This thought-provoking read raises strong moral questions. Susan Lewis is never afraid to address serious issues in her novels and this one is no exception, with the questions it poses of forgiveness and redemption. It opens with 19-year-old criminal Archie writing to his unknown victim from his prison cell - what has he done that's so awful? The story then cuts to Claudia Winters, her 16-year-old daughter Jasmine and her mother Marcy, as they forge a new life for themselves, under a new identity, in a bid to escape the attention of Claudia's abusive second husband Marcus. Though he's currently serving a jail sentence for fraud, he has a long reach, as subsequent events prove. Just as Claudia and her family are settlng in and making friends in the local community of Kersterley, tragedy strikes. Now more than ever, Marcy, Claudia and Jasmine will need all their strength and courage to endure and survive. Do they have room in their hearts to reach out and save the young man who has wronged them, too?
In her last book, Susan Lewis's protagonist faced homelessness and ruin. This time, Claudia is well-off, successful and popular, as are the new friends she makes - including ex-police detective Andee Lawrence from previous books. And yet there's a nice balance in this book between privilege and non-privilege. Nothing is black and white. Though the Winters are rich, well-educated and blessed with good friends, they are haunted by the shadows of the past: though Archie is underprivileged, he at least has a strong and loving relationship with his mum. And they all have one thing in common - the need to move on from the past. But can they do it together under the restorative justice process brokered by Andee and Claudia's new man, Dan?
Claudia, Marcy and Jasmine would have to be saints to forgive and forget in an instant of course, but the narrative explores their conflicted feelings with such depth and understanding that the resolution is convincing. A strong plot, likeable characters and a thought-provoking theme makes this a gripping read.

What a great read, Susan Lewis never let's me down, another fab story told we'll, with some wonderful warm charecters, loved it

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK for the ARC.
Absolutely Brilliant!! The tension which Susan Lewis weaves in this story simply drips from the pages; excellent writing and dialogue, great characters.

For five months financier, money launderer and fraudster Marcus Huxley-Browne has been on remand and on trial in London. Before his arrest he threatens his wife never to think of leaving him because she'd be watched and he'd find her. They'd been married for five years and he was abusive and controlling so his incarceration was the opportunity for the wife and 16yr-old daughter to disappear and start a new life, but always in fear that they would be found.
Claudia and daughter Jasmine head for the west country. Their disappearance is well-planned, Claudia's mother, Marcy, having sold the family home, had prepared an apartment for them in a seaside town. Gradually they settle into their new life, but always looking over their shoulders in dread of being found. Unfortunately, Eugena, Marcus's sister, reports his wife and stepdaughter as missing and at the point of the police considering digging up the garden at the London home, a decision has to be made - but what of the consequences?

Meanwhile, a young man, Archie, is writing a series of letters from his prison cell. Slowly his story unfolds intermittently as we follow Marcy, Claudia and Jasmine in their new lives, ultimately bringing Archie and that family onto a collision course - because Claudia and Jasmine didn't leave everything behind - they took something which Marcus desperately wants to retrieve..

Now, I'm not going to write any more, you really need to read this. It's emotional as well as heart-breaking and heart-warming. Excellent plotting.
A superb, engrossing read.

Once again we’re back in Kesterley upon Sea meeting some familiar characters, however they are not the main players in this story. Claudia, her daughter Jasmine and her mother Marcy are. Arriving in Kesterley having fled from Claudia’s abusive husband they settle in well and finally start to relax and make friends. Until one fateful night where everything changes.
The story is told in the form of letters to an as yet unknown person and from the characters perspectives.
What unfolds is a story of hope, disaster and forgiveness

An excellent and memorable read that gives a good insight into the restorative justice system. Claudia is escaping from her abusive husband and sets up a new home with her daughter Jasmine and Mother Marcia. The fingers of the criminal community extend and the family are not left untouched. Can they forgive their unlikely protagonist? Their mettle is truly tested in this storyline and the book probably falls between the stools of family saga and crime.
An interesting collection of well drawn characters enhances the easily read tale.

This book had everything that I required, crime, drama, compassion and romance.
I liked watching the family as they rebuilt their lives in a new town and how they quickly settled into the community.
Marcy was my favourite character, I seemed to identify with her, although whether I could be as forgiving as her is another matter.
Reading about the restorative justice programme was really educational and interesting.

I love Susan Lewis. Whenever one of her books takes me back to Kesterley, it feels like coming home.

I devoured this book in 2 days. It was so easy to read that the pages just flew by.

I loved the subject matter. Restorative justice is something I have had a little experience of and is something I feel can do a lot of good for this world. The way it is portrayed in the book is wonderful. As Dan makes clear, the example is not entirely textbook, however it shows how RJ can be done and the effects it can have.

It was lovely to catch up with Andee and Graeme and the other residents of Kesterley.

I really enjoyed the characters of Claudia, Marcy and Jasmine. I also loved Dan, for his calm presence, and Henry for being a wonderful human being. Even Archie was a lovable character by the end.

This story shows the true power of acceptance and of being given some control where you feel you have none.

