Heron, an elderly man has been given a diagnosis of terminal cancer. He doesn't know how to tell his daughter, Maggie about it. Maggie is having a bit of a mid life crisis and feels a bored and unfulfilled in her marriage. We discover that Heron raised Maggie as a single father after her mother, Dawn left when she was a toddler but there is more to the story than Maggie has ever learnt. I liked the premise of the story but I felt I never got to really know Maggie or Heron and their inner emotions an dthoughts about things. However, that said I felt it was a good read overall.

This is an intriguing novel that plays its cards close to its chest. Heron is an elderly man who has received a difficult diagnosis from his doctor. He has a strong bond with his daughter, Maggie, who he brought up as a single parent and he wonders how he will break the news to Maggie. But there is another story under the surface of this one, with some far more challenging news to break and as Heron and Maggie re-examine their relationship, more comes to light than Heron bargained for. This is quietly shocking and tenderly powerful. The writing is exquisite and the topic handled beautifully.

4* A decent read that unfortunately didn't delve deep enough into Heron, Maggie or Dawn, so I only managed a degree of sympathy, but no engagement with any of them.

I'm not sure that Dawn was a lesbian. I think she simply wasn't in love with Heron, had married him for the wrong reason, and then met and fell in love with someone more exciting, someone who shad actual conversations with her, saw her, gave her the time of day. As simple as that. I did feel for her being forced into leaving her daughter behind completely, but not as much as I could've had she been portrayed better and in more depth. We never got into her mind or heart, just some thoughts. I think it was only towards the court case that we saw the toll on her.

Kind of the same with Heron. After the supermarket incident, I kept wanting to be let into his head, find out why he'd done what he did, with which aim/s, whether the police or an ambulance were called, what Heron made of his actions after. I needed the showdown with Maggie. I needed him to fully explain to her his misguided actions and how he'd lied to her. I wanted to see a bit of payback for Dawn losing her daughter and bring branded...many things, none of them pleasant or true.

I think we saw Maggie most, as a bit of an unfulfilled woman. She came across as a bit selfish where Connor was concerned, a bit woman-in-midlife-crisis with the talk of wanting to know guys fancy her but not wanting an affair - I felt for poor Connor, the more than half-decent husband. She was just very bitty, with no strong convictions in her married, filial or work lives.

The tale was a bit sad, drew me in despite the 2D portrayals of Heron and Dawn, but left me unsatisfied with the open ending. Still, it was worth a read, though.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Chatto & Windus, London, for my reading pleasure.

I seem to have read a lot of books recently that have characters I've enjoyed so much.
We've added two more here.
Heron, who seems like a nice guy, muddling through the best he can
Then Maggie, who's warm and friendly, and doesn't know what's coming..
I can't write anymore without spoilers,but this should definitely be on your radar.
It brings a piece of fairly recent history to life, and it's quite surprising.