The Girl I Used to Know is the most apt title for this book. It applies to both main characters, Amanda King and Tess Cuffe. Tess is the sitting tenant in the basement flat of Amanda's swanky Georgian townhouse and she won't leave. She's lonely and she remembers her first months in Dublin, away from home for the first time. Maybe that was the last time she was happy, but that was 48 years ago. Amanda is a trophy wife now, pandering to the every whim of her hotshot husband, Richard, but she's also lost sight of who she used to be. She's a lady who lunches now but is she really happy?

I have to say that it took me probably to about the half way mark to really settle into this book and I think it was because the characters were largely unlikeable. That's not usually a problem for me, but maybe I wanted to like them. Then wham bam, all of a sudden things changed, the characters started to redeem themselves, I gained a real understanding of their feelings, their lives and why they behaved as they did and I got right into it.

I'd been meaning to read a Faith Hogan book for some time and this book proved the perfect introduction to her writing. She portrays so well the hard persona that people can adopt when they are lonely or sad, to keep people away when what they really need is to draw people into their lives. I grew to really like Tess and Amanda, and also the supporting characters, the gardener and the doctor in particular (I won't say anything else about them so as not to spoil the story).

I ended up shutting the book (ok, I read it on my Kindle so it's more like pressing the button for the last time) with a smile on my face and a real sense of satisfaction. It's about going through bad times and coming out the other end stronger and happier, redemption, acceptance, friendship, love, family. Just lovely, it was a pleasure to read.

This is a brilliant 5 star family saga set in Ireland. We have two storytellers, firstly Tess who is a single,66 year old lady. She lives in the basement flat owned by Richard and Amanda who live in the main house. The other storyteller is Amanda, she has been married for 20 years to Richard. Both women are deeply lonely and unhappy and have been enemies for years. Can they come together and become friends? Read on!

I really enjoyed this book. A heartwarming and compelling beautifully written story. I found myself quickly drawn into the story of the characters and their emotional roller coaster.
It is a story about life, love, loss, dreams, heartache, infidelity, family, and romance.

This is the first book I have read from Faith Hogan. I found her writing style to be warm, engrossing and very easy to read. A perfect cosy read for a cold winter's day - curl up on the sofa and enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Lovely book all about friendships and how sometimes they can help us find ourselves

The Girl I Used To Know follows the story of two women, Amanda King and Tess Cuffe. Amanda finds herself as Tess’s landlord and neither of the women are happy with the arrangement. Set in Dublin, the story spans across two timelines in the narration. We follow Amanda in the now and we get to hear about Tess’s life both now and in the past when she was in college. The dual view point and alternating time frames is the perfect medium to tell this story.

I can honestly say I was hooked by the end of the first chapter. Tess was a bright, beautiful, talented teenage girl off to the big city of Dublin to chase her dream of becoming a singer. But Tess ends up becoming an old spinster. She is the lonely, curmudgeon old lady that lives in Amanda’s basement. So what happened to the beautiful talented girl? The novel is Tess’s journey and what happened to derail her life and how she possibly finds it again.

Amanda is the perfectly happy housewife of a rich man living in “Tess’s house” and Tess does everything she can to make the woman unhappy and disrupt her perfect life. Only the joke is on Tess – Amanda is already unhappy and far from perfect. She’s got two distant teenage kids and a neglectful husband and is realizing what a sham her life has become.

The two women find out that they have much more in common that they could have ever imagined. With a little nudging from Amanda’s daughter and a neighbor’s sweet, abandon cat, the two women find some common ground and even a friendship.

The Girl I Used To Know is a perfectly charming story. It’s about losing yourself in the mayhem of life, but being able to find joy in the ashes. It’s a heartfelt story of friendships and discovering healing in the most unlikely of places.

Highly recommended! It’s out in stores now and available here:

Unfortunately this book was archived before I could read it.

This is the story of two neighbours, Tess and AManda who have led very different lives. Tess, was originally training to be a professional singer, and Amanda had great hopes of being the perfect wife, and bringing up perfect children.
The story dips backwards and forwards in time, which can get a little confusing at times. However the two main characters end up helping each other, with the help of a lost cat, a bossy doctor, a charming gardener, and a mixed up teenage girl.
The characterization in this book is good, and the plot entirely plausible. Many thanks to the editor, and Net Galley for allowing me to read this novel.

