Sometimes there are four sides to a story – but which one will you believe?

The Richard & Judy Book Club Pick 2017

HOW COULD LISA DO THIS TO HER BEST FRIEND?

Eight years ago Rosie and Lisa were best friends, they had been pregnant at the same time and their daughters were best friends……….that is until Lisa had an affair with Rosie’s husband Nick! Suddenly their worlds were blown apart, Daisy her daughter developed a very severe form of OCD and Max her son spent half his childhood trying to look out for Daisy. Rosie is shattered by the betrayal she had not seen it coming at all…..but then out of the blue 8 years later Lisa writes a letter saying she has cancer and she wants to meet Rosie to tell her something important.

This letter has an effect on several members of the family who are worried about what is about to be disclosed and the potential consequences if it is what each person fears. Opening old wounds that are still very raw, taking them back to the events of a summer holiday more than 8 years ago that changed all their lives forever.

The story is told from four different viewpoints – those of Daisy, her mother Rosie, father Nick and brother Max. Each one casts a different light on events and shows how easy it can be to interpret what happens in differing and often mistaken ways. The central characters have their own distinctive voice’s. From Daisy, we see how her OCD controls her, from Max we find out about the guilt he has been carrying around since childhood, from Nick we discover how he uses life to justify his weaknesses and from Rosie we see that she is unable to make new romantic attachments following being betrayed by the two people she trusted most.

It is interesting to see how the same event plays out differently in the eyes of each person involved, and exploring the way that we form memories and how memories shift and change over time.

I often found I couldn’t decide whose version to believe, whose memories are truly factual?

This book shows what devastation infidelity, OCD, cancer and lies can do to a normal family and the devastation of friendships and family relationships through deceit and betrayal, how it affects everyone, some a lot more profoundly than others.

Rosie is a cancer specialist so we get an in-depth look at cancer and it’s effect on all those who come into contact with it. The research that has gone into this book makes the characters very relatable, exploring the reliability of memory, the nature of mental illness, the realities of OCD, alcoholism and even self-proclaimed cancer healers!

It is from the self-proclaimed cancer healer that brings some light relieve to the book and provides us with some really good and funny dialogue between Nick and Gregorio who is treating Lisa with utterly bizarre therapies. At one point Nick describes him as a “human bonsai” 🙂

The complex relationships in families has been carefully written about and they are very believable, as are the causes and effects within the families and their relationships and the devastating consequences of betrayal and secrets. There are plot twists that are probably not so hard to guess but compelling none the less.

This book is dark, funny, complex and thought-provoking and there is so much here that pulls on the heart-strings. A lot of hurt, confusion and upset all from betrayals, and is an interesting look at how a parents actions can have a lasting effect on their children no matter how old they are.

Definitely not a lighthearted read but it is definitely the perfect book for a book club, the topics this book has delved into will cause a few different opinions and the ending will be different in everyone’s imaginations, as to what happened next. It would be interesting to find out what other people imagined after the book ended!

I am sure there will be a lot of us that can relate to this book and have been touched by some of the topics in one way or the other and everybody has secrets they keep hidden and things they regret having done! We all deal with things differently and I think that is what kept the book so compelling, seeing it from 4 different view points.

This can be purchased now from Amazon UK or Amazon.com
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Not my usual type of book.
This is the story of the Rankin family Mum Rosie, Dad Nick, Older Sister Daisy and younger brother Max
The book jumps 9 years.
They used to be friends with another couple Lisa and Barney their children Ava and Rex they all went on holiday to Norfolk together. Barney is a bit of a loser and has a Drink problem.
Eventually Nick and Lisa have an affair and are about to get married. Lisa is dying of cancer. Rosie is a cancer specialist and even though she doesnt forgive Lisa wants to help save her life as she is wasting precious time on silly alternative remedys.
Daisy has really bad OCD and Max is training to be a Doctor. Daisy OCD started when she thinks she witnessed her Dad and Lisa having sex on holiday years ago. But this didnt actually happen.
Nick who is actually a bit of a love rat is cheating on Lisa with Connie who happens to be Max's on off Girlfriend.
On the Wedding day some truths are revealed.
Also Rosie gets with Barney who has now cleaned up his act. ( )

Told from the perspective of four members of a family now, & their individual remembrances of an unhappy holiday some years before. Mum - an oncologist, Dad - a researcher in memory, their OCD student daughter, & their medical student son.

Contemporary tale of a marriage breakdown: mother & son are both on Tinder, daughter is being bullied via Facebook. Believable, faulted characters. Fiona has done her research in OCD traits, the medical world, and pokes fun at alternative healers.

A central, fascinating theme is how characters variously remember events & come up with different interpretations, with devastating consequences. A fascinating read, with an interesting ensemble cast. ( )

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone. Rating is a low C-.

I requested this book by the cover and jacket description. For some reason, I found this a very slow and boring read. Told in 4 voices, I must admit that I didn’t like any of the characters very much. This book tackles many issues...OCD (which was done very well), infidelity, divorce, bullying, cancer, modern dating, alcoholism. So many issues! I felt like there was nothing resolved at the end and it left me not caring about any of the characters.

I did like the descriptive writing style and would read this author again. ( )

So this one was a bust for me: I really didn't enjoy it at all.
I felt like I was waiting for some big reveal to happen and It never actually did.
It was all so anti-climatic in nature and that ending for me was just so sudden and abrupt.
It's a shame really as the writing style here I did enjoy: this was great and was ever so easy to follow along with: but the story itself I found that to be a let down it never quite managed to capture my undivided attention.
Really my main issue here was I was bored and it was only the fact that this was an Arc that I persevered until the very end though I did find myself somewhat skimming in places.
So the idea here was very clever and in some way applied a three degrees of separation concept to the characters involved.
every action has a polar reaction and every unrelated incident is somehow connected on an alternate level eventually coming full circle: see really ingenious.
I may not have fully appreciated this but I can still applaud the author's creativity in this matter.
This was told from various POV: it was almost the same story from different perspectives portraying how each person can see the same incident but with a totally different interpretation and overall clarity concerning the exact same event.
The writing itself here had such an easy style I just failed to connect on any deeper level.
So this also explores a variety of diverse subjects from infidelity, betrayal, mental health: there really is a whole lot going on.
I think this will be more down to the style of fiction you ultimately like rather than the merits of is it well written: As I said earlier I cannot fault it in that regard.
On reflection, I would say this is more of a family drama type novel and it's just a shame that It wasn't really my cup of tea.
I voluntary reviewed an Arc of The Betrayals.
All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com ( )