I, thank you NetGalley and Headline Headline for entrusting me with this book! I loved it.

This book takes me on a journey of self-discovery and connection. September’s story is full of twists and heartbreak, but also moments of hope and strength that will stay with you. The relationships, especially the found family, really shine showing us that family isn’t just who we’re born to, but who we gather along the way. It’ll make you laugh, cry, and leave you thinking about it long after you’ve finished.

Wow what a read - couldn’t put it down. The links between past and future are so well written that it just flows through. A great finding yourself book

First of all my TBR list just increased massively! Loved the very wide range of book recommendations and how they link to the story and characters involved, all of who strengthened the message of the story with the very many themes throughout.
An enjoyable and warmhearted read about coming together with discovery, growth and connection in an otherwise lonely and sometimes isolated existence.

This is an inspiring book filled with kindness. This book will make you care deeply for September and her story that has so many twists and wrong turns, this is sad in places, but its also inspiring, listening as September sweeps you into her world, she will bring you along to book group and make you want to read along to the stories they devour. There is so much going on in the story, but it’s the sense of home that shines through, showing us family isn’t who we are born with, but who we collect along the way.

This book broke my heart all the way through it and I cried at the Epilogue.
September lives with her boyfriend who doesn't work. She works in a supermarket and yet cannot seem to make ends meet. She never goes out with friends,never has enough to eat and is just exhausted from all the worry.
A letter arrives one day from a solicitor which tells September that she has to attend the offices in person as she may have inherited some money.

September was adopted after being left in a hospital at the age of 15 mths. She has no idea who her family was or why she was abandoned.
I really don't want to give any spoilers away for this book.
I think you should just read it. Be prepared to meet some horrible obnoxious people. I can't actually find enough words to describe them.
There are also so many truly lovely people in this book too; like Willam,Lucia, Esin and Marina to name a few.
And September is a delightful character.
There are some beautiful parts of the book and happy parts but it will also make you angry and break your heart.
Now go and read it!

Truly magical, feel good, uplifting and inspirational book, this is going to be very popular!

September is living from payday to payday, wondering how she can stay on top of her debts. Then a letter from a solicitor comes and Septembers life dramatically changes.

This book has everything covered, from heartbreak to new beginnings and everything in between. Everyone needs to sprinkle a little kindness around!

This is a beauty of a book. It absolutely has kindness running all the way through it, even those that perhaps don’t deserve it at first glance. September ends up all alone and feeling betrayed by her boyfriend and the book takes this as its starting point to bounce around in time. September has no one in the world and yet one simple letter allows her to build a life full of people. She gathers friends and importantly, they gather her up and include them in their kindness. September blossoms becomes just the right level of care for the people around her. This book is an excellent story of what can happen and even when things go wrong there is a future if people are willing to help each other.

“September is at her wits' end. There's never enough money to support her boyfriend and herself. September has nothing to look forward to.

Then the letter comes. September has inherited a house from a great-aunt she never knew she had. It would make sense to sell it.”

As September spends time in her aunt’s home she discover more about her aunt and her long lost family but also herself.
Lovely feel good stories make me feel better. Highly recommend

Such a pleasure to review one of Stephanie Butland's novels. I have read several and enjoyed them all. Let us not get carried away, none of them is classic literature, but then, none of them purports to be anything more than a charming feel good read.
The Book of Kindness brings together a disparate group of characters through, of all things, a Book Group😉
While the story arc is fairly predictable, Stephanie Butland's gift is to clothe her characters with nuanced back stories which elicit real sympathy from the reader.
In this instance, the two main characters, Lucia and September, linked as Aunt and niece, have stories of charm and, in Lucia's case, gentle melancholy.
The book of kindness, is written by Lucia. Kindnesses shown to her and those shown by her are recorded in notebooks which September finds after her death.
Don't look for great incidents and drama, but relax and enjoy a kind story of ordinary people getting on with their lives as best they can helping others as much as they can, whenever they can however they can.
Buy it, read it,enjoy it, then share it...it's the least you can do!
Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an earc copy of this lovely book in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely book. September is at her wits end about money. It doesn't seem to matter how much she works there's never enough. She keeps getting letters from a solicitor which she doesn't open. She then discovers that her boyfriend Shaun has been swindling her of money. She then discovers that she's been named in a will of a person she doesn't know

I absolutely loved this book! Once I started, I just didn’t want to put it down and felt real sadness when I finished it; I loved the characters so much.
It has such a wonderful story, funny and heartbreaking in turns. Its about family, lost and found, loss and friendship and how life can turn on one decision. But overall it is about the positive impact of kindness. A truly beautiful story ❤
Thank you to NetGalley, Headline and Stephanie Butland for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

'So long as someone knows your story, you are alive in the world.'

