A lovely, gentle read. All the characters are real and the story unfolds effortlessly and easy to read.

Decided to read this book after my mother in law read it and couldn't praise it highly enough , WOW thank god I did. Absolutely loved it , a real lump in the throat kind of book . A stunning story of the past , present and family relationships. If you are in two minds whether to buy this don't be buy it you wont regret a penny !!

A lovely story about Tess and her Grandmother Iris who has dementia, this book gives you glimpses throughout Iris' life as Tess tries to piece things together as her life takes a change in direction and focus.

This story is full of love, the complications of family life and compassion, I really enjoyed this book and loved the journey it took me on throughout the story.

I found this novel to be slow moving and predictable and the 'letters to Iris' were just a minor subplot to the rest of the story about love, family and failed relationships. I found the going tediously dull in places and skimmed parts of it to get through to the end. For me, the regular updates and talking to the baby passages were particularly lengthy and irritatingly cheesy without adding depth or moving the story forward.
Donna seemed interesting at first but then her character changed from absent mother to normal mother overnight.
I wasn't keen on Gigi. Her oversharing with her children made me cringe and if a pot of paint and some new crockery was all she needed to feel alive then didn't she put the family through a lot of grief? She didn't take to Caitlin yet she really was delighted at her 'golden boy' falling for Tess,a pregnant single mother? That didn't ring true to me. Loose ends - after ploughing through the novel, what did Gigi decide to do in the end?
I thought there was lots of telling and backstory that was dumped in chunks and strange sentences. Lots. Of. Them.
The number of hyphenated words in the middle of the text in my copy may have been because it was a proof copy but it was very off-putting. 'I'm reviewing for netgalley because I received a copy but will not post the review elsewhere because I much prefer to post positive reviews.

Wow this book was so so good. I couldn’t stop reading it and it was deliciously long lasting. I’ve just finished it having very nearly cried on the train, and I will miss the characters. It’s one of those books where you get utterly involved with the characters, you feel what they feel and you want to know what happens to them. I can’t recommend it enough. Of course Elizabeth Noble’s novels are alway good but this is superb.

Letters to Iris is the story of a family past, present and future. The main characters are Iris, Tess and Gigi. The past is unravelled by letters which have bee sent to Iris and the l0ve between a grandmother and granddaughter. This book is a lovely read with a family of different generations showing understanding and compassion.

I think this will be my stand-out read of the year! It is a lovely story, so very well written. I got so caught up with the characters that there are parts of their stories that had me weeping, and I don't do that very often.

The story begins with Tess, aged 35, taking a pregnancy test in a break in a work meeting, and it is positive. Tess is totally shocked. It is telling that she doesn't tell her boyfriend when she gets home, she is still digesting the news and the ways a baby will affect her life. Sean has a bombshell of his own, he has been offered a promotion, running the New York office, and he automatically assumes she willl go with him. He tells all his family when he and Tess visit them for Christmas, and they all assume she will go with him. When they return home Tess tells Sean about the baby, and he is less than enthusiastic. Tess has other worries, her much loved Grandmother Iris is no longer able to look after herself. She has dementia, and has been in hospital with a serious chest infection, but it is time for her to be in a care home to be looked after round the clock. Iris virtually bought Tess up as her mother didn't seem to enjoy the ties of motherhood. Their bond is strong, but now Iris doesn't often remember who Tess is. Tess is heartbroken, but also feels very guilty for not looking after Iris herself.

Tess meets Gigi in the care home, and they have an instant rapport. Gigi is there to see her father-in-law, who also has dementia. She is a busy midwife, married with three grown-up children who are no longer at home. With her we see the issues of empty-nest syndrome, she and her husband Richard no longer communicate, and she cannot see any way to change that.

So we meet both women at a major crisis point in their lives. They both react to their problems in a similar way, they leave their partners. For both it is traumatic, and we watch how they both deal with it.

Tess goes to the home one day to learn that Iris had been alert, and talking about dancing with Tom, she doesn't know who Tom is, not her grandfather for sure. While sorting out her grandmother's belongings she comes across old letters, and discovers that Tom was Iris's brother. When she tries to talk about him Iris gets very upset,so there are still parts of the jigsaw missing.

