Sadly, couldn't get into this one as it dragged on and was very pedantic. Also read this without checking the blurb again, so it came as a surprise to find Isla was sixty-five and I assume her sisters are also that age/late fifties maybe - but they'd been behaving like bitchy, immature little brats at the 'find the will' scene and this totally turned me off reading this as I couldn't muster much sympathy for these characters, much less Isla.

I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

The Long Way Home by Fanny Blake is the perfect staycation summer read. The novel follows the journey of Isla, a 65-year-old grandmother, as she sets off on a road trip with her granddaughter, Charlie, to uncover some family secrets after her mother's death. Along the way, Isla and Charlie must learn to understand each other as they uncover a legacy and gain insights into four generations of women.

The story follows Isla and Charlie's journey as they explore both the UK and Paris in the 1950s. With heart-wrenching secrets, secrets spanning multiple generations, and secrets tied to their beloved family, readers are sure to be immersed in the characters' growth and changing perspectives throughout their trip.

The Long Way Home is sure to be an uplifting, powerful read. Fanny Blake's story of discovery and adventure is the perfect way to spend your summer!

“We are made of the leaves of one tree. The words running around the image of a human hand shaking an ape’s.”

A compelling read

Unputdownable

Filled with warmth and heart

The loving bond of family shone from the pages and I loved the references to the climate crisis.

Thank you Simon and Schuster for the approval in return for an honest review and NetGalley.

This is the second book I've read by the author and I found The Long Way Home to be an enjoyable and compelling read. It's a dual timeline novel set in 1950s Paris where May goes to work as an au pair. In the present day UK, May's daughter Isla has been cut out of her mother's will and goes on a road trip to discover what is at the root of the disinheritance. It's an easy read with an interesting cast of characters, full of family secrets and a twist. There was one storyline which I found a little predictable but it an important and topical subject.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This was my first read of Fanny's and what a fantastic one it was. I really enjoyed the premise and following Isla on her quest. I was very intrigued to find out how it all came together at the end, so was heavily enthralled from start to finish.

The Long Way Home is the first book by Fanny Blake I’ve read but I’ll definitely be reading more It’s a book set in two different times with most of the story taking place in 2019. I really enjoyed following Isla’s quest to find out what had happened, I liked the element of intrigue that it added to the story.
The characters are life-like and believable, and there's just enough mystery to keep the reader guessing. A great summer read!

Lovely story which brings us back and forward England, Scotland of now and Paris of the mid 1950s. A road trip of discovery and many secrets uncovered along the way.

I really enjoyed this book. A bit lighter than my usual read so was quite different in many ways. The story was very well written and really kept me wanting to know more. A few good twists and a nice little page turner. 7/10

This was a brilliant read and is being featured on my blog for my quick star reviews feature, which I have created on my blog so I can catch up with all the books I have read and therefore review.
See www.chellsandbooks.wordpress.com.

I really enjoyed this book it had a bit of mystery of what happened in Paris in the 1950’s.

Isla ends up on an adventure of discovery to find out what happened to her parents when they were young. Isla is taking her granddaughter Charlie on a road trip as there is no one to look after her. Charlie is a typical teenager glued to her phone. We see how Isla copes with Charlie and seems to understand her better than her own daughter.

I really enjoyed this book and kept you guessing until the end.

I really enjoyed The Long Way Home. I enjoyed the back ground of the story about the mother in France and what was happening to then be brought into the present and bringing the stories together. I kept on thinking of what was going to happen but I was wrong in how the mother wasn't close to Isla. A few characters I disliked in the story, especially the sisters but ended up liking them in the end

A beautiful story which sweeps across different countries but also across the divides of generations. Engrossing and real, such an engaging read by an excellent author.

I have a confession to make: this is the first of Fanny Blake's novels I've read from cover to cover. My mum keeps telling me how good her novels are, I've read snippets, and we've chatted at Readers Day at Guildford Book Festival and other events, so I should have read one before now. When SJ at Simon and Schuster kindly sent me a finished hardback copy of The Long Way Home, I was delighted.

My gosh, what I have been missing! If The Long Way Home is anything to go by, I need to immediately read Fanny Blake's backlist. The Long Way Home is one of those stories that I found myself thinking about as I went about my day and looked forward to sitting down to read and catch up with the cast of characters.

The Long Way Home is set between the UK in 2019 and Paris in 1954. 2019 follows Isla's journey to find out the truth behind why her mother left her nothing but a painting when she died. With her reluctant 14-year-old granddaughter Charlie in tow, the pair go on a road trip to discover the truth. In 1954, we follow Isla's mum as she cares for a little boy in Paris.

