Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for this ARC.

Magnolia Jones, Maggie for short, is in her mid-forties and lives in a picturesque Cotswolds village. Last year she lost the light of her life, her sparkling 23 year old daughter Brontë in a tragic accident. Brontë had excitedly been planning her gap year with boyfriend Harry, now all that's left of it is her beautifully illustrated notebook with travel itinerary and notes.

Maggie had brought up her daughter alone, and being estranged from her own useless mother, Brontë had been her world. Now she buries herself in her work, trying to get a promotion and impressing boss Anna. However, after an incident with a horrible would-be client, Anna tells her to take a three months paid sabbatical to process her grief.

Suddenly, Maggie has flashbacks to a magical summer in Bali 24 years ago, helping at a turtle sanctuary and falling in love with American guy Jackson, Brontë's father. She decides to follow her daughter's gap year plans detailed in her notebook - but only ever reading about one destination at a time. She starts with Nepal, goes on to Australia where she reconnects with Harry, and finally moves on to Bali - again. What are the chances of Jackson still being around?

Five star reads are like buses - nothing for ages then three come along at once. This is such a fantastic, life-affirming book. I have read Cathy Bramley for years and liked her books but this must be her best yet. The writing is immensely intelligent and grown-up, the grief is sensitively handled and is never maudlin.

Maggie's transformation and healing process including reconciliation with her mother feels natural and organic, and I really loved her mature character. It was heartwarming to see her bonding with people on her travels but also with her daughter's boyfriend Harry, and how she encouraged him to find love again. Her "Mum's Gap Year" letters to her daughter are a heartwarming highlight of the book and rightly struck a cord with women everywhere once social media got involved.

This is very much a story about overcoming grief, finding new purpose and getting a second chance at love through the medium of travel. The three exotic destinations are described with knowledge and warmth, making you want to paint with little kids, work in a winery and rescue turtles yourself. I read this in a day. Highly recommended. Also, I've got the beautiful Keane song "Somewhere Only We Know" stuck in my head now.

"When I see all the stars shining in the sky, I imagine that they are all the people who died and whose love still shines down on the ones they left behind."

I’ve read all of Cathy Bradley’s books and this is my absolute favourite. It’s heart -wrenchingly amazing. I laughed and I cried and just didn’t want it to end. Treat yourself to this wonderful read- it’s a 5 star review from me.

What a beautiful read, When Maggie's daughter Bronte talks to her mum about taking a gap year before starting her dream job she advices her to think about it for a week bur after a tragic accident Maggie decides to do the trip her daughter never got to do . As she starts her journey she soon begins to realise that she should have been more adventurous and not been so careful about everything and what she learns from her daughter takes her life in another direction where she finally realises what it important.. I loved every moment of this book and it was a lovely ending even though it was emotional and had me blubbering like a baby a well deserved 5 🌟

Wow what an exceptional read! I was totally invested from start to finish and really didn’t want it to end!
The most emotive, poignant, heartbreaking but beautiful, uplifting and inspiring read ever!
The main character Maggie driven by grief, and an enforced sabbatical from work decides to take on her daughter Brontes gap year of travel, following Brontes journal she takes herself completely out of her comfort zone and we the readers are led on a most exquisitely described journey through Nepal, Australia and Bali! Maggie learns about herself,her grief and more and more about Bronte from the journal and reconnecting with Brontes boyfriend! Along the way Maggie makes new friends, challenges herself, revisits her past, reconnects with old friends and in doing so works through her grief, learns to live, love and enjoy life making wonderful new memories, relationships, career changes as she starts to heal and embrace a new different life.
A truly awe inspiring read that will stay with you long after you have read it and one i would highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley for this early read

Cathy Bramley is a fab author.
Really good book that i will recommend to others. Yet another fantastic book and I cant wait to read her next book.

Book Review: Somewhere Only We Know by Cathy Bramley
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

Cathy Bramley has truly outdone herself with Somewhere Only We Know—a beautiful, tender, and emotionally rich story that lingers long after the last page.

