Sadly this book was not for me. This is no bearing on the author, it’s just that I personally could not get into the book.

This is a lovely heartwarming book.
It is a family saga based on 3 generations of women in a family.
I did gel with the characters but found some of what they did slightly unbelievable
I did enjoy the ending and I found it emotional.

The Truth About My Mother follows three generations of women: family matriarch Jeanette, her daughter Judith, and granddaughter Amy, although the focus of the book is undoubtably on Jeanette and Amy. All three women have their own stories and their own secrets, and when a near fatal fall sends Jeanette to live with Amy, it looks as though all is about to be revealed...

I've never read anything by Wallace before (which I now realise is because this is her debut), but when I saw comparisons to Rowan Coleman in the synopsis, I knew I had to request it. And it was good! It was a lovely, easy read, with some drama in both the past and present, yet all of the storylines were wrapped up nicely. Yes, it wasn't really shocking and unpredictable (although there were a few moments that had my jaw on the floor!), but it was a lovely reassuring read, and exactly the sort of book I'd reach for when I wanted something easy, enjoyable, and comforting. The writing was beautiful, the characterisation was strong, and she's definitely an author I'll be watching for in future.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to be provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
The Truth about Mother by Jemma Wallace is a glorious family saga, telling the stories of three women, Jeanette, the grandmother, Judith the mother and Amy the daughter. It is a wonderful nostalgic look at three women’s lives and how they all come together one weekend to celebrate their accomplishments.
Highly recommended

This book was a deep look into the lives of a family and trials and tribulations over decades.
It was a good book with likeable characters, although some of their actions were at times unbelievable.
It was emotional and I found some parts hard to get through at times too. .

The Truth About My Mother by Jemma Wallace is a lovely, heartwarming book to read. I very much enjoyed picking it up and getting lost into the lives of Amy and her Grandmother Jeanette.

The book is a family saga based around 3 generations of women; Jeanette the grandmother, her daughter Judith and Granddaughter Amy. Although Judith's story isn't told to us directly we do gain an understanding of her from Jeanette and Amy's stories but it would have been nice to have heard her point of view as well.

The characters are easy to connect with and I really enjoyed reading about all of them. Whilst I found Amy's stories about growing up and the changes in her life fascinating, I personally preferred Jeanette's chapters where she told Amy about what her life was like as a single mother to Judith. It was interesting to read about how she handled it in a time where there was a huge stigma attached to single mothers and children born outside wedlock and it added another dimension to her character.

I did find some of Amy's reactions to be a little less believable. The way she handles or doesn't handle situations could be a little frustrating at times, but I still liked her as a character and was rooting for her to find happiness.

There are a whole host of other characters which I found easy to connect with. Each have their own little back story and I think all the characters in the book were well written and well developed.

I loved the ending of the book though I will warn you it does get a bit emotional. I really liked how it all came together in the end and how all three women had grown so much closer.

This book has themes of family, love, strength and secrets. It also touches upon deeper themes such as domestic abuse. It is an easy read, a pleasant book to dip in and out of when you feel like reading something a bit lighter. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely lookout for more from Jemma Wallace in the future.

Thank you to Alainna at Orion for my stop in the blog tour of The Truth About My Mother and for my gifted digital copy.

This is an inspiring story spanning three generations of women. And, how family is important no matter what. Each woman has a story and a few lies and secrets (doesn't every family have some secrets hidden away) When Amy's grandmother takes a tumble and has to go live with her, the evenings spent together gives them the opportunity to share stories and reveal things about themselves and others that they may never have told.

I really enjoyed reading about each mothers story, even though they all grew up in a different generation and led a different life. They each had similar qualities, and this is what bonds them together. Even though it takes them a while to realise this.

I am from a single parent family. My mother brought me up single handed, I never had a father figure. And, it's not done me any harm whatsoever. I love that this story proves that the idealistic stereotype of a family with two parents (a mother and father) does not necessarily mean perfect. It shows that if you have a good network of people around you, then you can have a great upbringing. Like the saying goes "it takes a village to raise a child"

All the stories involved were good, I particularly enjoyed Jeanette's memories. The stigma and repercussions she had to go through of being a single mother in a generation where it was frowned upon to even have children out of marriage. The strength she showed was amazing, I think we all need a Jeanette in out lives. Saying that, I also loved Morag, Jeanette's friend. She is definitely a friend for life.

A beautiful story of three mothers. A story of strength and love in different forms.

A pleasant and entertaining read with a cast of interesting and well thought female characters.
It's an engrossing story and it kept me hooked till the last page.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I'm not sure who the title of this book is referencing? Who's mother are we talking about, Brodie's or Judith's? The book seems to focus on the life of Jeannette, an octogenarian about to turn the big 9-0 and her granddaughter Amy. There's a bit of exposition about Amy's childhood, referencing her mother Judith but not much to hone in the title of this book.

I was intrigued with Jeannette's story - having an affair with a married man, having his illegitimate child and living her life in his real family's shadow. It was interesting. Although it was a very fortunate case. The vast majority of women in similar situations would never have had the luxury of a home and regular money as Jeannette did.

Amy was a bit more annoying. I understand the domestic abuse angle the author was going down, however I felt it lacked any substance. It didn't strike me as real enough to believe. When Nick shows up at her son's school, any mother would be quick to protect their child. Whether she thought the police would believe her or not, I don't know any woman who wouldn't report a stranger giving their child notes and leaving them feeling so scared.

I found the ending a bit abrupt. The way Nick just suddenly appears and chokes Amy. Was it meant to be a twist? The moment Amy can finally take a breath after letting go of all the secrets she's held for so long, is when Nick jumps out and strangles her, gets kicked in by her ageing father and then stumbles into the road only to be hit by a car? It's all a bit too Eastenders. I wasn't a fan. I think a different end to that saga would have been better. What about Amy explaining to all to Sasha who in turn tells Magnus who steps in with the right protection? That would have made for better closure of that situation.

I knew Jeannette would die. Of course she would, what novel about generational secrets would be complete without the elder passing peacefully with her life story shared? Again, cliche but the story was good.

It did take a bit of time because this isn't your standard story structure. The climax and twists aren't as exciting as a reader may be used to, but they're not supposed to be. They're real life. Sometimes real life is a bit boring or a bit tiring. That's not a criticism or a fault of this book. It's to be applauded. The mundane aspects of going to work, dealing with stress and going home only to deal with it all again tomorrow. We all go through that every day.

It's an easy book to read in terms of, you can pick it up and put it down as you please, but it won't keep you hooked from chapter to chapter waiting to read the punchline.

This is a story about family in all its forms. Amy is a single parent to Brodie and decided to keep her baby because her Grandmother had raised her daughter alone. The story is about secrets within families and the complexities these bring to relationships.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about this family and seeing the way that they supported each other.

a great family saga each woman with their own story line .very good read .bit of a tear jerking ending so have the tissues ready .

An easy family saga read.
Enough to keep you interested. Flowed better past and present nicely.
Would read another book by Jemma.

This family saga was well written and interesting.

Jeanette, her daughter Judith and Granddaughter Amy find out lots about each other as the story progresses. I liked the way that the author skilfully moved the narrative backwards and forwards in time.

This is not a complicated book, it’s a pleasing easy read and I’m sure it will do well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.