OMG.
This is honestly the best book I have read in a while. I devoured it in a very short time.
The way life spirals out of control and how quickly and devastatingly the actions of others have an impact.
Angie and her family have been dealt a devastating blow when her husband is killed in a violent attack. The story deals with homelessness, financial poverty, despair but it turns around in the end to show hope, courage, forgiveness and happiness.
Definitely recommend this book. Be prepared to shed a few tears.

Angie Watts once had a lovely life with her husband Steve and their three children who they adored however, she could never have predicted how her life would turn out.
When her troubled son Liam grows from a lovely kind boy into a troubled teen, Angies world begins to crumble. Liam falls in with a notorious local gang and after arriving home one day to find their youngest son Zac with a syringe that Liam had left lying around Steve makes a rash decision that has a huge impact on his family.

A well written sensitive story that was sad in parts. I liked the characters and the way they all rallied around each other giving support. I think I knew at the start where the story was going but that didn’t spoil the story for me in any way.

Many thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Angie has everything. A loving husband and three children. However, when one child decides down the drug route and inadvertently involves his brother her life is thrown upside down.

She is hanging on, trying to keep a roof over their heads but is getting deeper and deeper into debt.

How can she carry on!!

What a book!! I found it to be so real. The characters were amazing. Angie certainly had a rough time and oh,my heart went out to her. I don't like to give much away in a review as you have to read it yourself.
Sadness,heartache,devastation, happiness and everything in between.
I must admit I cried though at certain points. A must must read!!!

I read this in one sitting - just couldn’t put it down! A fascinating story about how lives can change in a split second. Add in to this drugs, county lines, homelessness, debt, universal credit and a sprinkling of romance then you have the perfect novel for today’s world.

I had high hopes for this book. I was disappointed to read a book full of cliches, with an almost fairytale story. The writing seemed clumsy, and I am in no hurry to read another book by this author.

Home Truths by Susan Lewis
What a shocking opening! This book was brilliant. So many social issues were well tackled from poverty (our working poor with accumulating debts) the rise of sexual exploitation and use of social media to control, and the vulnerabilities of those young people who have learning challenges. The underpinning thread of menace throughout alongside the possible fairytale potential was a good hook and kept me reading longer than I’d planned to. I really enjoyed the book but was disturbed throughout by the social issues raised. I already have a very active social conscience but well done Susan for sharpening that up and making the issues and impact of Steve’s sudden death on the family highlight the challenges and vulnerabilities of those left behind and also giving really sound direction for folk who find themselves in these difficulties to work with debt counsellors and get legal advice from an early stage. A great blend of real uk society but with well developed characters and storyline. Definitely recommend

A grim read for the most part, but so well-written I was hooked. I read it on my Kindle and it wasn't until around the 60% read mark (so over half-way) that things started changing for Angie. I did feel a bit depressed reading it -anxious even. It's scary how quickly things can go downhill.. I wanted a change from what I normally read, and I certainly got that in this book. You always know you're going to get a good story from Susan Lewis.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am going to disagree with all of the other reviews on this book. I am not familiar with the author's work but I believe that she writes in a variety of genres. This one is full of social issues - many, many social issues: ruthless drugs gangs, exploitation of children, internet grooming, sexual slavery, ruthless landlords, eviction, bailiffs, loan sharks, blackmail, bribery, murder, the homeless, disabled and vulnerable people, etc. She criticises universal credit, local authorities, debt collectors, job centres, "the system", it goes on and on, she leaves nothing out. It is far too much. She sanitises it by basing her story on a hapless woman charity worker whose children get into serious trouble and who mires herself in a spiral of debt until she is recued by a man who turns out to be a saintly benefactor who solves all her problems with a chick-lit style romance.
She says that her editors were steering her away from "too much brutal reality:" to help her create a "far more readable and hopeful story". It would have been more hopeful if Angie had solved her own problems and not waited for a fairy godfather. As for readable, it is boringly written with every thought and action spelled out, nothing implied or subtle. There is also a bit of lame humour and weak banter. The juxtaposition between lightweight romance and strong issues did not work for me.

This wasn’t my usual genre of book but I enjoyed it thoroughly! It approached a situation in a way that came across very realistically and the story was one that a lot of people can empathise with

Angie's young son Liam is missing and he is known to be part of a local gang.
When her husband tries to track Liam down he is brutally murdered in front of his son.
This leaves Angie on her own to look after her other two small children.
After she loses her job as a teaching assistant due to council cuts, she finds it very difficult to survive on her benefits.
This is a gritty crime drama and not my usual genre. I found the content hard to read in parts.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

what a heart-breaking story. but true for so many people in our lifetime.
superbly written and sucks you right in from the get go.
always enjoy reading this author and she never lets you down. the story flows and never makes me want to skip ahead.
for me this is one of the best books I have read this year, and i would give it a lot more stars than 3!

cant wait to see what Susan writes next

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, and thinking it was my usual genre of crime, and was all about revenge for her husband, who had been murdered, I was very surprised at the story. This is written from the victims viewpoint.

