A book full of secrets - and as the story unfolds these secrets slowly come out. Quite an intriging read which I enjoyed.

Mothers and daughters.
I have a daughter in her latter thirties and there’s been ups and downs with two strong minded females in the house.

Unlike this daughter, I don’t have an alcohol problem!

This was so well written I hung on every word considering both sides, mother who has secrets and had considerable history in the 60’s . Then up to the 80’s with daughter.

Secrets, heartache……
Can they fix their relationship?

Mothers and daughters. The misunderstandings, the rows, the secrets...the love.

Kathleen's and her daughter's Eva relationship has been always strained. Kathleen drinks too much, is hard on Eva unnecessarily and doesn't care about Eva or her kind father Vince. Or so Eva thinks.
For Kathleen, the alcohol is the way out of her painful memories.
But then Eva rebels and leaves for her boyfriend. And Kathleen's world needs just a little push to start unravel - so when the gossip threatens their family's business, Kathleen goes into depression - and Eva, unable to stop caring, goes after her - and will reveal Kathleen's secret.

Interesting book with interesting premise. The storytelling is vivid and the emotions are very real! The tension, the fights, the desire to be with your own blood. And the blood bond is strong and goes deep.
I understand both Eva and Kathleen (I like Kathleen a bit more, as she is the emotional one, Eva is a bit hardened by her cold upbringing). I also like Vince, shy and kind husband and father - the one silently standing beside you, whom you miss unexpectedly strong when she leaves you.

But unfortunately, the premise is strong, but the book itself is not. The experienced editor might have make wonders here, as the novel is very prolonged. Too many concentration goes for the small happenings and emotions, and the actually strong emotional moments just go very shortly. As if authoress got caught in the small plots of her heroines's life and forgot to tell the story behind them. So the big revelation comes quite late and the family mystery is solved almost immediately. So the reading experience is not as good as it might otherwise be.

But having said all that - the book is still very interesting read. It got me thinking, and this is not a small accomplishment.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. Unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea so I won't be reviewing it publicly

Having read Marian Dillon’s first novel (‘Looking for Alex’) I was looking forward to the publication of ‘The Lies Between Us’, expecting an engaging, if gently paced narrative with a dark secret at its heart. I was very pleasantly surprised. ‘The Lies Between Us’ does have that darkness at the centre but here we have a pacier, more dramatic narrative in which we see how those events continue to overshadow the lives and loves not only of those who survived them, but also of the next generation. Cleverly, Dillon splits our loyalties between mother and daughter as they narrate events from their own perspective, by characterising each as alternately unlovable and selfish, and vulnerable yet strong, determined women who fight to overcome their circumstances in their own way.
‘The Lies’ is set in the 60s – 80s and for those of us who recall those days, is full of period detail which is subtly stated, always sitting behind the story and giving events a time and place that is completely authentic.
This is a good read, a completely absorbing story with a not-altogether satisfying conclusion. I look forward to more from Dillon.
(I posted this review on Amazon, Facebook etc, at the time of publication.)