Many thanks to Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my copy of Beneath the Surface in exchange for an honest review.
This is a beautifully written book that is a distubingly accurate portrayal of living through marriage and motherhood following a traumatic childhood. Every character is quirky and some are hard to like, but it all flows together so well and is a real page-turner. Not an easy read in parts, but an excellent one. I really enjoyed it.

A family drama set in the Cambridge Fens. Beneath the Surface follows a dysfunctional family who are hiding many secrets from one another.

When Lilly suffers a seizure during an English class the family are besides themselves, especially Grace, her mother, as it stirs up a traumatic memory from the past. Mia's best friend also experiences a seizure the next day as well as an older girl. This sparks an outbreak from the community and fears of more people becoming unwell. As the truth behind what is causing the seizures comes into light so too does the secrets that each of the family members are keeping.

An easy read which keeps you intrigued until the bitter end. Full of heartache, mistakes, love and protection. Many thanks to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my ARC of Beneath the Surface.

Hmmmmm. This book was ok, set in the fens there was an air of mystery that gave the story an interesting twist.

Grace and Patrick have two children Lilly and Mia. Grace’s childhood was not great so she tries to make Lilly and Mia’s perfect, which presents its own challenges.

I didn’t find it as pacy as I liked but I thought it was ok!

When teenager Lilly Vermuyden mysteriously collapses in class one day, the secure family life that her mother Grace has worked so hard to build and maintain starts to unravel. What follows is a tense, well-plotted and well-paced psychological tale that is a real page-tuner and which kept me engaged throughout. It’s a multi-layered story, with many subplots and minor characters, quite a “busy” book, but on the whole Neill keeps control of her subject and brings it all to a (fairly) satisfying conclusion. There are some missteps along the way, however, some scenes that are overwritten or implausible – for example, Grace finds herself walking behind a group of Lilly’s friends one day and they helpfully fill in a lot of background detail about Lilly’s life – and there’s a rather unnecessary subplot about an eel that Lilly’s sister keeps in a bucket. (I found myself more and more worried about this eel as time went on.) All in all it’s perhaps a book that merits racing through and enjoying for what it is rather than thinking about too much and I found it an entertaining and enjoyable read.

It is the second book I read by Fiona Neill, it was ok but not more than that. It is the story of a rather dysfunctional family. Grace the mother had a really bad childhood and is obviously still traumatised by it, Patrick the father has lots of debt but is keeping quiet about them. The two children are Lilly, a very popular student who is supposed to go to Cambridge and Mia a 10-year-old who is definitely on the spectrum and is smart but in her own way. It is a family with quite a few secrets.

The main problem in this story is that very successful Lilly starts to have strange seizures with no evident reasons. I found the story a bit slow and the drama not much of a drama, the youngest child Mia was the most interesting character, Lilly was the typical teenager. Overall there was not a memorable character and it was not a book that kept me awake at night. There are a few twists at the end but again for me the problem was that I did not relate much to any of the characters so I was not particularly shocked to find out the truth. Not an unpleasant book but not one that I would recommend to everyone.

Beneath The Surface is the kind of book I wish I'd written. It is multi-layered, with several currents running through the story. Racism, parental expectations, the dynamic between older and younger sisters, family secrets and historical ones too. This is a brilliant, modern novel, even including a new build home which is falling down around their ears, with a perfect blend of commentary on socio-political issues, and fast-paced mystery which thrills and excites.

Beneath The Surface tempts the reader to keep going with the promise of secrets to unravel and increasing tension between the four main characters. The whole family, Grace and Patrick with their two daughters Lilly and Mia, all carry secrets. They all believe they are doing what’s best for the family by keeping those secrets, however this leads them to cause further pain and puts pressure on the family, I struggled to relate to anyone in the family, and I think that was due to how much drama they created. I felt the book could have easily focussed on the secrets of two family members alone, rather than involving all four, as this complicated the book too much. One character in particular felt he had secrets in order to give balance to the book, however this made him seem very peripheral to the main story and not as involved as he should have been.

An enjoyable read that keeps you involved right to the end. The characters are very clearly drawn and make you care what happens to them.

I found this story quite intriguing as you knew there were things under the surface bit it took time for it all to be revealed, which is what made the story good to read.

Beneath the Surface is a family drama set in the Cambridge ferns. Family secrets come to the surface when the teenage daughter collapses during a tutorial. This is a dark and troubled story with well written characters.

This was an excellent portrayal of the inadvertent damage that can be caused by parents loving children too much. There are a couple of red herrings that are nicely tied into the story giving the overall plot some layers of complexity which make this a very robust novel.