It is a powerful heartbreaking novel, of how life can just change in an instant and with no fault of the people who are left behind. The author deals with this and brings matters to the fore of lack of support from government departments, whom, these days appear to support folks abroad than our own people who are born and bred here. It is true especially with the DWP that very little compassion is shown and more and more people are reliant on food banks and handouts. It really broke my heart to see Angie suffering, working all hours God sent, and still being penalised by the system. How I despise officious civil servants, MPs and the like who get everything for nothing and have no idea how ordinary people suffer.

This book has to be one of the best books I’ve read this year, it is grim for Angie but it also shows that despite the faceless non entities there are people out there who have a good heart. I really really enjoyed reading this and it did bring a tear to my eye, but I was heartened by all the help she received. If I could I’d give it 10 🌟 stars.

My thanks to the author, publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

Such a powerful story. Based on a situation that anyone of us could find ourselves in, with just one bad hand from life. It was heartbreaking following Angie’s story and at times my heart ached for how her life was spiralling around her. The author has written with real insight into how low someone can fall when caught up in bad situations - with no idea on how to recover.
A moving book with hope as well as despair showing us that life really can be a tale of two halves - all it takes is for there to be some good come your way to help turn it all around. Needs to be read with a box of tissues to hand.

This is a beautifully written, poignant book with characters you root for from the very first page. There were a few signposts regarding the direction the story might go but that didn't matter,  in fact it made for feelings of hope when things seemed very bleak.

Angie Watts has three children, a home she loves and a job which gives her great satisfaction. She is also a widow, still coming to terms with the death of her soulmate, Steve, and the subsequent disappearance of her eldest son, Liam.

Although this is the story of one close family, Angie, daughter, Grace, youngest son, Zac, and her sister Emma and her boys, it is also so much more. Ms Lewis provides a damming indictment of England today and how those who work and provid for themselves can still find they are at the mercy of the benefits system when things go wrong. She also shows however, that there are good people everywhere, just as there are bad, and my emotions were all over the place as I read this excellent book.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys this author's work or family dramas of the highest quality.

A fabulous domestic story that is relatable & very well written. I loved it, and have enjoyed everything I have read by this author. I would recommend this to anyone.

Thank you everyone for letting me review this book by another one of the authors I admire. This was a great feel good story that I would recommend to others.

The are various types of thrillers this is one of those that in real life could happen to any of us and it has state sponcership well of sorts. Angie had the life she wanted and then it went bad before it really went bad her incredible life partner being Steve who was also her husband gets killed after a reaction caused by their eldest Liam who was lead by the gangs from that estate in to drugs and the hell that brings.
Well as Angie true to keep her head above water as well as track down her now vanished and vulnerable son (Liam) she gets the switch to universal credits which push her under and before she knows it her deates have appealed beyond control and she and her remaining kids Grace and Zac are being evicted from their home. Like many Angie sure on it till it is too late to escape from and when her sister Emma finds the red mail with final demands and court orders her only course of action is to tread water whilst a plan is being searched for but all she can see is smoke and fog.
This is a very real thriller lived by far too many in what is a wealthy country and there are far more in a wide state that Angie find her self in some have no family or household lost theirs whilst things just go from direr to direr. But this doesn't help Angie or even Emma as she looks on and see the pain not just of her sister but of Grace the teenageer who wants to help but feels well how can anyone describe how a 15 year old feels having lost her Dad whom she loved and now looks to be losing all she had known on top of that .
There are some good things Emma and Angie have jobs they are administrators in a charity that helps others who have hit rock bottom find a way back but it does pay anything like as much as she needs but it is a job and she is doing a good thing for others and making a real difference. But even the future here is a unknown as events continue to unfold.
This thriller is different to what you may be used to and as in life others may not find the same path but then no two people or situations are ever fully the same and this is what makes this unique some may not describe it as a thriller and may be it isn't but if it relates to you or people you know it is far more scary than most thrillers you will have read. Well that's is my take on it but you will need to read it for yourself and I think you should because it's a story that needs to be read and the end may sick you more than you expect like life the twists are not always as clear as you think.

Angie's life is pretty much rock bottom....son Liam has disappeared and husband Steve has been brutally murdered. She's in spiralling debt and has to keep going for the sake of her two other children Grace and Zac. She didn't think it could get any worse, but escalating debts followed by eviction from the house she has always loved leads her to sleeping rough whilst her children stay with sister Emma. All she needs is a break....she is working every hour she possibly can but still has no way of keeping the roof on their heads. An encounter with Martin, a former work colleague of her husband leads to some security and help. Susan Lewis books are wonderful, but this is one that really really pulled at my heartstrings,.... a heartbreaking situation anyone could tragically find themselves in. I read this book over two days, highly recommend.

As usual Susan Lewis has written a powerful, emotional novel which is difficult to review without giving away spoilers. Angie Watts and her children are left devastated by the horrific death of husband and father Steve which happened as the result of his search for Liam the eldest son. Liam had fallen in with a drug addicted crowd on a notorious estate. From their happy carefree existence Angie struggles to keep a roof over the heads of her two younger children Grace and Zac. She is eventually made homeless and relies heavily on her sister Emma to help with accommodating her children. It seems as if everything is against Angie as she rolls from one devastating problem after another. No money, no home. There’s definitely a feel of ‘there but for the grace of god’ in this story. Couldn’t put it down staying up very late one night to finish. Susan Lewis at her best! Many thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read.