Really wanted to like this after knowing how popular Burton's The Miniaturist was, but I couldn't connect with the protagonist and I found the pace to be too slow for my liking.

I simply adore Jessie Burton and her writing. Such a moving story. A beautiful, gripping and captivating book. Jessie Burton at her best.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me the book.

I love Burtons titles but I wasn’t able to emotionally engage with the main characters as I really didn’t gel with the heroine. Burtons craft level in her writing is, as always, exceptional!

The Confession by Jessie Burton was another beautifully written book and is a powerful book and this one I was hooked and could not put down. It is deeply moving throughout and is about motherhood, friendship with lots of secrets amongst the characters, which made this book great.

I highly recommend this book By Jessie. A beautiful read Plus I loved the cover.

Big Thank you to Netgalley and to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.

I'm really sorry that I let this one sit on my NetGalley shelf for so long!

The story opens in 1980 with the chance meeting of two women on Hampstead Common. Elise Morceau is young and naive and immedialtely falls under the spell of Constance Holden. Connie is older, already a successful writer and confident in ways Elise isn't. When Connie's book gets made into a Hollywood film, Elise accompanies her to Los Angeles and the pair fall into a glamorous party lifestyle.

This 1980s story - essentially of the relationship between the two women - is interspersed with a present day story in which Rose Simmonds is looking for her mother. When she learns that Connie was part of her mother's life, she decides to ask some difficult questions of the writer - now in her 70s and a recluse...

I loved the settings of this book in particular - the emptiness of the glamorous LA lifestyle was well-presented and contrasted with the narrow, pared-down life within Connie's house in the present day.

The characters are also beatifully drawn. Although I didn't get much sense of the physical appearance of the people, their internal lives are absorbing and immersive. I liked that we get real insight into Elise and Rose, but that Connie does remain quite a mysterious figure in both the 1980s and present day stories. As the stories are revealed, there is real character nuance as we are given insights into thought processes and decisions made for reasons good, bad and ugly.

I'll happily admit that I had no idea about where the book was going. I was fine with being drawn along by the narrative and was properly staggered at some of the revelations. The plotting was clever, even if the ending wasn't quite what I thought I wanted. I say 'thought I wanted' purely because I'm not sure the ending I had planned in my head worked entirely satisfactorily either!

I also listened to the audiobook - read by Hayley Atwell - which I thought was excellent. I especially liked being able to 'hear' Connie as she was given a very distinctive, quite cold and detached voice, which I thought suited the character perfectly. I'd whole-heartedly recommend the audiobook - although it took a bit of getting used to the shift between past and present without being able to flick back a few pages to check!

I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy dual narrative books with depth and mystery. There is much to enjoy and be intrigued by in the stories of Elise and Rose - plus Connie is an absolutely hypnotic central figure who I - at different times - loved, loved to hate, felt frustrated at and sorry for. The book is a gloriously subtle and engrossing tale and I'll definitely look for more by this writer.

A really great read. The story is set in two different era's and the main characters are Elise,Rose and Connie.After learning from her father that Connie was the last person to ser her mother before she disappeared when she was a baby Rose decides to track her down and try and find some answers. Connie is a famous author and when Rose goes to work for her using a different name will she find the truth of what happened decades before.and the relationship between Connie and her mother. A real page Turner I really loved it even though it had some poor reviews

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

gripping read that kept me awake till all hours but had to know the ending

The Confession centres around three women in different times: it’s the 1980’s, and Elise meets writer Constance. So begins an intense relationship between the two women. When Constance’s new book is bought by a studio and they start to film, Constance takes Elise and goes over to watch her novel become a film. It’s a very different life to Hampstead, and Elise struggles.

We meet our third protagonist, Rosie Simmons, in 2017. She lives in London with her boyfriend, and she’s starting to question their relationship. She seems very discontented with her life in general, and this is perhaps partly because she never knew her mother. Her father, Matt, never talks about her. However, during a visit to France where her father lives, he tells her about the woman that her mother had once lived with: Constance Holden.

When Rosie returns to London, she decides to find out more about Constance. And through a set of strange circumstances, Rosie becomes Constance’s assistant - under another name.

I did wonder how Rosie was eventually going to explain her way out of the situation she had got herself in to, and the resolution didn’t disappoint me. I was completely enthralled by this book: the complicated relationships, the love of both parents and lovers, and the strong women, all made this a really satisfying read for me. A recommended read!

Another fantastic story by Jessie Burton. Burton has a way of captivating the author and fully immersing them in her gorgeous settings.

The Confession is the kind of utterly engrossing book that pulls you in, to exclusion of all else. My children were neglected for a few days while I read it.