Amanda thinks she has it all. Once upon a time she was an upcoming artist, but she turned her back on her talent when she married Richard. Richard works hard and brings in lots of money. This makes them able to live comfortably in a picture perfect house. Amanda is always busy keeping up appearances with her fake friends, because she doesn't want to be the main subject of their gossip. Her two teenage children know that something isn't right and their behavior is only making the already bad situation worse. Will Amanda ever be able to go back to that stress-free girl she used to be?

Tess has been renting Amanda's basement flat for a long time. She already lived there before they moved in and Richard and Amanda have had it in for her ever since they bought the place. Their bickering slowly turned into ugly fights, which even led to a court hearing. Richard wants nothing more than to throw Tess out of the only place she ever truly called home. Tess has been badly hurt in the past and has been on her own ever since. She keeps everyone at bay with her bad attitude and her hateful words. Tess was a promising singer with a voice that could mesmerize any audience. She lost the pleasure to sing, but will she eventually find it in herself to change the tune of her life?

Amanda knew that Richard was a player when she first met him and she played hard to get. In the beginning they had wonderful years, but Richard has always been very cold towards Amanda. Her marriage changed her and she kept her true feelings to herself, because she didn't want to stir up any unwanted negative attention. I loved to read about how she slowly realises what has become of her. She needs to find herself again and I was rooting for her to succeed.

Tess grew up in a strict household. Her father decided everything and controlled their day-to-day life, soTess was very happy to leave their small town behind. Her sister Nancy went with her to Dublin, but both of them always knew that Nancy would return home someday. Tess never expected that Nancy would take Tess's heart and soul with her, leaving Tess devastated and alone. Tess is such a feisty old lady and her comments made me laugh out loud so many times. She has a strong will and can accomplish anything she sets her mind to. I wished for Tess to find happiness again and I couldn't wait to find out what she would do next.

The Girl I Used to Know is a heart-wrenching gripping story about two women who have lost theirselves due to the circumstances of their lives. The Girl I Used to Know also showed me hope. Everybody can change if they really want or need to. Both Amanda and Tess are so much stronger than they think they are and I loved to read about their individual journeys. I found myself glued to my seat because I wanted to find out so badly where Amanda and Tess would end up. Tess is an older woman and I liked how Faith Hogan shows her readers that age is nothing but a number. Love and happiness can be found at any time and at any age. The Girl I Used to Know is bittersweet, it moved me to tears, but it also put a big smile on my face. Faith Hogan is a new author for me and I can't thank Suze enough for introducing me to her books.

It's always lovely to read a story set in Dublin, and this was wonderful. Set in a square of old Georgian houses, around a shared garden, it was so easy to picture the setting.

The two main characters do not get on with each other, and they share the same house. The story flicks back and forth between the present day and the past, for both Tess and Amanda, and we can begin to build up a picture as to what has made them the women they are today, and what caused them to get to this stage.

This keeps the reader hooked. It was a book I looked forward to returning to at the end of the day.

This is a very readable, captivating, and enjoyable book. The characters are so well drawn, and the story moves at the perfect pace. If you enjoy books by such wonderful authors as Patricia Scanlan, Melissa Hill, or Sinead Moriarty, you’ll love this.

A book to just get lost in and forget the world for a while. Perfect.

I was too late in time to read this book darn!! I will read this book in the future.

The Girl I Used To Know
By
Faith Hogan




What it's all about...

This is a lovely book about two women who have been lost to themselves and are in great need of finding themselves. Tess and Amanda...neighbors by default... who have lived practically side by side without really knowing each other...for years. They have been unfriendly for so long that it seems as though they can never really be friendly. However...circumstances bring them together...or if not together at least on a path that might bring them together.

Why I wanted to read it...

Sometimes a book about lost and found friendships is just the thing for a cold blustery winter day. Tess was so curmudgeonly...she was mean to everything and everyone...even Matt the Cat. Her life just got meaner and meaner and smaller and smaller. She needed a big hard push to make her change her ways. Then there was Amanda...sweet Amanda...who tried to make her family happy 24/7. The result was two surly silent teenagers and an unfaithful husband.

