I found the first few chapters rather slow. The content was painful and heartbreaking, but as the the rest of the family were brought in I became hooked. The characters felt real, if not rather irritating for their neglect and inaction. The description of post partem psychosis was deep and profound. Overall I enjoyed the book, the flow of the speech and the structure made it east reading.

Excellent book highlighting the blues or postnatal depression and psychosis. More help needs to be done for this and this book shows the helpless of people close and also the way they can ignore it and stick heads in the sand.
Lots of plotlines within the book.

I received an advanced copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, it was quiet, sad, insightful and beautiful.

All the characters led such small lives but the author created a wonderfully, intricate web around them that transformed them into so much more. Evie, stuck in a moment so many years before and unable to allow herself to emotionally evolve. Joanna and her 'perfect' life and her neediness. William and his panic and inability to stand up for himself and his family. And Francine, her passion and love, stifled by a family not able to fully embrace her.

Her characters are skillfully flawed and real. Her treatment of post partum depression realistic and soul wrenching. I felt Evie's panic and confusion, her guilt in not being able to cope. Williams inertia was maddening and Joanna's need to control while hiding her fear of exclusion was written excellently. Ellis' prose was delightful to read, I never skipped over sentences and paragraphs to get to the story which is rare for me.

The only fault I can find, which is a very small fault, is that the story felt rushed at the end. There was no big revelation and no neat ending. But, I suppose that's real life isn't it?

This book warmed my heart, it had such a beautiful conclusion. It was nice to have a book highlighting mental health especially post natal depression and showing you can get through it with some help. Lovely story with some lovely characters.