I have read a few books while on lockdown and struggled to get connected but this fantastic book had me escaping from these troubled times in a very welcome way .

It started with a kiss and ended in murder!!

The story centres around two woman Poppy and her mother in law Betty. Both woman have made mistakes in their lives and they both had different coping mechanisms. The society expectations of mothers and wives depending on the times is beautifully explored, and the choices available to woman depending on the age they lived in.

I loved how I never lost the storyline, each character was real to me and the struggles they faced were true to life. I loved Betty the fantastic mother in law loyal to both her son and daughter in law. (something I aspire to do)

The devastation consequences of an affair and how to let go of the past were at the centre of the story line. The decision to stay together in my mind is just as difficult as splitting up and this was depicted throughout the book.

In these uncertain days we have more time to think of what is important in our lives, and not seeing family and friends is one of the most difficult for me personally, so I could relate to both these women love of their family.

Thank you Jane Corry for another page turner and the publishers and netgalley for my chance to review this five star read in exchange for my honest opinion.

I absolutely love this author and this is another fantastic book by her. The story grows and flows naturally and I was hooked! Brilliant

Poppy is a married mother of two, she is a successful working mother with her own business, as you would expect she has the usual stresses and strains of juggling family and working life. Her relationship with her mother-in-law is very strong and you can feel the love they share for one another. Poppy makes a mistake and her mother-in-law is there to support her and help to pick up the pieces. Things aren’t what they seem, and their past experiences come back to haunt. The story evolves and those in the wrong shifts, the ending was very very good. I really enjoyed this, a very good thriller with a huge emphasis on family relationships and how our past can influence what decisions we make in the present.

The story of two women who had both made mistakes in their lives and the sacrifices they were prepared to make to save their families.
An interesting story line but in parts, especially the sections set in the present day, I felt it was bordering on farce.
It did not feel like a thriller.

An easy to read story of how a woman's mistake of being drawn in by hey first love.

After compromising her family and everything she holds important, she has her ex threaten to take all of that away from her.

With a combination of her mother in laws narration of her marriage which is beautifully written gives the book more heart contrasting

My second book by Jane Corry and it was just fabulous !!
This is a story told in alternating chapters by Poppy and her mother in law Betty that has a slow and compulsive build up as we find out more about the lives of these two different women and how they both had to cope with mistakes they made. The characters of the two women were brilliantly written especially Betty who was my favourite character all through the book and I loved her story and her struggles in a time when women didn’t have the choices they have today.
The read was for me one that I couldn’t put down and I loved the the book was set out, Jane Corry certainly knows how to write a story that can grip you from the start and I feel sure that she has written another winner here and one I can highly recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

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

from the first chapter i was hooked...i loved poppy, stuart, and bettys lives as they played out each had a chapter that was either the past or the present, but it was brilliantly written and you never lost the thread of the actual storyline

first love, do you ever get over it...poppy didnt
bettys life is what keeps the storyline going its as shocking as what happens to poppys first love

this story has it all...blackmail, infidelity, stalking the lot

you wont be able to put this one down...i guarantee it

Excellent read. Two stories in one...told by Poppy and her mother in law Betty.
The story hooks you right from the start...when something happens on the underground...there then follows an eventful ride full of twists and turns till the end. Once I'd started it, I could not put it down! An addictive read. First I've read by Jane Corry...I shall be looking for more.

This has been a gripping read which has kept me on the edge of my seat. This is well written with a great pace and enough edginess to keep the reader guessing.
I have liked the characters in this book and felt that the courtroom scenes gave this book extra substance.
However, the ending of this one could have been stronger in order to make this a five star read. I enjoyed it but the ending was lacking something for me.

This wasn't a straightforward story, lots of unexpected twists. Two stories in one makes for an interesting read. Some realistic characters, great descriptive writing and a conclusion that brought tears to me eyes. Fascinating story.

I absolutely loved this, just like her other books it was intense and exciting. I look forward to the next

I enjoyed this book and all of its twists that came with it. I fell in love with Poppy and her journey. Excellent!