What made me truly enjoy this book...

I truly enjoyed watching Tess and Amanda change and grow.

Why you should read it, too...

Readers who love well written women’s fiction should enjoy the adventures of Tess and Amanda.

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.

I enjoyed the growth of the characters and how they entwined. The story flowed. A lovely book and now really looking forward to discovering the authors other books.

Two women share the same house over a very long period. One the main house, one the basement flat. Amanda is married to a very well settled professional with two teenage children. On the surface her life seems complete. Tess is a single woman who has no friends, absolutely no family and lives a very lonely life tucked away in her flat which has not seen improvement for years and is in a bit of a shambles.



Tess seems embittered the way life has turned out to be. She started out as a bright, hopeful star hoping to break into the singing sphere. She fell in love and she thought that was it. Unfortunately that was not to be and her lover fell in love with her placid sister who whisked him away to Ireland.



Amanda is now seeing cracks in her marriage, she feels that her husband is unfaithful, her children are drifting away from her and that her life has lost all meaning. A chance encounter with Tess seems to slowly bridge the gap and a confrontation with her husband also brings closure though it brings its fair share of heartache. With the absence of her husband her children also begin to be more supportive and life seems to be better. With Tess the constant prodding of her doctor and a few others make her less hesitant to step out into the open and enjoy life once more. It also helps her to try to reach out to her sister to whom she was so close. It helps in all ways for Tess to have closure on many sides.



This was an emotional read. One felt one was on a see saw as there was much sadness and bitterness in the story. Characterization was spot on.

Goodreads and Amazon reviews posted on 29/12/2017. Review on my blog 31/12/2017.

I admit to being a huge Faith Hogan fan so I couldn't wait to get my hands on her new book; she writes such emotive and compelling fiction with strong female characters who you think of as friends as the book goes on. The Girl I Used to Know is so perfectly named as it describes the journey our two main characters are on. In this case, both women must shed the masks they have worn for so long in order to find their very own girl they used to know.

Amanda lives in a beautiful Georgian house and her life revolves around her husband and children. Amanda gets quite a wake up call when she catches sight of her reflection in a window and doesn't recognise the person she sees. With her husband spending more and more time 'at work', Amanda can spend some time reconnecting with the girl buried beneath the excess pounds.

Tess is a sitting tenant in Amanda's basement and the pair can barely say a civil word to each other. Amanda always imagined that she would include the basement as part of her home but Tess has no intention of moving out. With Tess getting older, she has no intention of popping her clogs too soon and making it easy for Amanda to get her hands on the basement flat.

When fate plays a hand and the two women find themselves spending time with each other, they find that the other isn't the person they thought she was. Amanda appears to have had an easy life, being given everything she ever wanted and dreamed of, whereas life has not been kind to Tess leaving her bitter and unhappy. They are each other's perfect medicine, along with a drop of whiskey and Matt the cat, of course.

I do love dual storyline books as you unravel the threads of a person's life to find out why and how they are the person they are now. As prickly as she was, I warmed to Tess straight away and was pinning my colours to her mast in the fight with Amanda, who I found to be one of those personality-free women...at first, I hasten to add. Then I started to feel so sorry for Amanda as she hadn't done anything to deserve what she was going through, but my pity turned to triumph as Amanda the beautiful butterfly emerged from her comfy old chrysalis.

This is another amazing book by Faith Hogan, one that leaves your heart fit to burst but is actually so thought-provoking that you can't help but examine your own life to see if you can reveal your happier true self from years ago. Pick it up today and maybe you will find the girl YOU used to know.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

I suspect I might have mentioned before, in passing, that Faith Hogan has very quickly become one of my favourite authors – and one of my favourite people too. It’s a delight and a pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for her latest, The Girl I Used to Know, published on 1st December by Aria Fiction, and available for kindle, Kobo and on iBooks (and just 99p in all formats): my thanks to the publisher and netgalley for my advance reading e-copy.