'Beneath The Surface' has so many rich layers to it that it is difficult to know where to start. It's a literary exploration of the lives of a family-2 brothers married to very different wives, Patrick, teacher, scholar, hider of secrets is married to Grace, who struggles with her own troubled background,is a journalist which is not meeting her expectations of a dream job.Patrick's brother, Rob and his wife,Ana, are unable to have children, something loudly aand explosively revealed at the very start, at the barbecue from hell where Lilly and Mia, Patrick and Grace's children are hiding in the garage with secrets of their own.

This one scene perfectly places all the players in the novel, the reader immediately gets the sense of the role each one occupies and then  Fiona gradually strips away layer after layer as events surround and consume them all.

Lilly collapses at school, laving her family and medical staff confused at to what the cause was-Grace, on going through Lilly's phone looking for clues to a hidden relationship with a boy she was unaware of, finds herself further away from younger daughter Mia and her husband Patrick. Whilst Patrick is burying his financial worries ever deeper, Grace and her dissatisfaction with the life she hoped to build for her family, is becoming ever more volatile.

The title is absolutely perfect, it neatly reflects the allegory of the English Fen location of the book, where Mia's obsession with ancient history,such as the tale of 'Beowulf' and the malarial sickness, Ague, reveals that plagues were rife until the marshlands of the Fens were drained. What is then exposed may not be pretty -the plotline about the archaeological dig is simultaneously heatrbreaking and educational-but is a neat allegory for this family in crisis. Lilly is keeping a secret that has literally made her sick. Grace has overlooked Lilly because Mia is such an odd and demanding child and is struck with guilt about this. Patrick is borrowing increasingly large sums of money off his childless brother, Rob, to keep his perception of what should be a good life afloat. All these lies are making them sick and as with the cure for the Ague, they seem to sleepwalk soporifically through their existence.

I did find it hard to believe that when Grace has to attend yet another parent conference for Mia, that a 10 year old would say the following to their teacher-

''We've been talking a lot today about the importance of honesty,haven't we Mia?'she says all kindly tone and steely glare.

'You have,'says Mia.

'And what did we learn?'

'I learnt that you think my truth is a lie,'says Mia flatly.'I don't know what you learnt,Miss Swain.''

Mia is a mix of odd contradictions for a child her age, she is forthright and very intelligent yet still believes in superstitious routines such as praying to ancient gods to help her traveller friend Tas. As the archaeological dig continues to expose ancient relics , it is encroaching on the land that the travellers use to camp on and she is massively concerned that Tas will have to move.

Lilly has been lying to her parents , her parents have been lying to each other and themselves over and over, until it becomes impossible to hide the truth any longer .And at the sidelines are Ana and Rob who see first hand the cost of parenting whilst desperate for their own child.

A searing portrait of a very modern family with such a precise and well rounded sense of location, history and place , it shows that what may be hidden will always find a way to come up to the surface and reveal its secrets. It's a stunning and very moving, almost hynotic read that pulls you under and is completely engrossing.

My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and Netgalley for my gifted ebook copy of 'Beneath The Surface'.

An unusual book and very different from what I was expecting. It charts the unravelling of the history and relationships of a family living in the Fens from the first glimpses of a near-perfect household to the complex and interconnected deceptions of the individuals involved. It centres around two sisters, Lilly and Mia, whose stories are gradually revealed alongside their mother's well-hidden past, eventually coming to the surface over the novel. After a rather slow start, an interesting and absorbing read.

Not quite what I expected, but nevertheless a good read. Drama, secrets, lies, plenty to get your teeth into. The story centres around Grace, her husband, and her daughters, Mia and Lily and a series of events. Poor Mia who my sympathies lie with struggles to fit in....
An atmospheric, strange tale tale, where Fenland history and landscape comes to life... intertwining past and present.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the first book by Fiona Neill that I have read so I had no idea what to expect. I will start with the good. This book covered a lot of topics not usually covered and they were covered well such as conversion disorder or functional neurological disorder a dysfunctional family, a teenager pushing boundaries and a 10-year-old girl who appears to be on the autistic spectrum. However the not so good, I found the pace a little slow the big reveal underwhelming and I really didn't gel with any characters sadly so although I finished the book I can't really recommend it to others.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This book is a psychological thriller coupled with a lot of family drama. Fiona Neil definitely has not disappointed her fans with this book, it’s a superb read. Grace and Patrick have two daughters, Lily who is seventeen and Mia who is ten. Lily is clever, Mia is a daydreamer. Mum Grace is a little paranoid, while dad Patrick is swamped by his growing debts and the many problems with their new home.
WhenLily collapses at school, her parents learn that she has a lot of secrets including a boyfriend they knew nothing about. Mia is an interesting rather eccentric character, she has her own theories and secrets.
As the book moves to the end there are further hidden secrets to be revealed, the story really is about the lies different members of the family have told and the effect the lies have not just for the person who told them but for each member of the family.
A surprising ending, 4.5 stars

