My 4* review for The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green which I was sent via kindle from Netgalley to read and review.

"Even the deepest buried secrets can find their way to the surface...
Moments before she dies, Nicola's grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden. Nicola's mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola's daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty's garden, it's clear that something sinister has taken place.
But will unearthing painful family secrets end up tearing Nicola's family apart?"

This book is told in several different timelines, with parts going back to Nicola's Grandmother Betty exchanging letters with her sweetheart William in the war, but there are also sections written about Nicola's mother growing up in the same house and then flashbacks to Nicola's University days where her own daughter was conceived. Although I enjoyed the four different generations telling their own story, at times I got very confused and lost my way and had to re-read sections to determine if it was Nicola's mother or grandmother telling their story, and that is the reason I could not give it 5 stars.

However, what comes shining out of the book is that generations of hurt and hidden secrets because of shame, embarrassment or blaming oneself can destroy relationships and impact heavily on future generations. Linda Green has written a terrific book dealing with some current but very difficult subjects and I would definitely look forward to reading another of her books.

Love this author and once again she didn't disappoint. Such a good story flow full of twists and turns. Gripping from the very first page. Loved it

This was a superb book and not what I expected at all. A brilliant original emotional story, with wonderful characters and first class writing. A great summer holiday read.
This was my first Linda Green novel and it's made me want to read more. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy emotional mysteries.

Been a long time coming for me to read another of Linda Green’s books, The Last Thing She Told Me certainly filled that void, the suspense, the thrill, the sodden tears, yip and there were loads of those, congrats Linda on making me a snivelling wreck.

Nicola’s grandmother passes away, leaving Nicola looking for answers to a request her grandmother spoke before her final breath, to take care of the babies at the bottom of the garden, what did she mean was it just the ramblings of a dying woman or was it something else. After the funeral Nicola’s youngest child is playing in the garden and discovers what looks to be an animal bone or is it the reason behind Nicola’s grandmothers strange request. What will be the consequences of the discover what secrets are going to surface, should they have stayed well hidden or will the family be forever torn apart.

The Last Thing She Told Me, a tale filled with secrets, secrets a family tries to keep buried, shame, the unadmonished guilt, the past vilified by what was classed as inappropriate behaviour in the 1940’s and continues into the next generations. Each secret becoming a burden for each woman to hold. Each secret is unwrapped and Linda produces the written narrative about each secret in a sensitive but poignant way showing empathy for each of the women involved. A sad but true fact the sense of a traumatic experience can carry forward through the generations.

Linda held my heart in her hands as she scripted every detail, every hidden secret, pulling every which way, I failed to stop the tears from failing, it certainly was an ugly cry for me, the torment that ripped through my very soul as to what many woman had to deal with and to some extent still do. Words have failed me!

Thank you to Quercus, Linda Green and Milly Reid for an advanced readers copy of The Last Thing She Told Me in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

WOW! What a story. First one I've read by this author, intriguing, sad, emotional read. There are so many words to describe it, highly recommend. Will look out for the author's other books.

This was a fantastic story that really made me emotional at times and at more than one point in the book I had tears streaming down my face, I was completely wrapped up in the plot and it is one that stayed with me after I'd finished.

This book is so well written, the words just flowed and I flew through the story, it really had me hooked and as the story developed I didn't want to stop reading and it was another of my late night finishes, I simply had to find out how the book ended.

The characterisation n the story is superb, they are believable and genuine characters and that gave the book an extra depth. You could feel the raw emotions in the book as the past was discovered.

Five stars from me, an excellent story and one I am very glad to have read in 2018 - very highly recommended!

The last thing Nicole's grandmother Betty told her before she died is to take care of the babies at the bottom of the garden. This bewilders Nicole, but since there are two fairy statues at the bottom of the garden could it perhaps be them her grandmother talked about. But, Nicole starts to think that something is very wrong when her youngest daughter finds something by one of the fairies.

THE LAST THING SHE TOLD ME is a story about secrets, about mother and daughter relationships. And, about suffering. This is a generation story where we get to learn more about Nicole, her mother, and grandmother. All three women have gone through traumatic experiences and are keeping secrets. Betty almost took hers to the grave, but her last words lead Nicole to not only discover her grandmother's secret, but her mother. And, she is also ready to reveal her own dark secret.

