Cover Image: Saturdays at Noon

Saturdays at Noon

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Member Reviews

loved this book - would 100% recommend and am looking forward to reading what this author writes next!

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I wasn’t sure what to expect but I ended up really enjoying this book.
It’s been a soothing book for a troubled mind. A misunderstood little boy, an unmoored woman, and a the boy’s father... the characters become well rounded as the story develops. A good book about not fitting in but learning to find your niche in the world.

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5☆ A Heart Warming and Uplifting story of Friendships, Change and the ups and downs of Parenting!

Emily & Jake meet at an anger management class where they are both attending.
Jake a father to Alfie 6yr old & hubby to Jemma. He's a stay at home Dad whilst Jemma works.
Emily has lots of issues, she's definitely a flawed character despite thinking she doesn't need anger classes, but she has a big heart.

Jake agreed to attend therapy classes as he's son has challenging behaviour and it's driving a wedge between his marriage.

Jake is so sick of always ending up the bad guy, he looks after Alfie full time whilst Jemma works. But he feels like whatever he tries to do he can't win and gets it wrong.
Jemma is not supportive of Jake & his endless struggles with Alfie she sees them as an inconvenience.

It all gets too much for Jemma and she ups and leaves, leaving Jake and Alfie to struggle alone.

But Alfie has built up a really sweet and endearing bond with Emily after they bump into her a few times. She can connect with him like no one else can. Alfie asks his Dad if she can become his childminder and she readily agrees.
But has she just bitten off more than she can chew!

Alfie is quiet a handful and I have to be completely honest he wore me out just reading this book lol
But deep down he is a sweet, endearing, loving lil boy desperate for love and attention and with the help of Emily she helps Alfie and Jake be better, and with Alfies heart melting so is Jake's towards Emily.

Saturday's at Noon is an amazing book. I struggled to put it down. I've never read a book quiet like this before.
It's a heart warming and uplifting story about Family Life, Relationships, Change, The ups and downs of parenting, starting over and learning to let your guard down and trust!
Alfie is such a huge character, for a lil boy with such a huge personality, with so many ups and downs he seriously gets under your skin and in to your heart. If you read this book which I really hope you do then you will understand exactly what I mean by Alfie. I'm hooked.

Thank you to Michael Joseph for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

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I did not expect to love this book as much as I did.
Jake and Emily meet at anger management, he is angry with his son, she has cut all her hair off. But all is not as it seems.
Their relationship builds slowly and awkwardly but it becomes something which they, and Jake's son Alfie rely on.
Told with real love and experience, great.

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What a refreshing book that goes against the 'everything is perfect' mindset that seems to be around these days. I absolutely loved Saturday's at Noon - the premise was great, after reading the synopsis I knew that I wanted to read it and was so pleased to be approved.

The three point of views were all so well done, especially Alfie's which was heartbreaking at times, so young and yet so old before his time too. Emily and Jake were great protagonists and I really enjoyed reading about their differing, and then converging storylines.

All in all a fantastic contemporary read with a lot of depth - 5*

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A really enjoyable read. I found myself grabbed early on by the character of Alfie. I loved his inner monologues that help us understand his outer behaviour - often more than his parents. I had sympathy for their frustration in not having the insight we had into his thinking. His relationship with Emily works because she doesn’t expect anything of him, Jemma and Jake had expectations about the child they would have and although they love Alfie he represents a lot of resentment and pain. They are grieving for the child they expected and longed for, Their experience was quite different, finding their sin difficult from the beginning,

When Jemma leaves I wasn’t surprised but I was heartbroken for Alfie who simply has no idea how difficult it is to look after him, I thought the author was brilliant at building tension in the scenes where Jemma and Jake are struggling to cope. She also contrasted them beautifully with Alfie’s inner world where everything he does is completely natural and not designed to cause stress. It’s like watching people speaking two completely different languages. We don’t know why Emily is at anger management or why she has shaved her head, but it’s clear that the walls she’s built around herself might be about to come down, Jake has no idea why his son gets along with this spiky woman, who he can’t weigh up at all. Emily can’t understand why Jake goes to the group. I love the way their ideas about each other change and how they start to view themselves differently too.