So many important themes that are written down in a truly heartfelt way: racism, adoption, women's rights. And it is a book about books :) Lucia, I really enjoyed as a generous person, not exactly financially, but more when it came to support others, especially April.

This could've been a lovely story, I think, but the part about September feels stilted, as if it is off or odd. I don't understand how she can say that now she is no longer poor she has a future, instead of thinking that perhaps it was simply a different future. She feels sorry for those with a childless marriage, Cassie is made a caricature (the only unkind character and her daughters on a lactose- free diet). That sort of assumptions and stereotypes made me feel uncomfortable, because the obvious themes (as described above) were so properly handled.
I also fail to understand how the details can be so insufficient or inconsistent: was her birthday on the 21st, 22nd, or 25th?! A birthday present for her 17th birthday is mentioned twice, but with different gifts. People's names being mixed up.

However, I do think 'be kind and pay it forward,' is an essential ingredient for life these days with the world being on fire...

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Another brilliant book by Stephanie Butland. I loved the characters. Kindness was definitely a book filled with all the things you expect from her writing. Will be purchasing my own copy

This was an uplifting yet incredibly bittersweet read about September who is alone on the world except for her dysfunctional boyfriend, and every day is a struggle for her. Her world changes when she is left a generous inheritance from the biological great aunt she never knew and she uncovers the story of how she came to be adopted. There’s many beautiful moments in this and some wonderful characters although I’m not quite sure how I feel about September after she becomes rich as it did alter some of the good parts of her. The concept of everyday kindnesses is brilliant as is the book club and their feelings about the books they’re reading. It was good to read Lucia’s story too as it added wonderful background to April and September’s story, my only quibble in the story is that I did wonder why September’s father didn’t make direct contact with Lucia. That aside this is a very thoughtful and positive read about kindness and moving on and it was concluded in a lovely manner.

September is adopted and is having a hard life trying to survive with her unsupported boyfriend when she gets an inheritance of a house and money from her great aunt Lucia who she didn't know about.
September leaves her boyfriend and moves into the house and people turn up for their monthly book club her aunt ran and requested it remain, so she makes friends and learns all about her lost family.
A great book on friendship and family.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

This is an absolute delight of a book. Kindness indeed. Apart from September’s relationship at the beginning of the book, the lovely characters we met all had their own stories which unfolded as the book progressed. The person who really had knotted everyone together was September’s deceased great aunt. I was glad not to meet some of her other deceased relatives who most definitely were not kind. This story gave much food for thought and to several books through the group’s book club. This is a book I’d recommend to anyone looking for something they’d not be able to put down when they started reading.

What a truly heartwarming story, that was an absolute pleasure to read. I felt so invested in September's story; the highs and lows of her life, unlocking her past which had been lost to her. Despite the tough subject matter this is a book full of hope and I found that hope infectious I don't want to say more without ruining the book, as I want everyone to have the same experience whilst reading!.

I definitely recommend this book, and I am a new fan of Stephanie Butland's work.
Thank you so much to Headline and NetGalley for the ARC of this book and for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts.

A lovely book about family and friendship, The protagonist, September, receives an inheritance that was a surprise to her.

Adopted as a child, she learns about a family she didn't know through the members of a book club she becomes part of.

This is a lovely book by this author, a feel good read with lots of lovely surprises. I definitely recommend.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy

When we first meet September, she is a young woman with a flighty boyfriend and money worries. An unexpected inheritance comes with news of a family she didn't know existed. As she learns more about connections to her past, Stephanie moves forwards and finds her happiness. This is a beautifully written story about family (found and otherwise), love and the importance of kindness.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley. My thoughts and words are entirely my own

A great read. It was really heartwarming and a great cast of characters. I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.