Magnolia Jones is a character who immediately earns your empathy. Still grieving the unimaginable loss of her daughter, Bronte, Magnolia embarks on a journey inspired by her daughter’s unfinished dreams. What follows is more than a travel adventure; it’s a heartfelt exploration of healing, memory, and rediscovery.

Bramley’s ability to balance grief with hope is what makes this book so special. As Magnolia retraces her daughter’s planned gap year, she also reconnects with a younger version of herself—one filled with passion, spontaneity, and love. The interweaving of past and present, especially the glimpses of her romantic past with Jackson, adds emotional depth and a touch of nostalgia that’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

The writing is vivid, filled with moments that transport you to tropical beaches, bustling cities, and quiet reflections. And while this is a story rooted in loss, it’s ultimately one of resilience, second chances, and the enduring power of love.

Final Thoughts:
Somewhere Only We Know is a poignant, uplifting read about finding light after darkness. Full of heart and soul, it’s perfect for anyone who believes in the magic of travel, the strength of women, and the healing power of a journey taken for love. Highly recommend.

Wow what an extraordinary story of love, loss, hope and gratitude! Beautiful, poignant and so very very real!
I loved travelling to different lands on this journey and for me the best yet from author Cathy Bramley! Beautifully written, emotionally sensitive and struck me to my very core.
Maggie is a bit of a workaholic to make sure her life with her daughter is well cared for. When a tragic accident takes her daughter suddenly, Maggie is lost and can only cling to her work but this obsession is not healthy and Maggie is ordered to take time off for a sabbatical. Feeling vulnerable and at sea she decides to follow her daughter’s gap year plan and starts her journey to keep her daughter close and to find herself again.
The adventures and inner journey are brilliantly described and depicted. The story well crafted and quite exquisite. It’s an emotional ride at times, but full of love and hope always.
This book was an absolute joy and pleasure to read…., I will be reading again! It’s definitely one to read more than once!
Totally loved this and hugely recommended this year! This tale is exceptional and memorable.
Thank you NetGalley and Orion books for the early read.

I am a big Cathy Bramley fan but I struggled a bit with this in the beginning . Just did not flow for me but it got better and better. Love the second half . It is a story of finding yourself after the death of your daughter. Some beautiful place descriptions .

Love Cathy Bramley books. When Maggie was 24 she went to Bali and met Jackson. She fell in love but then had to go home with no way of knowing how to get in touch with when she found out she was pregnant. Her Bronte wanted to go on a gap year but died before she could. Maggie decided to do it for her

Six months after the heartbreaking loss of her daughter, Magnolia is struggling to find healing. When she stumbles upon Bronte's travel journal, she decides to honour her daughter's memory by embarking on the gap year trip Bronte had always dreamed of.

As Magnolia journeys through new places, memories of a carefree summer in Bali twenty years ago resurface. Back then, she was full of dreams, freedom, and the intoxicating pull of young love with Jackson—memories of midnight kisses on the beach and a future filled with endless possibilities.

Though this adventure was meant to be Bronte's, Magnolia begins to wonder if it could help her heal too. In the absence of her daughter, can she rediscover the person she used to be? And in a twist of fate, could this trip lead her back to Jackson, the man who once promised her the world?

Somewhere Only We Know is a heart-wrenching yet deeply uplifting story about finding yourself again after devastating loss. It’s about the journeys we take—not just across the world, but within ourselves.

3.5/5.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Thanks to net galley and the author and publishers for the ARC
What an amazing read throughout I thoroughly enjoyed every page through the highs and lows of maternal grief. There were many tears shed whilst reading this book. I will certainly be recommending this book to others I have never read any of this authors books previously but will look out for other books of hers now.

maggie has thrown herself into work after the death of her daughter and not really grieved properly until her boss tells er she has to have a break and get herself back on track.
She decides to take the trip that her daughter had planned but never got the chance to do.
Following her daughters note book of were she wanted to go she sets of to follow her daughters dreams and arranges to meet up with her daughters boyfriend in australia.
Hes been having a hard time moving on to and they both spend some time together and helping each other heal.
Little did maggie no that this adventure to were her story began when she was her daughters age to Bali were she met her daughters father.
Were her daughter had hopes of finally meeting him.

