I have read all of Lesley Pearse’s books over the years and as a rule thoroughly enjoy them. However this is not one of my favourites.
I personally love a dual timeline but so did not find that this flowed too week, it was quite disjointed.
Unfortunately neither of the two protagonists endeared me at all.
I found her Alice aggravating and unlikeable, and her mother (though gains some sympathy due to her abusive childhood) is also not a nice character with literally no redeemable features.
This would not put me off reading anything new from the author as like I said all her other novels to date have been great. Definitely give them a try!

I am a big fan of Lesley Pearse and have read and enjoyed all her books and this was no exception. It had me hooked from the very first page following Alice's journey and her mum's life so brilliantly told it just captured my heart from the very beginning.

I can definitely recommend this book and my thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books (Michael Joseph) for this ARC which was absolutely brilliant.

I am a huge fan of Lesley Pearse and Deception felt like a perfect blend of ‘original Lesley’ and ‘new Lesley’. I loved the story from beginning to end, it captured my attention and I stormed through it. Lesley weaves magic with her words and it’s a rare book she writes that doesn’t have me entranced. Her character building is second to none, and while I felt this slipped a little with the multi narrative arc in Suspects, she is back to her best here.

I have really loved this book, Following Alice’s journey, looking back at her Mum’s life, following the trail and clues in learning the truth about her mums past. I was captivated from the very start. This is beautifully written, feeling all the emotions whilst reading it, laughter, sadness and the love between the family.

I would recon this to all my friends, a fabulous read… 5 stars ⭐️ from me

Lesley Pearse is a bit of a blast from the past for me as it was one of the authors that I lived and breathed in my late teens/early twenties and since then my tastes have evolved but I felt like reminiscing and although this was a slightly more modern setting than I remember however the writing style and genre is the same, it was like being reunited with a comfort blanket written as a family drama easy to follow,

When Alice's mother dies and a stranger appears at her funeral asking her to meet up and discuss her mother Sally Kent , Alice is intrigued and arranges to meet up the next day. On finding out what this stranger needs to say Alice 's life changes as she looks into her mother's past and finds that her life is about to change .
I enjoyed reading this book and found a well written account spanning decades. I would recommend this book to readers that enjoy modern day history with a personal theme.

I always enjoy books by this author and enjoyed Deception very much! The story gets going at the funeral of Sally. At the funeral her daughters, Alice and Emily, meet Angus who claims to be their father. This is a complete shock to the girls who believe Sally's husband to be their father. We then have a dual time line where we follow Alice in her efforts to discover the truth and that of Sally so we get to see her story unfold too.

In many ways this is a sad story of struggle, abuse and hard times. In another its a really uplifting story about survival and triumph over adversity! I think this author is so skilled in making what should be a really straight forward moral situation and weaving a story round it that means we really empathise and understand its easy to make judgements about people and situations but the reality is far more complex.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Lesley Pearse. Alice is met at her mother Sally's funeral by a man who claims he is her father. His name is Angus who bigamously married Sally and fathered her two children, Alice and Ellen. We delve into the life of Sally investigated by her daughter Alice.

Whilst attending the funeral of her mother, Alice meets a man who tells her that he is her father. Alice is shocked to learn that Ralph, the man who brought her up as his own, isn’t in fact her biological dad. Alice agrees to meet Angus the following day, and here she discovers more about him and his bigamous marriage to her mother.
Alice always knew there was something strange with her mum, she ever liked to talk about her life before Ralph, and so Alice decides to find out the whole story. Alice’s investigations take her on a journey whereby she discovers her mum’s chequered past and meets many of the people who were involved in her earlier life. As Alice’s trip into her mother’s life comes to a close, she must weigh up her conscientious and decide just how much she will confront her dad Ralph with, and how much he already knows.
This story is cleverly written from Alice’s perspective and as Alice is on her journey of discovery, it switches to that of her mum. There are no massive twists, just a really well thought out plot which is both interesting and compelling.
I was a little anxious to start this book as I really didn’t enjoy last year’s offering from this author, much preferring her earlier work. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am so pleased that Lesley is back at the top of her game.