Fanny Blake's experience as a publisher, novelist, book reviewer and reader is evident throughout The Long Way Home. Her writing is accomplished: it's realistic - not fluffy - yet compassionate and emotional without being sentimental. I liked that. The final two sentences wowed me. The story is well plotted. I love a dual-timeline novel, and Fanny Blake has structured this one really well, seamlessly weaving together the past and present to meet a natural conclusion. 

Fanny Blake has drawn some believable characters in Isla, her sisters, her daughter Helen and her granddaughter Charlie. Throughout we learn how secrets that have spanned generations have shaped the characters lives. I particularly enjoyed the intergenerational relationship between Isla and Charlie. Fanny Blake captures how special those grandparent-grandchild relationships can be. I thought that she highlighted well the digital world that Charlie is growing up in and the importance of conversation and honesty between generations. These themes span the whole book.

I highly recommend The Long Way Home.

Isla discovers that when her mother dies all she has been left is a painting whilst her sisters and aunt inherit the estate. Isla always felt her relationship with her mother was strained but this seems to underline that thought. For Isla that is not enough, she wants to know more about her mother, May.

The only way it seems to do this, is to go back and visit her past friends and relatives and find out what she can about the women she called mother. When her relationship with her own daughter is somewhat strained, Isla is forced to take her troubled teenage granddaughter, Charlie on the trip as well. The journey is as much a turning point for Isla as it is for the relationship she has with her granddaughter and trying to understand life through these young eyes.

Interspersed in this story we are taken back to Paris, Mid 1950s where May has gone to work as an au pair and improve her French, so when she returns she can find a job as interpreter. We discover a woman very different to the mother portrayed by Isla. Soon we find out what perhaps happened to cause May’s behaviours as Isla got older.

A lovely dual timeline story which has at it’s heart family and the bonds that break and bring us together. We are not dealing with young flighty women but women of all generations, of all ages who all have their issues, their demons and their desire for the future. A strong female driven character story that whilst was perhaps somewhat predictable was enjoyable nonetheless.

This was my first Fanny Blake and I look forward to reading some others in the future.

This the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last as I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's a dual timeline story that made smile and moved. It's compelling, emotionally charged and entertaining.
Isla is a great character, a women who was hurt and is building a relationship with her grand-daughter Charlie.
The author delivers a great story and a cast of interesting and relatable women.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A lovely dual timeline story about family and secrets. It was wonderful to hear the story from Isla’s point of view, an older woman, giving a different perspective on life and what she thought of as family.
Her relationship with Charlie was brilliant and I loved how they really got to know each other on the trip.
All the characters were so richly described and added their own spin to the story. A really lovely read.

A book with two timelines, one in 2019 and one in the early 1950s in Paris. The book starts with the story in the past and you follow the young May who goes to work as an au pair for a family in Paris. In Paris she is having a good time, she learns the language, discovers the city and meets Wendy, who is also an au pair, together they befriend two American boys Sam and Max.

In the present, we meet Isla and her granddaughter Charlie, as well as Isla's two younger sisters, Isla’s ex-husband Ian and her new boyfriend Tony. And of course, not to forget, her dog Jock. May, the old mother of Isla and her sisters has just passed away and together they are in the house looking for the will. The will shows that the two sisters of Isla each inherit a quarter of the family estate and their mother's younger sister, Aggie, the other half. Isla only inherits a painting that always hung in her father's study.

After the sisters stop speaking to each other after the funeral, especially the two youngest, they differ greatly about what they would like to do with the family estate, Isla takes a vacation from her work at the museum and goes on a road trip. Via her one sister to a hotel where Tony comes for the weekend, the holiday home where they always stayed in their youth and where she meets a friend, to her aunt Aggie and her oldest sister. In the meantime, she is stuck with her adolescent granddaughter who she would love to occasionally ignore being there.

During the journey we get to know both Isla and her granddaughter Charlie and you regularly jump back to the past for May's story.

The story in the past was completely different than I expected and also in the present there is so much happening to keep you interested in the story.

Characters | Atmosphere | Writing style | Plot | Intrigue | Logic | Enjoyment
C = 8 | A = 8 | W = 8 | P = 8 | I = 8 | L = 8 | E = 8 | Score 8.00 = 4 stars

I really loved this. Loved the road trip. Loved the relationship between Isla and her granddaughter. I’ll definitely read some more fanny Blake books after loving this