I really enjoyed her first, My Husband’s Wives, a wonderful read about the intricacies of female friendship, love in its many guises, and a group of women each finding their own strength to move on – you can read my full review here. Then there was Secrets We Keep – described perfectly as “a bittersweet story of love, loss and life”, I think I might have liked it even more (review here). But this one… oh my goodness! They call it “a beautiful, emotive and spell-binding story of two women who find friendship and second chances when they least expect it” – and they couldn’t have summed it up any more perfectly.

This was one of those books that you’d like to go on for ever – I just couldn’t carve out any concentrated reading time this week (which would have been my idea of reading heaven), but every time I was forced to set this book aside I couldn’t wait for the next opportunity to pick it up, and it was constantly in my thoughts. The author’s writing is several notches more accomplished than it was in the earlier books (and I do distinctly remember using the word “accomplished” about them too), and the way this book succeeded in engaging my every emotion was quite exceptional.

The two women at this book’s heart are perfectly drawn. At the start you may just find them “interesting”, as their past and present is laid out before you – you might not even like either of them very much, even wonder how they can sustain a story. But it doesn’t take very long until you feel for them both with every fibre of your being – when a book moves you to tears (and several times), has you laughing out loud, brings a lump to your throat, and then makes you cry again with sheer joy, you know you’re reading something rather special.

Tess – in the present – is in her sixties, lonely (although she’d never admit it) and cantankerous, and you’ll wonder how you could ever grow to love her, but you will. The author herself is a great deal younger, but her insight into the mind and feelings of her creation absolutely took my breath away. It’s not difficult to find a lot you’ll recognise in Amanda too – and I just loved the strength she shows as she transforms her life and discovers those things that are most important for her happiness. And the relationship between the two women is just perfectly handled as they both feel their way forward. The supporting cast are excellent too – Tess’s mousy sister Nancy (and their interesting sibling relationship), Amanda’s obnoxious husband, her teenage daughter Robyn, gorgeous gardener Carlos, and the wonderful Kilker. And as for Matt… well, what a character he is! And then there’s the house, the flat and the square itself – almost characters in their own right.

The pacing – the ebb and flow – of the story is absolutely faultless, and its unfolding an absolute joy. Without a shadow of doubt, this is one of my favourite books of the year.

In The Girl I Used to Know we have two strong female lead characters in Tess Cuffe and Amanda King. These two share a house though not particularly willingly. Tess rents the scruffy basement flat of Amanda and Richard King's large and immaculate Georgian house in Dublin. The two do not have what you would call a warm relationship since Richard has tried unsuccessfully and at great expense to evict Tess. 

On the outside, Amanda appears to have the perfect life. In her 40s, she has two children, a beautifully stylish house, a successful and handsome husband and a group of stylish friends. Yet Amanda is increasingly wondering what happened to her life. She hardly sees her husband as he is constantly at work, her teenage son in particular is turning into a sneering youth with barely disguised contempt, she feels that her life has lost its way and she has lost her sense of who she really is along the way.

Tess is in her 60s, lives alone and appears to delight in being cantankerous. Her health isn't the best and she has no friends. She didn't initially seem to be a character who I would warm to she seemed to have very little redeeming characteristics. But with the arrival of Matt on her doorstep (a great addition to the story!) we soon begin to see her softer side.

Through the chapters woven through the book from years gone by, the author shows her readers the girls both Tess and Amanda used to be. I was so intrigued about what had happened in Tess's life in particular to change her from the optimistic girl moving to Dublin to start at Uni to the grumpy woman, living alone with no enthusiasm for life. Faith Hogan writes movingly and with great insight about how Tess and Amanda's hopes and dreams slowly ebbed away leaving them both with disappointing realities, and lives they felt trapped in. I loved the way the women blossomed and grew in confidence as they took the first tentative steps towards friendship just as their new keep fit routines saw them taking steps round the square where they lived. The author had just the right balance of insights into the past blended with their present lives to create understanding and empathy with her characters.

A wonderful warm-hearted book about missed opportunities, second chances, friendship and how it's never too late to have a new adventure and to find love.

Have you ever had an opinion about someone, despite not knowing their true personality?
Have you ever disregarded someone as a friend because a spouse, family member or friend, didn't like them?
Have you ever been stuck in a rut so deep, you lost sight of who you truly were?
Have you ever thought 'enough is enough' and felt empowered to change all of the above?