Long review on my blog in March

When Alfie meets Emily, who Jake knows from anger management, he takes to her immediately. Similarly Emily takes Alfie just as she finds him, with no expectation or concern about his behaviour,

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This is a lovely, thought provoking book that covers many topics. I really enjoyed reading Emily’s part of the story and how her relationships developed with others (I loved the relationship with her Gran!) . The topic of autism is covered so well, but towards the end I found this consumed the story and I found myself wishing it was more about Emily and her journey. The ending was rather predictable but in a very satisfying way - you can have a great book without a “ twist”.

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I am no longer interested in reviewing this book so unfortunately I will no longer be reading and reviewing this

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Emily and Jake meet at anger management classes, and the only thing they seem to have in common, is that neither of them thinks they should be there.

Jake’s son, Alfie, makes a connection with Emily. A connection which Jake doesn’t understand, especially when he is struggling to develop the same connection to his difficult six year old. But when a change in circumstances means Jake needs to go back to work, Emily appears to be the best choice to look after Alfie.

As Emily and Alfie grow closer, Jake is forced to change his view of his son’s challenging nature and embrace his differences.

Aww I loved this book! So refreshingly honest and cute but heartbreaking at the same time. Written in a compelling and beautiful way, Saturdays at Noon is a story about love, challenging familial relationships and acceptance.

The writing is beautiful and I never would have guessed this was a debut novel, Rachel manages to portray the difficulties of raising a child who is different, in a world where people are quick to judge, brilliantly but honestly. She doesn’t sugar coat some of Jake’s behaviour, but she also avoids portraying him as a bad dad.

Emily is another character who may initially seem unlikeable because of her spikey personality but is written in such a way that you can’t help being drawn to her and wondering about her back story.

Of course the show stealer is Alfie. The chapters told from his point of view were both funny and poignant and totally melted my heart. I’m not going to say anything more as I don’t want to give any spoilers but this little boy is a superstar!

I connected emotionally to this fantastic story and therefore would highly recommend it!

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up to 5)

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher (Penguin UK - Michael Joseph) for providing a copy. All opinions are my own and provided willingly

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I have to say that I really enjoyed this book which quite surprised me! It is probably not the sort of book I would normally read but I thought I would give it a go - it’s good to read some different things now and again! Anyway, I found it fascinating seeing inside the world of a special child - I only have one myself who is pretty “normal” so it was an eye opener to see what parents of autistic children have to deal with. (I’m sorry - I have probably not used the correct terminology there but as I say; this is not a world I am familiar with; please forgive me if I have offended anyone). The demands of Alfie, who I found to be an amazing and very endearing little boy, would floor the majority of people in my opinion, although I am sure that for parents in a similar situation, this book would ring true in many ways.

I loved the way that the relationships developed and thought the story moved along at a great pace - not too fast but not too slow either. And I liked the way that things were gradually discovered - things from the past which helped to make sense of the present.

I would highly recommend this story to anyone and thank Net Galley & the publishers for letting me read it in return for an honest review.

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Jake and Emily meet at anger management classes. Jake has a son, Alfie. Alfie has his own issues. At times he can be difficult to handle. But when Emily meets Alfie, they form a bond. She can get him to do things others can't. Emily has trust and anger issues due to her dysfunctional childhood. Jake's marriage is on the verge of breakdown.

This book is an insight to children with autism. It also deals with alcoholism, anger management, addiction and a use to name a few. The characters are complex but believable. Its beautifully written. It's an emotional roller coaster of a read. You will be thinkinh6of this story long after you've finished it.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin and the author Rachel Mark's for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Hurrah for this heartfelt and beautiful book. Having recently been signed off work sick, I knew I needed to pick up a book which would wrap me up in it and carry me away into another world.

This is exactly what this book gave me.

By the end of the book I felt like these were three characters (Emily, Jake and Alfie) who I personally knew. I was sad to think that I might not have anything to do with them again.

The book made my heart sing, ache and rejoice at various moments. It was a book filled with hope and love, and I can tell that Rachel Marks writes from the heart.

I will definitely read more from this author.

