetGalley as I was drawn in by the stunning cover, and I love books set in small towns.

But this book ended up being way more than I expected and a far greater tale than what the cover suggests.

This book follows three timelines

1. Cara, a young women in a small coastal town as she falls in love with a local named Duncan, they marry and have kids - Liv and Evie. We then follow the girls growing up and the drama of Liv being a very difficult child.
2. Evie in the past, immediately following some kind of big event that has changed lives. We see her running away from all her family and friends for over a decade.
3. Evie current day, returning to the small town Orkney since her father has died. She is reconnecting with everyone whilst dealing with her awful sister Liv.

This book is part mystery, part drama, part romance, and I loved how the different timelines worked throughout the book to end up with the full picture by the end.

I loved getting to know an extended cast of characters, from Sophie to Finn, to Maureen and Freya etc. I found that the very optimistic ending helped to balance out with the darker and more depressing themes earlier in the book.

I did have a couple small gripes: namely that some of the dialogue seems very clinical and clunky and not like how people would talk, but I imagine that might be something that improves with a final copy of the book. I also felt like Liv’s character was exaggerated in her awfulness especially as a child.

But overall I thoroughly enjoyed this, a bit different for me but really worth reading.

This is a 4.5 rounded up to 5.

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Two things made me want to read this book. One was the cover; it just drew me in. The second thing was the author. I don’t live in the U.K. but I am well aware of Lorraine Kelly from magazine articles about her career. I think that this might be her first work of fiction.

So, how did she do? There were many things that I liked about this book. The settings brought Orkney to life. There was enough plot with a bit of suspense to keep a reader’s interest. Why did Evie feel that she could be exiled and blackmailed by her sister? Readers will also want to know what water and swimming mean to Evie. 

There were some very good characters. I think that readers will be drawn to Freya. She has not had an easy life but has made it to an existence that absolutely works for her.

What I liked less was that some of the difficult characters felt a bit one dimensional. There was much attention given to Cara’s misery and to Livy’s anger and acting out. These characters are Evie’s mother and sister. Do things get any better for them? Readers will have to find out for themselves by reading the book.

I look forward to seeing if Kelly writes more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

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Wow! It is a very long time since I have enjoyed a book so much. This gripped me from the start, wanting to know the answers to the mysteries of Evie, her family and friends. The setting is sublime - such a wonderful sense of community and you quickly care very much for all the main characters. This was such an absorbing story - i couldn’t wait to find a gap in my day to continue reading, but also had that sense of dread it was going to end. Now what do I do that I have finished it??!! I really look forward to more novels from Lorraine Kelly.

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So excited to read and acquire this title. As someone who was a caregiver for my father in addition to my librarian work for the past 10 years leading up to his passing I could do poignantly relate to the content of this title. I cannot wait to read her journey and what she learns along the way as well as share it with readers who can relate to and heal from this type of situation in some way.

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