Yes? Me too. Amanda and Tess too, funnily enough.

Tess Cuffe has always believed that her life was destined for stardom. However, even a well thought out idea doesn't always go to plan and, instead of Tess rubbing shoulders with singers from all walks of life, she has spent many years being too afraid to live her own life. 

And then there's Amanda King. A woman who, from the outside, has everything she could ever dream of; an endless pot of gold in the bank, a pigeon pair (boy and a girl), and a life of luxury. Although is it REALLY a life of luxury? From spending her time painting, to being married and surrounding herself with two-faced, backstabbing people, Amanda starts to question her choices in life.

What a jam-packed, thought-provoking novel! We wouldn't be human if we hadn't spent a little time stuck in a rut at some point in our lifetime, right? It's never too late to get ourselves out of that particular rut, but often we find that we need a little bit of help to do so, even if we aren't aware of it at the time. As far as Tess Cuffe is concerned, Amanda King lives a life most people could only dream of and, as far as Amanda King's husband is concerned, Tess Cuffe is a waste of space who is ruining the look of their house. Of course, just like the house, nothing is ever quite what it seems, is it?

Firstly, Amanda's husband, Richard, needs his nether regions taken off. From the first moment he appeared in the storyline, I knew straight away that I would have an issue with the character. He just oozed arrogance and came across as the biggest end of a bell I have ever met. Seriously. A little piece of me felt sorry for Amanda, but then another piece of me felt a little bit miffed that she didn't kick him from here to kingdom come. But I can say that, obviously, I'm not in the situation like Amanda is.

Secondly, I had a feeling that there was more to Tess Cuffe that met the eye. She really was like a diamond in the rough who just needed a little bit of TLC to realise that she does, in fact, deserve her spot on this Earth. I just wanted to give her a big hug and tell her that everything was okay. It was clear that this character had spent many, many years building a wall for herself, she had absolutely no idea how to act anymore.

Thirdly, Faith Hogan has written her best book yet. Fact. Even though I found the first couple of chapters a little on the slow side, I soon fell in love with the message which the author was able to put across via her characters. I guess I found it a little emotional because just like Amanda, I have spent years living in people's shadows, being afraid to bring the real me out again in case it didn't live up to other people's expectations. Whilst part of me felt that Amanda should have told her husband where to go, I can fully appreciate how low her self-esteem was and having being 'safe' in a marriage for so many years, living the life that Richard wanted was all Amanda has ever known. From the outside looking in, it is far too easy to sit and judge a situation without knowing all of the facts, yet having a smidgen of faith in someone can mean more than you could ever realise. For Amanda, Tess was that faith. For Tess, Amanda and her daughter, Robyn, was that faith. They just had to make themselves known to each other.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't find parts of this storyline a little emotional, because I did. I felt like each of the characters were talking to my soul, being that faith for me like they are to each other. I loved watching the characters find their wings and fly in a life which they believed in with every ounce of their being.

'The Girl I Used To Know' is a poignant, life affirming tale of faith, belief and being true to yourself. Taking that leap to say 'you know what, I do believe in my self' takes more courage than anyone could ever imagine, which from the bottom of my heart, I truly believe that Faith Hogan has conveyed with every ounce of her being. I adored this book and everything it stands for. Everyone needs a Tess and Amanda in their lives, and everyone needs to read this book as it truly is beautifully.

Faith Hogan's best book ever, 'The Girl I Used To Know' is a beautifully written, heart-warming and touching novel which is guaranteed to stay in your heart for a very, very long time.

Thanks Aria.

Favorite Quotes:

Maureen Cuffe was a mouse of a woman, forever playing small to augment her husband’s supremacy… her mother talked of his impending retirement with a sense of doom worthy of an undertaker. ‘Not long now,’ she would say when he left the house.

She actually nodded towards the dumpy little woman, with absurd copper rouge hair piled too high on her head. She stood transfixed, once she realised it was her own reflection. She studied the woman staring back at her with her expensive clothes and too much make-up. Amanda King was under there, somewhere. Her breath caught in her throat, she had been lovely, once. Where was that girl she used to know?