This is the first book I have read by Linda Green and I found the concept to be intriguing. It's a heartbreaking story, but also a book about finding the strength to confront the past and move on. I found the book to be a bit hard to read now and then, I had some trouble to truly enjoy the whole story. The youngest daughter Maisie grated on my nerves and she felt much younger in her ways than her years. However, I did love Ruby, Nicole's oldest daughter. She has to deal with a lot of difficult stuff and I thought of all the character, was she the one I liked the best. I liked the book and I will definitely read more by Linda Green.

Like a previous book by Linda Green, this book surprised me a bit as I was expecting more of a psychological thriller and The Last Thing She Told Me is probably more along the lines of a family drama. I was immediately intrigued by the revelation from Nicola's grandmother, Betty, on her death bed: she asks Nicola to look after the babies at the bottom of the garden. What a thing to hear when you can't question it further.

Nicola's youngest daughter, Maisie, then discovers a bone under a fairy statue at the bottom of the garden and it seems that maybe her grandmother was right. As you can imagine, from then Nicola finds it hard to concentrate on anything but the mysterious discovery. It leads her on a journey to find out about the family secrets that have been kept hidden for many years.

One of the strongest elements of this novel is the author's description of Betty's house. Full of darkness and like a museum exhibit to show how people lived 60 years ago, it came across as a place where sinister things might have happened. Another thing that really stood out for me was the plotting. Green was very clever, leading me along one path and making me believe one thing, then turning it on its head so everything slotted into place.

The emotional aspect of the story is strong too. Nicola has just lost her grandmother so to think that she might have buried babies in the garden, or been complicit in someone else doing so, causes her distress. And Nicola's mother is upset at the events too, but maybe there is more to her feelings. Nicola has to make decisions about how far she looks into the past and who it might damage.

I thought The Last Thing She Told Me was a real page turner of a read, looking at how secrets and lies can fracture a family and how the truth can sometimes put it back together again. It's a really easy book to read but has plenty of depth to the story. I thought it was great.

This book is beyond brilliant! It is packed with emotion, love, hate, shame, and everything in between. From start to finish you are picking out pieces of information, tidbits of hints that give you an idea of the depth of secret that is hidden, amongst this family, but you could never guess the entirety of it, and the ending sweeps over you like a tidal wave of emotion and understanding.

Green has created a beautifully written masterpiece that dares to touch on subjects that affect families, and women in particular, and have done for generations. To further that, she goes on to show just how much these taboo subjects carry on to affect not only the lives of the character in question, but the lives of future generations, through the actions of the original generation to how it changes the way the future generations think, act and even live their lives. It is almost overwhelming to look at how much these ladies have had their lives change, based on the past actions of others.

The characters have been masterfully created, really giving us the depth, personality and character that is needed for a book as touching as this. We are never left questioning any of their words of actions, as Green has ensured that all gaps are filled and you are truly given enough to connect fully with the characters.

The pace is done perfectly. It gives us plenty of time to take in the breadth of the storyline and the true meaning behind what is taking place. We are also given slightly faster paced moments, to really give us the opportunity to feel swept along in their story. I think this blend is excellent as it kept the story feeling like real life.

Overall, this is a wonderful read. It is full of twists and very touching subjects, all blended together to give a very unique and suspenseful read. It is definitely one that can’t be missed!

This story is a moving tale of a family whose lives are rocked by a tragic secret held for a lifetime by matriarch Betty. On her deathbed, she asks her granddaughter Nicola to look after the babies in the garden. Assuming her Grandma is talking about her beloved fairy statues, Nicola tries to dismiss it as a dying womans confused uttering, but it plays on her mind. Her mother, Irene, also downplays Betty’s claims, but when Nicolas daughters uncover small bones while playing in Bettys garden she speaks to her Mum again who tells her to leave it alone. Nicola can’t leave it alone and calls in the police who find the skeletons of two babies. Whose babies are they? How did they end up buried in the garden? And will Nicolas family ever recover from the disturbing discovery?

This is a thought-provoking and emotional story about three generations of women in one family who have had more than their fair share of trauma, upset and secrets. Alongside the main story, the addition of the love letters and stories from the past explain Betty’s back story and help to understand the decisions that she made and how they affect the lives of her daughter and granddaughter in the present.

This was my first book by Linda Green and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Linda green will be an author I keep my eye on. This book had me crying it a story of family of tragedy of well buried secrets that can haunt a family. Beautifully written about a very hard hitting topic but can this family rise above history. If you want a book that will grab you emotionally and keep you reading through the tears this is the one 💜

I have to admit I love Linda Green’s books and was eager to read this latest one. All I can say is WOW. I absolutely loved it and read it in a day !!