How these two lovely ladies resolve their lives is both heartwarming and uplifting, sadness and issues on the way, but you just know that everything will turn out right in the end. Every character in this book leaps off the page, they are so well-written you feel you know them! This book is worth more than five stars. I will read it many times.

Letters to Iris by Elizabeth Noble
This poignant story is one of our times. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad but always relevant.
The story begins quite slowly as we find out about Tess and her long term boyfriend, their relationship is seemingly happy, and Sean is offered a fantastic job in America, at the same time Tess realises she is pregnant, Tess is also worried about her beloved Grandmother, Iris.who is increasingly confused.
Also relating her own story is Gigi, settled with gown up children, she is considering her life, and how she can change it. The emerging stories of Tess and Gigi, and of Iris somehow come together, it is at this point that the book really takes off, for me. The story of Iris’s life and her relationship with her Granddaughter is beautiful, and deeply felt. Donna, Tess’s Mother, with whom Tess has a difficult relationship, has a tentative feel, and is sensitively written. Each of the characters are so well drawn, you feel involved with their lives, I loved how the story is believable and the character have insecurities and make sometimes bad, and sometimes good decisions, just like the rest of us, this makes them seems so much more real.
The ending was lovely, and the book as a whole was very involving. I really enjoyed it.

This is a beautifully written and delightful story of family and relationships. It is heart warming and easy to read. I strongly recommend it.

This was a wonderful story, poignant and moving which I loved. We follow the lives of two families who are going through the agonies of dementia coupled with anything else that life can throw at them. All the characters are strong and beautifully written. This book comes with tears and smiles guaranteed!
Thank you Netgalley for a chance to read this and thank you Elizabeth Noble for another wonderful book. I will be recommending this to friends and family.

Elizabeth Noble writes a beautiful and glorious novel of a contemporary family and friends drama of hope, loss, family secrets, unexpected surprises, rifts and relationships. Tess is in a relationship with her boyfriend, Sean, when she learns of her unplanned for pregnancy. It takes her a while to come to terms with this, and in the meantime, her beloved grandmother, Iris's health has steadily declined, suffering from dementia, unable to look after herself as she is taken to hospital. Tess has been much closer to Iris than her mother, Donna, with whom she barely knows. Iris ensured that Tess had a wonderful childhood, showered with love, engaging in numerous activities, and memorable trips. Now it is up to Tess to organise a home that will deliver the end of life care that Iris deserves and for her to be with Iris to ensure that her last few months of life are peaceful and surrounded by love. Midwife Gigi is the rock in her family, and the one who supports her grown up children, Christopher, Oliver and Megan. She is feeling unappreciated, and her husband, Richard, has been taking her for granted, not pulling his weight and barely even sees her as a person.

Sean is over the moon when he learns that he has landed a much wanted job opportunity in New York and wants Tess to go with him. Tess's pregnancy is not on the agenda, his raw but truthful response that he does not want a baby at the present time, is one that Tess finds unforgivable. This leads to Tess moving into Donna's home whilst her mother is in India. However, this precipitates the return of Donna, and the beginnings of a relationship where the two of them begin to understand and reach out to each other. Gigi's experience of breast cancer and Richard's inability to support her as usual has her questioning her marriage and whether she is willing to bear the loneliness and unhappiness for the rest of her life. To change the course of her life by separating from Richard will be tortuous, emotionally draining and bound to lead to family conflict. In the end, Gigi, feels she has no choice but to embark on a new life, where for the first time in decades she can put herself first. She is supported by her son, Oliver, even though he is struggling in his personal life and Emily. As Tess learns there is much more to Iris than she ever knew when she discovers hidden letters, and her life connects with that of Gigi in a way that is fortuitous and impacts Tess's future for the better.