I didn’t love this. It felt disjointed and there were too many characters, most of whom I didn’t care a jot about.

Alice irritated me as she should never have kept the story from her sister. It would have been a better story if the sisters had discovered their past together.

I found the ‘Sally’ character very selfish. Obviously we have to be sympathetic to her childhood, but I’d argue the trauma her daughters feel from learning her past from strangers would be just as damaging.

I’ve read several of this authors books and I don’t think it’s one of her best. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

I want to start by saying Lesley has always been one of my favourite authors. I have read every book and eagerly await each new one. While this one was very easy to read it didn't seem to have the same depth her other ones have had. Usually, the characters are much stronger and always come out on top. Having said that though I enjoyed the back story of her mother's life.

Lesley Pearse’s most recent offering is the story of a woman trying to put her past behind her and not always caring about collateral damage along the way. The facts of her adventurous life are slowly unearthed by her elder daughter Alice after the mother's death. It emerges that this was a woman who lied about her age, her name, just about everything, and was able to get away with it because she was smart.

The facts about social services in the 1950’s were an eye opener to me. Thank goodness there has been reform in relation to child abuse, although there are sadly still youngsters dying in the hands of those supposedly caring for them.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

After her Mam's death and funeral, Alice finds out that the man she believed to be her Dad, isn't. The secrets come tumbling out and nothing is as it seemed. I am a fan of Lesley Pearce but didnt think this was as good as her previous books. A good story though, and still one that I will recommend

Alice starts off the story by rushing to her mother's funeral, Alice is with her dad and sister Emily at the funeral when Alice spots a an unknown male at the the funeral and go's to find out who he is.

The gentleman's name was Angus Tweedy and he asks to meet Alice and Emily to lunch the next day. Only Alice meets Angus as Emily has children to look after. While having their lunch Angus blows Alice's life open with a huge secret and lie her mother has been carrying.

From this secret Alice decides she needs to know who her mother really was and why she kept changing her name through her life.

This is a fast paced story with lots of twists and turns. Which makes this a real page turner, great read!!!

Thanks to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for chance to review. A light enjoyable read, however I have read better books from Lesley Pearce. Seemed a bit repetitive

At the funeral of her mother Sally Alice leaves her sister and father to approach a stranger. She asks how he knew her mum and his answer changes her world. Not wanting to upset her father or sister Alice decides to meet this man by herself to find out more of what he wants.

The story then begins as Alice is determined to find out the truth about her mother's life. Sally had always been very secretive about her past, especially her childhood, refusing to talk about it.
Alice follows in the footsteps of Sally's life with stories told to her by people who were either friends or drifters throughout it.
Will this give her a better understanding of why Sally was secretive of why she could be moody and selfish ? And will she forgive Sally for keeping the biggest secret of all ?

I enjoyed this book. What a life Sally had led and I still can't decide whether I liked her or not. I sympathized with her because she had had to do certain things become a survivor. The part I didn't like about her is the well named title of the book, deception.
The story did keep me turning the pages as revelation after revelation about Sally's life made me gasp in amazement. She was definitely a survivor no matter who was hurt in the process.
Another good read by Lesley Pearse.

I’m a real fan of Lesley Pearse and read every book she has published. Although this book was interesting I felt a little disappointed as to me it was an average read. This is the type of book you could read at leisure and It did not feel up to the author’s usual high standard. Thanks to Net Galley for granting this book in return for an honest review.

An interesting story where a daughter discovers her mother has kept many secrets from her past. Good characters and a great many emotions as we find nothing is black or white.

Alice Kent has just lost her mum, Sally, to cancer. At the funeral, she notices a stranger who she or her dad don't know. When she approaches him and invites him to the wake he refuses but asks to meet with her to which she agrees. When she does, he reveals he is her real dad yet which rock's her world. She realises her mum never spoke about her past so she decides to delve into it and unravels a life she never knew her mum had with so many secrets.

All I can say is the Lesley we know and love is back. Her book before this was as good as all her others but I absolutely loved, loved, loved this one!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I used to really like this authors earlier books but have found the last couple not so enjoyable. This was just an okay read for me - nothing special I am afraid.