It all begins when Betty, on her death bed, asks Nicola (her granddaughter) to look after the babies buried at the end of the garden. Nicola is taken aback and assumes that her Grandmother must have been confused. However as she soon finds out there are lots of secrets in her families past, including her own secrets.

Although some parts are very disturbing this is an absolutely lovely book about families, secrets, shame, lies and love. The story jumps from present day to the 1940’s and everywhere in between.

A truely thought provoking book which shows the effects that secrets can have on generations within a family. A heartbreaking tale at times but also a great book which shows how love and family support can help overcome some of the worst situations.

A truely emotional read that is bound to be a bestseller in 2018. You must read this book but be prepared for your emotions to take a battering.

Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Written by Linda Green — Over the years, deathbed confessions have been used to great effect in fiction. Prepare for another variation on the theme.

Nicola’s grandma is fading, and as she keeps vigil over her elderly relative, she ponders upon the strained relationship that exists between her grandmother and mother. As the old woman rallies one last time, the elderly Yorkshirewoman says something that gives Nicola pause for thought: “There are babies at bottom of garden…” Then she’s gone.

At first Nicola dismisses it. Her gran must have been referring to the two fairy statues that stand at the end of the lawn, mustn’t she? But when she tells her mum about it, her reaction makes Nicola think there’s more to that dying sentence than she thought. Armed with a spade, she and her daughters Ruby and Maisie go to investigate – until young Maisie discovers a ‘fairy bone’ and all excavations stop. Best leave things to the police, after all.

The unearthing of two tiny human skeletons really sets the cat among the pigeons. Nicola’s mum told her not to get involved, to let things lie and not to contact the police, but Nicola refused and now she has to live with the consequences. The press descend en masse on the quiet West Yorkshire village where gran had lived for so many years and people begin to talk in hushed tones about cults and sacrifices. Then Nicola begins to receive threatening notes and her car is keyed. Someone out there doesn’t want her to stir up old memories, but this is crime fiction and that’s never gonna happen, is it?

Nicola is a teaching assistant at a local primary, while her husband James is a plumber. They live in a small house in Hebden Bridge and are pretty ordinary, sensible folk. So what on earth possesses her to stir things up even further? Her mum seems a bit of an oddity but she’s talking good Yorkshire sense when she advises her daughter to step back. Instead, Nicola keeps on probing, and what she discovers shocks her to the core. Meanwhile her mother refuses to speak to her and she soldiers on alone, uncovering some long lost relatives in the process. Could they hold any clues to what went on in the dim and distant past? Be careful what you wish for…

Nicola’s ill advised family history crusade is interspersed with wartime love letters to someone called Betty from a man called William, and the memories of an anonymous woman are also liberally scattered amid the modern-day narrative. Some of those recollections make disturbing reading, in sharp contrast to the romantic outpourings of a young man fighting for his country. A veritable avalanche of mistakes made in the past are about to have wide-ranging repercussions in the here and now.

The Last Thing She Told Me is a surprisingly poignant, tautly scripted tale that twists and turns like an out of kilter corkscrew. Former regional journalist Linda Green is a dab hand at creating believable settings and as a West Yorkshire resident, she knows her patch well. The situations in the book feel real and the author takes great delight in keeping you guessing until the very end. The tragic plight of the tiny babies has more than a touch of the Magdalene Laundries about it and brought to mind Jo Spain’s With Our Blessing, which we reviewed in 2015.

Nicola’s heart is in the right place, but her one-track-mind approach to the matter at hand can become a little wearing after a while, to the point that you wish she’d just shut up and rue the error of her ways. Sometimes, you have to take other people’s advice and back off. Instead, my favourite character is Ruby, a teen with attitude whose life is about to dramatically alter as past indiscretions by so-called sensible adults come to the surface.

This is a book destined to lead you in surprising directions, although not all of them may be worth the mileage they are given. Nevertheless, an entertaining read from an author who has already amassed a hefty back catalogue of psychological thrillers.

The discovery of a tiny skeleton is at the heart of Rebecca Alexander’s debut novel, A Baby’s Bones. For more West Yorkshire-based crime, try RC Bridgestock’s White Lilies.

