This book is powerful! It is gripping throughout and the alternation between part and present works beautifully, keeping you hooked and showing how intertwined the stories are.

Adoption is often thought of as a positive experience but this book looks at the reality, the heartbreak adoption can cause for the child, the birth family and the adoptive family.

The story of Alice and Luke is made harder by the mental health issues that often seem to come with creative genius.

The characters in this book are so vivid and real that you cannot help but be drawn into their world. The emotions are raw and somehow everyone’s perspective is valid and equally well written.

A heartbreaking but beautiful read.

I absolutely loved this book. Going backwards and forwards from the 70s/80s to now, we get two stories - Luke (the adoptee) and Alice (the mother) before and after Luke's birth.

They eventually meet up when Luke is older, he is now happily married to Hannah and they have a new baby Samuel. At the outset, Luke and Alice get on amazingly well even though Luke knows very little about his earlier years and Alice is not giving him much information. Luke introduces Alice to her newborn Samuel whom Alice takes to immediately, so much so that they ask her to look after him while himself and his wife Hannah are at work. Seems like a fantastic arrangement...

Loved the writing, the descrptions and the story througout. A fantastic moving storlying touching on family, adoption, mental health and how your upbringing can affect you in later life. With a few twists thrown in to keep things exciting. Have the tissues at the ready!!

Very powerful, very moving and very unpredictable. Loved this book I love to be kept on my toes and guessing and this is just what this book did.

I’ve never mourned a character from a book before, but I felt so sad with the end of the book. It was beautifully written, and never a boring moment. I was entranced right until the end. Fantastic book and will be recommending to friends.

Although I wouldn’t have said this is a psycho thriller, I absolutely loved this book! I thought the storyline was very powerful and although the ending was a little predictable I thought there was just the right amount of suspense to keep you reading. Highly recommended.

Luke was adopted when he was just a few weeks old. Now a new father himself, he is keen to build a relationship with his birth mother, Alice. With his wife, Hannah, due to return to work, the couple are looking for an au pair to take care of their baby son, Samuel. When a friend suggests they ask Alice, it seems they've found the perfect solution.

But Luke isn't prepared for how he's going to feel when Alice starts bonding with his son. As he struggles to control his jealousy, he also begins to realise that he doesn't really know anything about Alice at all. As Luke's emotional state deteriorates, he starts to question not only whether he can trust his birth mother, but also whether he can trust himself...

This book is absolutely not what I was expecting. From the cover and the description, I was expecting a psychological thriller in a domestic setting. THIS BOOK IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. It has elements of domestic thriller, more than that, it's a beautifully written and tightly plotted novel with themes of love, family, redemption, grief, and mental health. It's a split narrative, which I love, with one part of the story following Alice in her youth, leading up to the point where she gives Luke away for adoption, and the other in the present, with Alice and Luke struggling to form a meaningful connection.

I loved the characters, and the author wrote them so brilliantly - as a reader, I really felt for them, and invested in them, and I think it takes such a deft touch to write sympathetic characters. The character of Alice, for example, was particularly complex - in the sections set in the present, it would be easy to find her an unlikeable character: she's quite closed off, we're not sure what her intentions are, and she doesn't seem all that interested in the son she gave up for adoption. But when you marry that character with the Alice from the past, she becomes heartbreakingly real and flawed, and you develop a real understanding and sympathy for her.

There are some big themes and issues in this novel, all of which are dealt with masterfully and sensitively. No spoilers, but I will say that you might need the tissues for this one. By the end,I was feeling all of the feelings! It takes a brilliant writer to sweep you along the way I was swept along when reading this book. I felt raw and broken in places, but it wasn't a bleak book - I was left with a feeling of hope in the end, even as I was weeping into my pillow.

I loved Clare Empson's first book, "Him", so I was really looking forward to her second novel, but was worried I might be disappointed in it, that it couldn't live up to the first one.

Guys: it was better. Read it, read it, read it. One of my books of the year, without a doubt.

Thank you to NetGalley, who provided me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Told in alternating flashbacks between the present and the seventies this story traces the development of the relationship of Luke, Alice and Luke’s son. Alice gave Luke up for adoption as a student. The characters are sympathetically drawn and the short chapters pacy and well written. It is not a conventional thriller but nevertheless makes for compelling reading. I quickly became involved and really enjoyed this book.