WOW! What an absolutely blinding, addictive read. Jane Corry's writing sucks you in from the beginning and you can't possibly stop reading until the last twist has you completely gobsmacked. As with Jane's other books you think you no where the story is going, but in reality you have no clue. The twists and turns in the story can drive you bonkers but in a really good way. It can be a bit confusing sometimes because the story is told in both a first person and a third person way. But as you get further into it it all becomes very clear.
Another addictive, psychological read with amazing characters, a brilliant plot and a shocking ending you won't see coming. I absolutely loved it and I'd highly recommend Jane Corry.

Really enjoyed this.
I wouldn't class it as an 'edge of your seat thriller' but it is an extremely well told story of actions and consequences from two different (but very similar it turns out) prospectives.
It really highlights that the lessons to be learned apply whether it was 50 years ago or today and I found it a really interesting angle.
Great for a weekend or holiday read.

Wow! What a good book! I was hooked from the beginning. I loved reading about Betty, she’s a loving woman who would do her utmost for her family. Poor Poppy, she has the world on her shoulders and everything seems to be going wrong. Can her amazing mother in law help?
I enjoyed reading the ups and downs of family life with all its twists and turns.

An intriguing and curios story line, mainly concerning the lives of the two main characters both in the past and present. It is obvious that a crime had taken place but this is not made obvious to the reader until almost 3/4 of the way into the story. A story line that will keep the reader interested till the end.

Poppy is married with two daughters, a father and a mother in law. She runs an extras agency and is happy with her life.
The an old flame walks back into her life and her life will never be the same again.
Loved this roller coaster of a book. Twists and turns everywhere with plenty of surprises along the way.

This book had me gripped, particularly the last third is sheer brilliance. I loved Betty, her narrative had me hooked from the get go, and I found her story fascinating. We don’t often get details of our parents/in laws former lives, and this showed that there is so much to learn. Then we have Poppy- Bettys daughter in law, making a huge mistake that will cost her. Towards the end I liked Poppy more and enjoyed her story more. A great thriller.

I absolutely loved this book. Poppy makes a mistake by joining up with an ex lover which turns against her. Betty and Jock's life was very different given the way people lived their lives in the 1960's. The mixture of Poppy's and Betty's lives was amazing. I imagine if generations were more open with each other about their lives less mistakes would be made in the future. I would love to know more about my mother's life. The stories really worked well together and could probably have given us more. Another fantastic book from Jane look forward to the next one. Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Books for the chance to read this in return for my revuew.

This was a book of two halves for me, until the very end when I became totally engaged in both stories. Poppy is our first narrator and she has an incredibly busy life. Once an aspiring actress, Poppy now runs an agency for extras while managing a busy home. Her husband Stuart has a time consuming career as a dentist, and they have two daughters, Melissa and Daisy. Both acknowledge that they couldn’t manage without the help they get from Stuart’s mum Betty who lives with them all and, between meditation and art classes, spends a lot of time with the girls. Poppy goes to an agency party and runs into old flame Matthew, who was her lover at drama school. Their relationship ended badly when Matthew started seeing another girl in their year, Sandra. Surely, by now though, they can have a civilised conversation at a party and just catch up like two old friends?

The story is told in alternate chapters starting with Poppy, then going back to the late 1960s/early 1970s with Betty, her mother-in-law. At first I felt more drawn in by Betty’s narrative. We travel back to her teenage years when she met Stuart’s father Jock. Poppy has always thought that Betty and Jock were a lovely welcoming couple. Stuart took her back home when they first starting dating at University. We learn that Betty was in love with Jock, and was so happy when he asked her to marry him. Her dad insists on a two year engagement and Jock agrees to wait. However, once the marriage comes closer, he starts to make demands that change Betty’s life. She loves her work in the department store and often models hats for them, as well as enjoying a social life with the other girls. Jock decides that he doesn’t want her to carry on working after they’re married. He insists she doesn’t need to, she’ll have enough to do keeping the flat clean and besides, he doesn’t want people to think he can’t afford to keep his wife. Betty loves her work, but knows how much Jock wants to get on at work and impress the bosses, so she gives up work. This is just the beginning.