Nicola thought all teenagers should be sent away to boarding school. Nicola’s kids were packed off as soon as there was the danger of a negligent hormone ripening to make her perfect life appear untidy.

‘I’ve started exercising, just gently until I’m fully mobile,’ she whispered. Somehow, it didn’t seem right to add that she had only started to want to live longer so she could spite her neighbours.

Well, I’ll tell you this for nothing, if he so much as winked at me, I’d have my best linen on the bed and I’d be inviting him in for a stiff one before we got down to business…


My Review:

I found The Girl I Used To Know to be a captivating and resonant story – I adored it, but I might not have fully grasped the brilliance and depth of the insightful narrative when I was in my roaring 20s, but I’m older, and thankfully, much wiser now. Ms. Hogan turned out wryly humorous, craftily paced, well-written, and engaging tale that frequently had me smirking yet also squeezed my heart and stung my eyes. Although I have never been to Ireland and would love to, it didn’t matter where this story had been based as these women’s transformative tales were universal; betrayal, regret, loneliness, missed opportunities, heartbreak, infidelity, losing oneself – these unfortunate events happen everywhere and in every culture. I adored the clever juxtapositions and parallels drawn between the upstairs occupant and basement tenant who had always been at odds and had at first glance appeared so different. Ms. Hogan is an observant and cunning scribe; I greedily want all her clever words.

5☆ Compelling, A journey of self discovery, friendships and Second Chances!

The Girl I Used to Know is a beautiful story of two very different women living in virtually the same house as strangers but come together to form an unlikely  friendship.

It's a beautifully Heartwarming and compelling read. It's about friendship, Family, Relationships and a second chance at happiness.

Amanda seems to have it all. The gorgeous Four storey Georgian House, with 2 teenage children and a husband that gives her everything!

Ok now as everyone knows,
no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors.....
how I see Amanda is....
she's down trodden, she dotes on Richard her husband, yet he just uses her as a trophy wife and really has no appreciation or time for her, he makes her attend all the coffee afternoons with his colleagues wives just to keep up with the jones!
Nothing Amanda owns is hers!!
Even her children disrespect her and talk to her like she is dirt!
She has lost all her passion and Zest for life!

Ok so now we meet Tess.
Tess is a very interesting character.
She came to Dublin to study music with her older sister.
Their Father is extremely controlling and only allows Tess to leave if her sister goes too. In turn forcing her sister into a career she has no interest in.
She fears her sister will become just like her mother. A doormat for her husband, who isn't allowed any opinions or thoughts!
A Little like Amanda!

Tess is in her 60s and has been living in Amanda's basement Flat of her house since she was about 17/18ish.
Richard sees her as an inconvenience and wants her OUT! But the law says different!

Amanda and Tess really despise each other. Sniping whenever they can.
Although I can't help thinking Amanda was only like that because of her pig of a husband!

However it takes a gorgeous cat to help ease the women's tension towards each other, and the hate turns to respect which in turn ends up with them actually liking each other.

Both women are equally as stubborn, yet full of pain, sadness and anguish from their past and current relationships.
It was so beautiful and uplifting seeing Amanda and Tess both very different in age and personality come together in friendship.

I adored Tess and Amanda's back story. It was so lovely to get an insight into their lives and it makes sense why they are the way they are. Particularly Tess who's past is emotional.

The Girl I Used to Know is the Perfect title for this gorgeous Gem of a book.
It really is a story of looking in the mirror and realising what is happening and setting about changing it. A story of new beginnings and second chances.

Faith Hogan writes with such passion and ease, she had me enthralled with the storyline and characters. She had me investing my heart into caring for them and wanting them to be happy!
After all we are all seeking that Happy Ending!

If you are looking for a compelling, uplifting read that will warm your heart, have you giggling in places, and will leave you reading just one page more, then this is one for you! The Perfect Winter Cosy read.

The book tells the story of Tess and Amanda. Both live in parts of the same house, both are unhappy, but at the start of the book are enemies.
As the book progresses they find friendship with each other as Tess confronts the past and Amanda faces up to the present.