This is a warm exploration of life's complexities and the unexpected directions and surprises that life throws at people. At the centre of it are strong female characters such as Iris, Tess, her bestfriend, Holly, Gigi, and her daughter in law, Emily. New life comes as Iris draws to the end of hers, relationships come to an end and begin, there is grief, heartbreak, pain, hurt, joy and the wonder of supportive friends when life goes to pieces. This is a fabulous and enthralling read, I found myself caught up with the characters and their predicaments, wanting to know what life had in store for them. Fantastic book! Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

A poignant story with the two central characters Tess and Gigi who are a generation apart and both facing life changing moments. They are brought together in an unlikely friendship through Tess Grandmother,Iris, who has gone to live out her last days in a care home where Gigi’s father in law also resides.
The underlying theme of the book is love in all its various stages and states from love of the unborn child to love and losing someone. Highs and lows are dealt with delicately bring happiness and sadness. The author has interestingly and seemlessly woven all aspects into this heartwarming tale and although some of it is predictable you are left with feelings of seeing the way forward without feeling conived.
I laughed and cried as I read this . Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read and review this book

This book was a complete joy to read I enjoyed it from first page to last,the author entwined you in so you are like a bystander.
It revolves around two main families Gigi and her husband Richard and children especially Oliver, the other family is the grandmother Iris her daughter Donna (bit of hippy) and her daughter whose life is about to be completely turned on its head
The two families become intrinsically linked .....forever it would seem
Total joy to read and already recommended to mum ( she waiting til it cheaper for her kindle!!) and a few other girlfriends too

A lovely, heart-warming book although tissues are required at times. Sympathetic descriptions of what happens to the elderly, particularly dementia sufferers, and how they are treated. The story also highlights the issues affecting many middle aged women; having to deal with an elderly parent (in-law), children and a marriage which has gone stale. Beautifully written characters and some plot twists but also events that are going to happen and you just want to jolly people along. A good read.

A story based on two families, linked by an old people's home: Tess, pregnant and alone and Gigi, separated after a long marriage. Then there's Iris, and her unknown past, revealed in letters.
A story to make you think, to make you smile, and maybe cry.

The twists and turns of fate

Tess has a successful job in Human Resources at a City firm but is finding it difficult to focus, because her ninety-five-year-old grandmother, Iris, is in the hospital; Tess feels responsible for taking care of her, as Iris looked after Tess when her mother, Donna, was distracted and distant. She has also just found out that she is pregnant which definitely wasn’t planned and hasn’t gone down well with her boyfriend, Sean.

Gigi is an empty nester with a boring husband, three grown-up children and granddaughter, baby Ava. We meet Gigi on Christmas day, deciding whether to throw the turkey at the wall or to simply scream at the mundanity of her life.

The two women meet at the Clearview nursing home when Iris is admitted there after her hospital stay; they seem to hit it off when they bump into each other at visiting times.

What follows is a charming account of life ‘as it is lived’ with all its ups and downs, as well as a detailed ‘diary’ of Tess’s relationship with the child growing inside her. The title refers to letters Tess finds at her grandmother’s house whilst she is clearing it, and these give her a window into the past when Iris was young.

It is interesting to see both women take control of their lives and whilst the ending is comfortably predictable, this is a warm and enjoyable read about real women’s concerns, and it happily doesn’t descend into the frivolous ‘chick lit’.

Pashtpaws

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

What a lovely uplifting read, this book was. I loved the fact that most of the characters were likeable people. The relationship between Tess and her grandmother is very much like the relationship iI have with my eldest granddaughter. The only criticism I have is that there seemed to be a couple of loose ends at the end of the book. I desperately wanted to know how things turned out for Gigi. . Elizabeth Noble is one of my favourite authors and this book was certainly up to her usual standard.

This is a lovely book and one which follows the family and how we can misunderstand actions of others when we don't know the complete picture. It also shows that we don't always ask questions about the past from those we are closet to and the stories can die with them.

A really emotional book, woven round the lives of Tess, Gigi, Donna and the wonderful Iris.A real journey through life itself- a lovely touch charting the development of Tess's baby. As Tess brings new life into the world, so her beloved Grandmother's declines. I loved this book and the relationships it explores so deeply. Would highly recommend

A lovely, heart warming book with two very likeable main characters. Elizabeth Noble has a lovely writing style that hugs you like a cup of hot chocolate.

The only reason I've given 4 stars is that I would have like more about the back story between Iris and her brother.