I struggle with Poppy’s narrative at first because she seems to act without really thinking through her actions. It’s clear that both she and Stuart work very long hours, even into the evening. It means they are more like flat mates than lovers, but she hasn’t dared to discuss this with him. Without Betty’s help, they would not be able to work the way they do, and their daughters are losing out on quality time with both of them. Melissa, their eldest daughter, is more likely to talk to Betty than her Mum. Back home, her Dad lives alone and is experiencing dementia symptoms. He has a friend a few houses away who checks on him, but there have been times lately when she’s had to drop everything and rush over there. She has enough problems already, but then as soon as she meets Matthew she makes life even more complicated. In order to get over the embarrassment of seeing him, she has slightly too much to drink. The drink and a sudden snowfall, mean she ends up having to book a room at the hotel for the night. This means she can stay up late and drink even more. Matthew tells her that he married Sandra, but she was diagnosed with MS several years ago and he is now her carer. He makes it clear he finds Poppy attractive, but she resists his advances. She is flattered though, and with her own relationship under strain, will she succumb to his persuasion?

Slowly, we start to see parallels between Betty and Poppy’s stories. As Jock became more controlling and abusive, Betty started a friendship that lead to her own temptation. We realise that she knows more about her son and Poppy than either of them realise. She is watching them grow apart and desperately wants them to fix it. She spent a long time in a loveless relationship, and wants better for them. We learn that Betty longed for a daughter, but that was impossible. When Stuart brought Poppy home she saw a chance to have that mother-daughter relationship she’d always wanted. She recognised that Stuart loved this girl, but also that he probably wasn’t her first choice. Betty suspected that Poppy had been in love and was hurt very badly, so felt a kinship with her. She makes a really wise observation that it takes a long time to fully understand relationships, but when we do, we’re so old that the next generation isn’t listening to us. We become irrelevant. So we’re doomed to see the next generation repeat our mistakes. Betty isn’t going to let that happen.

I liked the way the author ramps up the tension as the novel continues, and it was the need to know what happened next that kept me reading. I knew something terrible was going to happen, and as soon as I saw the new chapter based in a courtroom I was hooked. I wanted to know who ends up in court and what they’d done. I thought all along it was one character, but it was someone else. There are a series of further reveals, around each character. Matthew is lying and manipulating all the way along and I didn’t see full extent of his deception coming. Stuart seems very secretive and it takes till the very end for Poppy to understand why her marriage has been struggling for so long. Betty’s story was heartbreaking though, and I really identified with her terrible situation. My mum and I often have conversations about how different life was for women of her generation, and how much more difficult it was to escape abusive relationships. Women didn’t have the financial independence, plus there were societal pressures. Psychological abuse wasn’t recognised and coercive control has only been recognised in law for about eight years. Pressure to stay in a marriage often came from the woman’s own family, just as Betty’s mother advises. It’s only when Jock goes too far that Betty’s mum actually intervenes and gives advice and support.

My heart went out to Betty, especially knowing how haunted she was by her own mistakes. It’s these mistakes that help her understand Poppy and want to help her, but does that help go too far? I liked that in Poppy’s narrative, Betty seems like a helpful and caring grandma who loves crafts and spending time with her granddaughters. It shows how we often see those older than us in one dimension, when there is so much more beneath the surface. I think the depiction of modern family life is quite accurate, in that it can sometimes take drastic events before we realise we’ve been taking our partners for granted. Poppy also realises that she’s missed out on so much of her daughter’s childhood and she only knows about Melissa’s crush on a boy at school through Betty. This is the terrible dilemma of those of us in the middle - people who have children still living at home and also caring responsibilities for ailing parents. Poppy, and her husband, are proof that it’s impossible to have it all and we all need to get some balance in our lives.