[TW: sexual assault, childhood sexual and physical abuse, serious violence, blood, addiction (alcohol and drugs), and bereavement]

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A beautifully written, superb debut about family, love, being different, and acceptance.

Emily and Jake meet at an anger management class. Emily has to attend due to a court order, and Jake is going to save his marriage, and to help him try to bond with his 'difficult' son Alfie. Emily isn't sure why Jake is there, and Jake can't understand why his stranger shy son likes Emily so much! Told from Emily's, Jake's and six year old Alfie's POV, we go on a journey with these characters, seeing how meeting each other impacts their lives.

Oh my gosh this book! I thought it would be a romance book, but it was so much more than that! The romance was definitely in the background, and this story was more focussed on the characters, and the many issues and obstacles they faced in life. The characters were so well written, and the story so realistic and believable, my heart just ached for them all! I was seriously in tears several times, and my husband was giving me concerned looks as I sat reading in a mountain of tissues!

My emotions were everywhere reading this heart wrenching book, and yet...it was strangely uplifting at the same time?!

⭐I loved Emily, who with her heart breaking past, didn't let many people in. Her spiky exterior hid a lovely, but vulnerable young woman.
⭐I loved Jake, who was so frustrated and angry at not being able to understand or help his own son.
⭐I loved Alfie, a misunderstood boy, who just wanted everyone to follow his rules, and couldn't understand why they wouldn't!
⭐I loved how the characters were all so very flawed, because that made them all the more relatable.
⭐I loved the sensitive way that Rachel Marks wrote about Alfie. It was obvious that she had been through this herself, knew about the Autistic spectrum, and it shone through in the writing from all of the character's perspectives.
⭐I loved how it showed you could love your child, but still be so incredibly frustrated with them.
⭐I loved how it showed the different ways in which people see the world.
⭐I loved how this book showed that you cant judge people on first impressions, because you don't know what other people are living through.

As a teacher, I could definitely see where the plot was going to go, in terms of Alfie, but the characters made the story so special, that I didn't mind. Honestly I just wanted the best for all of them, and to give them a hug, because they were all doing their very best in their own situations.

Saturdays at Noon was a fantastic debut by Rachel Marks, and I feel that is definitely worth a read.

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This is an absolute gem of a book with sparkling characters you are guaranteed to fall in love with. Based in an unusual setting of weekly anger management classes Emily clearly doesn't want to be there, won't tell anyone why she is there, and clearly doesn't think much of the proceedings.
Jake is a dad desperate to save his marriage but struggling enormously as a house husband and primary carer of his 6 year old son.
His son Alfie is amazing but also presents with some highly challenging behaviour. This puts a huge strain on the marriage and all sorts of doubts arise at to their parenting abilities versus something being awry in Alfie's development.
Jake's wife ups and leaves for an indefinite stay in Paris and Jake returns to teaching but in order to do this has to find suitable childcare.
Enter the unlikely 'nanny' Emily whose own story is one that will break your heart. She makes an instant connection with Alfie and it is as a result of her care of the child that it is discovered Alfie suffers with pathological demand avoidance, a very specific profile within the autism spectrum disorder.
Don't let that put you off though! This is not a self help book, a parenting manual or a medical tome. Saturdays at Noon is a warm, funny, quirky, sad look at life, love and the curveballs life can throw at us all.
I did not want this book to end and would happily read it again and again.
SUPERB!

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Saturdays at Noon is genuinely one of the best books I've ever read. It's so endearing, emotional and uplifting; I just want to read it all over again.

The story follows Jake who is struggling to cope with his son Alfie and is seemingly drifting further and further from his wife Jemma. Emily is also struggling with various aspects of her life and when she bumps into Jake at anger management classes she doesn't realise how their lives may be changed as a result. Jake brings Emily on board to help out with Alfie and we witness such a beautiful bond grow between Emily and Alfie throughout the story.

I was sucked into the world of the characters from the first page. Rachel writes with such emotion and captures human interactions and behaviours with incredible accuracy and precision. She tells an extremely raw and honest story which is heartbreaking, yet at the same time heartwarming; I wish I could have read on for another 400 pages. I often find with stories like this that endings can be very cliched and almost fairytale-like, but Rachel did a great job at avoiding this; she stayed true to the story and the realness that we had seen throughout. Please everyone just go and read this book, you won't be disappointed. I can't wait to see what Rachel does next, I'll be first in line for her next book that's for sure. All the stars!