Quercus
Kindle/iBook
£0.99

CFL Rating: 3 Stars

I have never read a Linda Green book previously and didn’t know what to expect of this one. The synopsis looked interesting.
I fell straight into the book, I found the way Linda writes is easy to read and the book introduces the characters well and how they all link together in the plot.
I love the way the letters entwine the story and take us back to the past while keeping us very much in the present.
I really enjoyed the story and found the book a real page turner.
Can highly recommend

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Ninety year old Betty was dying but had chosen to spend her last days at home. When her Granddaughter Nicola came to visit, Betty explained she had left her the cottage in her will. Just as Betty slipped away she asked Nicola to look after her babies for her.

Nicola knew her mother Irene has been an only child. When Nicola asked her mother about it she was told 'don't worry about it, she was probably losing her mind by then'. Days later Nicola took her two daughters eight year old Maisie and thirteen year old Ruby to the cottage. Maisie went to the bottom of the garden to play with the stone angels dug into the soil. While Maisie was playing she found two small 'angel bones' buried beneath the statues. When Nicola called her mum to say she intended calling the police she was told you don't understand what you are dealing with, then she told Nicola to forget I happened.

Upset Nicola still contacted the police who erected a tent in the garden to start digging, which attracted the media to the old cottage. The police found the bones of two dead babies, Betty was the mother of the babies but her husband was not the father. When Irene found out she told Nicola was on her own and never wanted to see her or the children again. Nicola was also hiding her own secrets about Rubys real father.

Reading The Last Thing She Told Me was heart breaking and I felt emotionally rung out afterwards. I enjoyed this book about 3 generations of women from the same family. Betty, Irene and Nicola's lives had all been blighted by secrets, guilt, and disgust for themselves. In between the main story were love letters between Betty and William from 1944. There was also the narrative of an unnamed woman who met an older boy as a teenager. They could not been seen together so they met once a week to watch the sunshine together.

I liked Nicola who was very brave and determined to honour her grandma's wishes. However I felt she was very disloyal to her mother who did not want her to contact the police. At times I thought Nicola was reckless especially when she put her trust in the wrong person.

This book was a thought provoking read which gripped me from start to finish. This is a book is not to be missed.

Oh what a brilliant book! Started it today and read it over a couple of hours, I didn't want to put it down., it was so well written. I love books like these written about generations of a family and how the actions of someone many years ago reverberate through to the present. Some absolutely heartbreaking themes are explored, and it is mainly a story about family relationships, of secrets which have been kept hidden over a lifetime. My heart just broke for some of the characters especially when they were let down by the very people who should be protecting them.
Absolutely loved this book, very cleverly written with quite a few surprises. I would definitely recommend this book, thank you so much to Netgalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read this as an arc.

Now, this is going to be a really hard book to review without giving away any major spoilers! I’ve read a few of this author’s books, but this is the one I’ve enjoyed the most. As the blurb says, Nicola’s grandmother gives her the instruction to look after her babies at the bottom of the garden just before she dies. Nicola assumes she is confusing this with the fairy statues which has been at the bottom of the garden for as long as Nicola can remember. When the inevitable happens, and bones are found, Nicola has to make the difficult decision to report it or to leave the past alone.

This was certainly a nail-biter of a book! It gave me the chills and made me cry all in one go! The story was set in present day, but was interspersed with two different characters points of view from many years before. You don’t get to understand these points of view until much later in the storyline where everything becomes clear. The story covers three generations of women, all of whom are hiding their own secrets.

The story is difficult to read at times and the story is both heart-breaking and shocking, but wow, what a book!! It kept me gripped from the first page, just trying to work out what was going on. I could not put this book down until I had finished it, and neglected everything else until I had! Moral of the story – your secrets will always catch up with you! Beautifully written, deeply moving and highly recommended!

Linda Green is a fabulous writer. I have read previous books by her and not been disappointed.
This one is another little gem. The characters were great and the story really pulled me in. However, I felt at times it was little on the slow side. But, to be fair, it did suit the story.

A very emotional story covering three generations of women, each with their own secrets. The story begins with a deathbed conversation and the secrets unfold from there. A real page turner. Highly recommended

Nicola is caring for her grandmother Betty and just before she dies she asks Nicola to look after her babies at the bottom of the garden. Betty has statues of fairies at the bottom of the garden and Nicola thinks this is what she means until a bone is discovered underneath one and this sets off a chain of events which has a devastating outcome.

An excellent well written book which is both heartbreaking and shocking, the story covers three generations of women that all have secrets that must eventually come to light. This book kept me reading well into the night and I highly recommend it.