The story follows two strands; one, set in the 80s, shows Elise and Constance, whose obsessive relationship is put under strain when they move to Hollywood, where a book of Constance’s is being turned into a film. The other strand follows Rose, three decades later, who is looking for answers about a mother she’s never known.

I loved the characters, especially the older Connie: uncompromising, flawed, unapologetic, playing life by her own terms, and I admired its attempt to redefine the kind of women we can be, the kind of choices we have.

But I was slightly underwhelmed by the end. Everything I liked about the book had to do with its subtlety and understatement, but the structure of the book is a v shape of ratcheting tension as the dual narratives lead to a big reveal, so an understated end would be tricky.

This was my first time reading a book by Jessie Burton. The Confession focuses on Rose’s search for her long disappeared mother. I enjoyed this book in many ways, I liked the dual timelines and became attached to the central characters. However, I felt let down by the ending, it ended on a flat note in my opinion

Back in 1980, Elise meets Connie, a successful author and they fall in love. When Connie's novel is adapted for film, the two of them move out to LA together. But while Connie's career goes from strength to strength, Elise is drowning and eventually disappears.

30 years later, Rose is looking for her mother who vanished when she was a little. When she sees that reclusive author, Connie, is looking for an assistant, Rose changes her name and goes to work for her in the hope that she'll finally get the answers she's been searching for for so long.

A beautiful, atmospheric book which you can easily lose yourself in for a few hours.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

I feel like none of Burton's books for me will live up to The Miniaturist, but The Confession came very close. I loved its gender (and genre) subversion, and although I think it was a little over long - authors do have a tendency to increase their page count with each subsequent novel - it was such an enjoyable, immersive read that I didn't overly mind. The relationship between Constance and Elise was nuanced and fascinating, and for me was the greatest draw of the book, although I know others have raved about its depiction of motherhood. That's just not a theme I'm generally interested in, so the fact that it didn't jump out to me is more a reflection of me than the book.

Burton is one of those authors who could write the phonebook and I'd read it. Luckily, this book was a lot more interesting than a phonebook.

In 1980, Elise meets Connie, a successful author, on Hampstead Heath. They become a couple. Connie's novel is being turned into a movie, so they travel to LA, a world of glamour and constant socialising. But, Elise feels alone and abandoned and makes a decision that leads to her disappearance.

Now, 30 years later, Rose is searching for her mother who disappeared when she was very young, she’s never known her mother and feels something is missing in her life. She sees a job advert, Connie is looking for an assistant, so she changes her name and goes to work for Connie. Will she find the answers she’s looking for? Why did her mother leave? What happened to her?

It captures the atmosphere of the 80’s and the present day perfectly.

It’s a story of love, relationships and loss. I was totally engrossed in the lives of these wonderful characters to the extent I didn’t want it to end. Perfect escapism and I loved every minute.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of The Confession.. This is my honest and unbiased review.

I was a little disappointed at this book. I love Jessie Burton's writing style but to be honest the story itself just failed to connect with me (I found a similar thing with The Miniaturist - I loved how it was written but the plot and the ending of the book just fell flat for me). I thought Elise's sections felt more interesting to me although she is quite an annoying character! Rose as a character didn't seem that real to me, it felt like there wasn't really anything to her character apart from finding out about her mother. The ending I also found really quite disappointing - the book was blurbed as a mystery and so the ending, while perhaps quite realistic, just didn't relieve any of the tension and I wish there could have been some other element to Elise's disappearance that we discover at the end.

There is an understated quality about Jessie Burton’s Confession. The story, developing in a dual plan, back in early 1980s and in the present day, is a slow burner, focusing not so much on events, but on building up the main characters – Constance, Elise and Rose / Laura. I very much enjoyed the free flowing prose and I do think this is an author that has grown which every one of her books. I liked The Muse but I enjoyed The Confession even more. Another reviewer picked up on the universality of those womanhood aspects explored in this book and I must admit this struck a chord with me too.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an impartial and honest review.

Although I have the Miniaturist I cant really remember anything about it so it was like reading a new author........A really interesting and enjoyable book, which was incredibly involving and had me gripped, especially in the last half. A fascinating and emotive exploration of female relationships told through two separate timelines, one present and one past.
Would recommend!

As a huge fan of the million selling novel The Miniaturist by the same author I was eagerly anticipating this. I didn't mind the book, but I didn't think it was great. At over 460 pages, it became a bit of a slog to finish as it was a little too slow for my liking. Feels like it's written specifically for book club discussions and debates.

I really didn’t like this book at all. I couldn’t get into it and struggled reading it. I guess it just wasn’t my cup of tea

I really struggled with this book! It just wasn’t ticking any boxes for me although I can appreciate the story. Enjoyable in parts.