Thanks to Michael Joseph for a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

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Sometimes the best novels are those written about ordinary people dealing with difficult circumstances. Saturdays at Noon is about an extraordinary six year old boy Alfie and his dad Jake. Alfie is clearly on the spectrum displaying extremely challenging behaviour but is THE most wonderful, loving intelligent quirky boy whose current passion is Lego.
Jake is a stay at home dad struggling minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day to parent Alfie to the best of his ability, mostly feeling like he is failing miserably. When Jemma, Alfie’s mum decides to take a break from their marriage who is going to take care of Alfie??
Meet Emily, a damaged, cynical young woman who Jake meets when they are both attending an anger management course. From a chance encounter at the cinema, Emily seems to have a natural affinity with Alfie. Despite not knowing her background, could Emily be the one to help fix this broken family and herself at the same time too??
With a dollop of romance on the side, this is a celebration of parenthood with all its many ups and downs which are multiplied when the child in question is ‘wired’ slightly differently. It’s a touching, funny, compassionate yet candid insight into daily life living with a child who doesn’t quite fit in. A square peg in a round hole. What I loved most about the writing is the intense love Jake and Emily feel for Alfie and no matter how challenging his behaviour, that love is totally unconditional, with his ‘differences’ almost irrelevant. The blossoming relationship between Alfie and Emily is joyous and heartwarming with their conversations peppered with the innocence and naivety only the very young possess. They make wonderful memories together as a threesome, navigating the obstacles that Alfie throws at them constantly but I liked that labels for this unlikely trio weren’t important. I found myself smiling as I read every word of this delightful story, marvelling in the fact that love for a child is fierce and all consuming and precious despite all its imperfections.
This has to be by far one of THE loveliest novels I have read in a long time. The writing is superb;Rachel Marks has captured the essence of parenthood perfectly. To develop characters who feel so alive and relatable and who you can fall in love with is always going to make a novel special . I don’t quite know what I was expecting when I started reading this novel but I was mesmerised by every word. Saturdays at Noon captured and melted my heart so that I didn’t want it to end. I felt such attachment towards Alfie and Jake and Emily that I didn’t want to say goodbye and if I could award it ten stars I would.
My thanks as always to the author and publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

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I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this but, for a debut novel, it's remarkably accomplished!

Jake and Emily meet at anger management classes. Emily is a bit of a mystery for most of the book, but Jake gets off to a poor start by berating his son in front of her. She's not impressed by his lack of patience - but then, what does she know about Alfie and the day-to-day problems the family has to deal with?

This is a truly lovely story, beautifully told. As we get to know all three of the main characters better - Jake, Emily and Alfie - their lives begin to interweave and we learn all the little details which matter. I'm not surprised that the author has written about what she knows; I think her knowledge shines through and she has written about what is to her a true life situation in a friendly, very readable manner. As well as enjoying this book, I feel I've had an insight and a new understanding and I recommend this as fabulous fiction which gets right under your skin. I'm very happy to give this one 4*.

My thanks to publisher Penguin for my copy via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

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When Emily and Jake meet at an anger management course they have no idea how their lives will change.
Through Jake Emily meets Alfie, a little boy who sees the world differently to most people.
She begins to understand how he thinks and how he processes things and how his family can understand him better.
This is a must read for all those people who look at children "musbehaving" in a supermarket or a park to allow them to better understand the world of autism in all its forms.
A really well written book discussing a much misunderstood condition.

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Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Jakes marriage is on the verge of breaking down and his son Alfie is proving to be difficult to handle.
Emily has been though a tough childhood and feels let down by her family,
Jake and Emily meet at anger management, Emily meets Alfie and forms a bond with him, getting him to do things others struggle with.
What does the future have in store for Jakes marriage and how will this affect Emily and Alfie.

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A well written and beautifully observed novel from Rachel. I enjoyed keeping up with all the characters and in particular Alfie, hoping that all would turn out okay for him..

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