Than you net galley for giving me the opportunity to read an early edition of this rather sad book.
Luke is adopted, and all.his life he felt he never really belonged anywhere.
Luke is also. Very angry why his mother gave him up,for adoption, did she not love him.
He also felt he never belonged with the family who adopted him.
He had a baby with his girlfriend, and then met his real mother.
From then on things got very hard for Luke, and he wanted answers why he was adopted.
This was an enjoyable story, and a insight to how an adopted child really feels.

This is a really good psychological thriller which has been very cleverly written. The story comes together piece by piece with a really good ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I loved this book. It is so much more than a psychological thriller
This book was beautiful haunting emotional and so addictive
This was a total page turner
Can’t wait for more from this author

Such a heart wrenching story. The characters are believable and from the onset, you just cant wait to see if it works out for them. Set in both the seventies and present day, the way the story jumps from one to the other yet intertwined makes it one of the best reads ever. Can say hand on heart I challenge anyone not to love this book. An emotional shelter shelter.

Not a thriller as such but nevertheless I was on tenterhooks the whole time whilst reading this. A very sensitive and interesting take on giving up a child and the effects of adoption. Set from 2 pov's and 2 different time lines it follows the story of Luke who was adopted as a baby and who's now all grown up and has a baby of his own. At times I found it searingly heartbreaking for all the players concerned - and indeed the ending was a tear-jerker. I don't want to give the plot away but this was such a good read . Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is an excellent read, well plotted and executed well. It flowed seamlessly and I really enjoyed it.

I absolutely loved the aunthors first book, him, and could not wait to read this book when I saw that it was due out

This book did not disappoint at all. In fact it was so much better than her first

I loved the short chapters and the timeline that went from the 1970s to 80s and 00s. they kept the reader engrossed into what actually happened to Alice

I loved this book and devoured it in two sittings.

Thank you!

On the surface, Luke and his girlfriend Hannah seem to have a perfect life. He's an A&R man, she's an arts correspondent and they are devoted to their new-born son Samuel.

But beneath the gloss, Luke has always felt like an outsider. So when he finds his birth mother Alice, the instant connection with her is a little like falling in love.

When Hannah goes back to work, Luke asks Alice to look after their son. But Alice - fuelled with grief from when her baby was taken from her 27 years ago - starts to fall in love with Samuel. And Luke won't settle for his mother pushing him aside once again...

Whew. Man, this one was just not a book I could finish, It just seemed everyone was a hot mess. I thought Luke was way too gullible. So, sorry everyone, I could not say it was a brilliant read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy for review.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Orion Publishing Group for the ARC.
This was an emotionally-charged read. Told between now (2000) where Luke is meeting his birth mother, Alice, for the first time and then (1972/3) where we learn of Alice's life in the early 70s - she and BFF Rick as art students in London, the artists' scene, the music scene and all excesses of that time. Gradually we learn of the circumstances where Alice is forced to give her child up for adoption - only she shies away from answering Luke's pressing questions.
Luke and partner Hannah have a 3 month-old son Samuel - having his own son, and with pressing encouragement from Hannah, Luke traced Alice and learned that his father was a famous and wealthy artist, Richard Fields. Richard and Alice are still inseparable friends.
Hannah works as arts correspondent on the Times and is torn between returning to work and being home with Samuel. Although Christine, Luke's adoptive mother, has offered to look after Samuel, they felt her parenting methods were at odds with their own.
Alice becomes introduced to Hannah and Samuel and under the pretext that she's an au pair, Alice takes on that role to allow Hannah to return to work. Things become rather tricky as Luke begins to feel jealous of the relationship Alice has with Samuel - after all HE is her son and as yet they had spent very little mother-son time together.
The emotional turmoil takes its toll on Luke - there are secrets and lies to be revealed, heartbreak amongst them.

There's little twists throughout the story and in all honesty I did rather begin to guess part of the scenario, but that didn't detract from this being an absorbing, poignant and interesting story.

Highly recommended.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

More of a character driven sobfest than a thriller, I could not put it down. It’s not particularly escapist, a lot of alcoholism and mental illness, but enjoyable. Enjoyed reading about the 70s UK art scene

A thrilling and heartfelt story; draws you in very quickly and doesn't let go. Excellent character development. Highly recommended!