Grace didn't have the best childhood so her most fervent wish is to give her 2 daughters, Lily and Mia, a picture perfect upbringing. Despite her best interests however, it seems that Grace, her daughters and her husband Patrick don't have quite the perfect life they wanted. Following Lily's collapse from a seizure, secrets are exposed leading Grace to realise that she does not know her daughters as well as she believed. Secret boyfriends, friendship breakdowns, financial problems - it all comes out and it is fair to say that there is a lot going on.
Overall a good character-driven family drama with a great ending.
4 stars and thanks to Netgalley UK and the publishers for the advance review copy.

I read - and enjoyed - The Betrayals by Fiona Neill last year, and so was chuffed when the publisher emailed me to ask if I'd like an advanced review copy - clearly I said yes!! I finished it last week - on publication date - but it's taken me this long to write a review - but at least that means if you like the sound of it you can download it immediately!
Here is the Amazon blurb:
"After a chaotic childhood, Grace Vermuyden is determined her own daughters will fulfil the dreams denied to her. Lilly is everyone's golden girl, the popular, clever daughter she never had to worry about. So when she mysteriously collapses in class, Grace's carefully ordered world begins to unravel.
Dark rumours swirl around their tight-knit community on the edge of the Fens as everyone comes up with their own theories about what happened. Consumed with paranoia, and faced with increasing evidence that Lilly has been leading a secret life, Grace starts to search for clues.
Left to her own devices, ten-year-old Mia develops some wild theories of her own that have unforeseen and devastating consequences for the people she loves most.
Beneath the Surface explores the weight of the past upon the present, the burden of keeping secrets and what happens when children get caught in the undercurrents of adult relationships. "
Again - I really enjoyed this domestic drama, which twists and turns just like Fiona Neill's previous book. I guess I also empathised with Grace even more having daughters of a similar age (although I've got so many kids, I often have one or two that are the right age for characters in books!!!)
As it says in the subtitle 'everyone lies' - and you know that people are lying from the start - but you're not quite sure why or how, but it all becomes clear as the book progresses - eventually!
Lilly is superficially a golden child and girlie swot at school - but is leading a secret teenage life. Her younger sister, Mia, is a more complicated character who struggles fitting in at school - and has two friends, Tas (from the local traveller community) and Elvis (an eel she keeps in a bucket in her bedroom!). Patrick, the father, is in financial difficulties - and Grace, the mother, is desperately trying to provide a stable family environment for her daughters that she didn't have herself. There are other peripheral characters - an Aunt and Uncle, teenager friends, other parents - and everything intertwines.
The descriptions of the dust problems in their new house, the geography of the Fens and the bad weather are also really evocative (not sure I'll be going to the Fens on holiday any time soon!)
Overall I did enjoy this and was pleased to see how it all panned out and would recommend it. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

A really interesting read not my normal type of novel but once I got into it was quite a good story The story is mostly about Grace and her relationship with her daughter's which was very intriguing and complex at times Even though the ending was good and you could finally see what had happened to her in the past would have liked to know a bit more about what happened in the present day All in all a good read

As a child, Grace Vermyuden has nothing but her little brother. And even that was ripped away from her. Determined to give her children everything her life lacked and avoid cursing them with her bad genes, Grace becomes the perfect mother. But is she doomed to repeating the past?


When her eldest daughter Lily has a seizure in class, the Vermyuden’s world is turned upside down and they are forced to come to terms with some very hard truths. Grace is smothering one child and neglecting the other in her obsession to be perfect, Patrick is drowning in financial debt but refuses to acknowledge the severity of the situation. Lily is burdened with her mother’s secret and her own teenage love triangle. And finally, my favourite character Mia, the ten year old genius that everyone sees a problem to be fixed... my heart shatters for this little girl.


Mia Vermyuden is undoubtedly the best character in this book. Fiona has fully developed her quirky, eccentric and unique way of thinking. As a child who clearly has special needs, thinks years ahead of her age and is unapologetically herself, Mia struggles to fit in both at school and at home. It’s easy to become infuriated with the parent’s treatment of Mia because you can’t help but love her fiercely.


Overall, it’s an emotionally packed read about a dysfunctional family, each with their own problems that all finally come to a head. However, the pacing was slow right up until the final third of the book, and I personally felt it left far too many questions unanswered making some of it a little confusing.