This book started off ridiculously slowly and I kept wanting to give up. However, the fact that it had received so many 5 star reviews kept me reading.
The plot only really started to come together and make sense around the middle of the book. I’m afraid many readers may give up by then.
Some of the sentiments of the characters were spot on and very relatable. But I thought the book was slightly cluttered with way too many characters and too many names to keep up with.
I would probably give the first half of the book 2 stars but the latter half definitely deserves 5 stars. I’m going to settle on 4 overall.

Liked it but didnt love it, well thought out characters and suspense but it didnt capture my imagination. 3 stars

Forgive me by Susan Lewis was an interesting read based around Restorative Justice and it’s potential to both change lives and heal trauma. It was relatively well handled as Susan’s characters were well developed and very relatable. All except for Archies mum, Maria. I found her characterisation a bit harder to engage with. Actually Susan used vocabulary and street terms with both Maria and Archie which should have worked but to my mind didn’t quite gel correctly. That’s not very constructive of me as I’m not sure how it could be improved but it took something away from the gravitas of the situation and felt almost like the author was trying too hard but hadn’t quite got the turn of phrase quite right. Nonetheless I enjoyed the storyline. A little bit predictable and loose ends all tied up neatly (but I don’t dislike that in an interesting, easy read for a cold weekend. )
Three and a half stars

I have read almost all of Susan’s novels and love the way they are different every time, this time however the story seemed so familiar that I thought I’d already read the book. I’m not sure if she has used a similar way of telling the offenders side of the story before but it was a little predictable.

As usual in my reviews I won't rehash the plot (plenty of other reviews like that, best to read it for yourself though :)

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel - it's a family-based drama, rather than a typical "thriller", but an excellent read. The author has clearly done a lot of research, and it paid off.

The characters are very well drawn - some immediately likeable, others come into their own later, one is instantly despicable (and remains so!).

The plot is well thought out - though I found a couple of things slightly strange (eg: a concert, which would draw attention to at least one of the cast!). However that didn't detract from the whole story, and I would like to hear more about these characters - perhaps a sequel?

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Three females,three generations,move to start a new life away from an abusive husband. The story follows their progress,ups and downs interspersed with dialogue from a young arsonist. Interesting and unusual.

A really well thought-out, emotionally charged story that explores the intricacies of the restorative justice process. It’s not a process that I have really thought about much before but this story has caused me to stop and think about what my thoughts and actions would be if I was face to face with someone who had inflicted terrible harm on me and my family. This story definitely caused a bit of soul searching!

I found this book very slow and could easily have stopped reading after the first few chapters. As it has lots of 5 star reviews, I continued reading in the hope it picked up but found myself just scanning through the middle of the book which seemed particularly drawn out. It was more interesting towards the end but even though it was an interesting take on restorative justice, it was too improbable for my liking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book in truth for an honest review.

This is more a family saga than a thriller but it is a thoroughly decent example of one nonetheless. We meet Claudia as she escapes her abusive husband, along with Jasmine her daughter, ably assisted by mother Marcy. We follow her as she forges herself a new life away from her dodgy husband, as she finds friends in the community she has chose to live in. But all the time, there's a shadow looming. He husband may be currently incarcerated but he has friends, family and associates who would be more than willing to do his bidding on the outside. So, how safe is Claudia really?
As well as this we also have a running theme of restorative justice but I am not going to expand on that here. In fact, along with everything else that happens in this book - and believe me, a lot happens - you really want to just go into this as blind as you can.
This book is incredibly character driven and, as such, contains some really strong characters - and I am not just talking about the three main ones. I'd love to expand on this but there are some people in books that you should meet and get to know when and how the author intends and my favourite character from this book is one of those. I will say that he got right under my skin pretty much from the off and had needled his way into my heart by the end of the book.
Due to some of the subject matter (most of which I can't expand on here due to spoilers) this book is quite emotional. Some rather harrowing events are depicted and the fallout immense. And with the tension of the abusive husband never far away the book could have got too dark but the author manages to keep the tone balanced with other things that occur throughout. It's not all doom and gloom. There's an underlying feeling of hope which kept me going. And forgiveness, as the title suggests.
All in all, a cracking read that kept my attention throughout and left me with plenty of food for thought at the end. It'd definitely make for a great book-club read.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I found this quite slow and had to really force myself to keep going. It was only when I read so many positive reviews that I was curious enough to continue and see what everyone else had enjoyed!

I liked the characters well enough, especially Jasmine. I felt she was a very realistic teenager! I wasn’t keen on the way Maria was written- especially with her speech. It just seemed a bit unnecessary. In a lot of ways I found the whole story quite predictable.

It was a perfectly pleasant book but nothing I’d write home about.

You get a real sense of tension when reading this, you’re almost as on edge as the characters. Absolutely outstanding as always from Susan Lewis and one I’ll definitely recommend

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

when you read one of susan lewis books you know you are in for a good read...with well thought out characters and a storyline that will grab hold of you and wont let you put the book down until you come to the end....

this book ticks all the boxes and then some...leaving you in tears and at times on the edge of your seat with anticipation....

not wanting to give any spoilers out but this is a heart warming story against such adverse actions that to even say what they are gives it all away...

but once you start this book be assured you will lose sleep as you will want to know how it all pans out....

cant wait for the next book from this author

A good read with plenty of action and some interesting characters. I liked the way the story was written from 2 points of view. It added depth to the story and made it seem more real.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.