I’d never read anything by this author before but I requested it because she was one of Mum’s favourites. It was really emotional reading about Maggie’s Mum’s Gap Year because although I’m the daughter who’s grieving her Mum instead of the other way around, Mum and I have a very special bond just like Maggie and Brontë and her loss was unexpected too. The author must have had their own experience with grief because there were so many paragraphs that I wanted to highlight because they explain how I’ve been feeling so perfectly.

Mum and I loved to travel and I enjoyed reading about Maggie’s adventures as she followed Brontë’s gap year plans. I’ve never been to Nepal, Sydney (Australia) or Bali but the descriptions were so vivid I felt like I was experiencing them alongside Maggie (especially the turtle sanctuary).

Somewhere Only We Know is beautifully heartfelt with a sprinkling of humour and I’ll definitely read more by this author.

Omg this book was just amazing and heart breaking at the same time.
Single parent Maggie loses her only daughter Brontë after she is killed by a car. Maggie is devastated and struggling to survive so has no option but to take a sabbatical from work. After finding her daughter’s gap year journal she decides to take the trip in memory of her daughter. What follows is a beautiful story where Maggie learns to live and love again while making wonderful memories
Maggie was a fantastic character and I loved her adventures which were so descriptive I really felt like I was there with her.
The ending was perfect but not what I was expecting at all.
Thanks to NetGalley, Cathy Bramley and Orion Publishing Group for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

This is a beautiful bittersweet yet uplifting read about grief and moving on. Maggie was using work as a crutch to get her through her devastation about her daughters death but forced to take a sabbatical she decides to take the gap year trip her daughter had planned and this features three very different but wonderful locations that each help Maggie move forward in different ways. Maggie has quite a strong personality but a heart of gold too and I loved how she braved different adventures along the way, there’s some great supporting characters and good backstory which combines well to produce a thoughtful but uplifting character read with a mix of humour and emotion brilliantly combined.

I am a big fan of Cathy Bramley’s books, and it is no surprise that I liked this one. The premise was intriguing to me, the idea of a “gap year” for Mums has great appeal and I was curious to see how the story would play out.
This is not a travelogue, it is more a story about grief, and finding a way to move through it.
The protagonist was reasonably relatable, I loved seeing an older woman have adventures abroad. I also loved that she was giving some thought as to how to make a positive contribution in all the places she visited.
The mother/daughter bond was explored sensitively and realistically, and I enjoyed the contrasts employed.
There are flashbacks, but they work, the story structure was well laid out and not confusing at all.
My only criticism is that everything wrapped up in the end a little too neatly, and the romantic interest, once re-encountered, was too good to be true-I had no sense of what he was really like as a person. I know that a “happy ever after” is considered obligatory in women’s fiction, but it was a bit too pat for me. I also think the way things fell in to place for our protagonist was a bit too easy- a bit more struggle, a bit more ambiguity about choices would have gone a long way toward making the ending more believable. Overall, an enjoyable read and one I will happily recommend.

Wow what a powerful and moving read. It blew my socks away how emotional I got reading this book. Magnolia Jones is missing part of herself as her precious daughter had a fatal accident and Magnolia is still struggling to accept that her daughter is not coming back. Magnolia's work is being affected so they have given her time off work. Her daughter was planning to travel the world and see the sights, so Magnolia decides to go on the trip through her daughters eyes. But Magnolia is not young anymore can she really do this and will it bring her a little closure and comfort that she needs. It was a heart breaking and emotional read that deals with grief and courage and I loved the way Magnolia turned it around. Cathy's writing is very detailed and powerful. It was such a beautiful read.

Cathy Bramley is a fab author.
Really good book that i will recommend to others.

Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

What a book! this book made me feel all the feels. As someone who has dealt with loss quite a bit I could relate so much to the pain our MC was feeling. I was heartbroken over get for the loss of her daughter. It was such a beautiful book of rediscovering life after loss and experiencing love along the way while never letting go of the love that was lost. It remains with you forever. Love never dies.