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Holly
5.0 out of 5 stars New author to me and very impressed
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2016
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My streak of reading really good books lately continues with this one. I took a chance when this was on sale awhile back since the story sounded intriguing and the cover art drew me in. The story revolves around the Bird family who inhabits a comfortable home in the Cotswolds. The mother, Lorelei, is full of a youthful exuberance that seems to be more childish than childlike at times. The four children are raised in this "perfect" family, but the cracks in the foundation are felt even when not yet seen. Told in the present day when the family is coming together to bury Lorelei, there are flashbacks to events over the years along with emails Lorelei has been exchanging with a friend she met online which give a glimpse into her final weeks.

There is a feeling of tension and suspense as the reader tries to piece together what has transpired to change this family from a close-knit one to a family geographically scattered and emotionally estranged.

A great read that is hard to put down once started. Subject matter of hoarding is explored with sensitivity and a lack of sensationalism that I very much appreciated. Loved it from beginning to end.
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lawyeraau
HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER
5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS I HAVE READ THIS YEAR...BRAVO!...
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2017
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This was one of the best books that I have read this year. Beautifully written, it introduces the reader to the Bird family who live in a picturesque village in the Cotswalds in a charming house. The slightly eccentric Lorelei lives there with her husband, Colin, with their four children. They appear to lead an almost idyllic existence, happy in each others company. They even have an ongoing family tradition: annual Easter egg hunts. They seem to be an almost enviable family, until one day something happens that will change each of their lives profoundly.

How their lives change and what happens to them and why is revealed slowly and inexorably.The author expertly and delicately peels the layers back for the reader, advancing the heartbreaking family drama that unfolds. Central to it all is Lorelei, whose life goes so out of control that she is unable to help her husband or her children, much less herself. This book is a sensitive look at why people end up as they are. Sometimes, they end up as collateral damage, when their mother finds herself unable to cope with the unkindest cut of all.

This is a a sensitively drawn portrait of a family in so much pain, it goes off the rails. It is about how its individual members find ways of coping with that pain, even if they do not fully understand how or why they got to that point in the first place. The author brilliantly brings it all to a head in the final denouement that makes the reasons for all that happened to this family come together in one moment of startling clarity. Bravo!
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Seeker of Truth
4.0 out of 5 stars She nailed the mindeset of a hoarder but....
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2019
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She nailed the mindset of a hoarder. Good writing there. And the way she wrote the eldest daughter was very good too. Usually there is one within a family trying to fix the parent and the mess the parent creates, sadly to no avail in most cases. Hoarding is one of the most impenetrable problems in all of mental health. Hoarders have a lot of righteous indignation and often place more value on their things, than their loved ones. There is a lot in this book that is great, but I think the author could have made deeper and more direct connections to how the hoarder effected all the children and husband. She had most of the kids and the husband basically shrugging their shoulders over the mother's hoarding. I think she could have done better at show casing the horrific social implications for the children and husband in terms of being blamed, chided and ostracized by others in the community. I did like the way the hoarder seem to get away with it. Everybody loved the hoarder in town. It is odd but I have seen this happen. the hoarder gets off unscathed while everyone else in the family pays for the sins of the hoarder. This may be due to the ability of the hoarder to charm and manipulate and make others fall under their spell. Make no mistake about it, somebody has to pay for the hoarders mess. And that is usually the spouse and the children, and it is tragic for them in a social sense. But the hoarder has no caring about that. As I said before, they care more for their hoard than they do their family members, though they talk a good game about loving others. Personally, I would call this type of situation child abuse and would like to see more done to ensure that children are protected from parents like her!
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Book Worm
1.0 out of 5 stars Implausible, slow and boring.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 29, 2018
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I've now read four Lisa Jewell novels, which have ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. Very hit and miss. I've enjoyed two, and really disliked two. The one I've enjoyed most was Then She Was Gone, and this one has to be by far the worst. A story about a family of misfits, not one of them even remotely likeable, except for Tia. She was the only one I had any feelings for whatsoever, and I felt sorry for her. I couldn't have cared less for the rest of the irritating bunch. The thin plot is ridiculously implausible, but the hint right through, almost, of a dark secret turned out at the end to be a damp squib that most people would have sorted out and forgotten about. As for the issue between the two sisters, I cannot for one moment believe that forgiveness would ever have been given. Indeed, I know of a family where this happened, and many years on, the bitterness is as alive and kicking as at the outset. The plodding, slow pace was reminiscent of trying to work my way through War and Peace, and the jumping between times and places was unutterably confusing. The only good thing about this book was that it is well written in terms of grammar and spelling, and The End. It's really put me off reading anything further from this author, it's just too much of a lucky dip.
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H
5.0 out of 5 stars A startlingly personal read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2020
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Wow!
I can see why some readers might find the events of this book unbelievable but for me they were spot on.
As I read through the novel there I was. I am Megan; always trying to sort out my mum's mess, failing miserably and feeling constantly guilty. I have moved 200 miles away from my childhood home to save my sanity. I love my mum but I cannot deal with the apathy and squalor.
Since reading the novel I have concluded that, like Loreli, my mum is a narcissist - Lisa Jewell doesn't label her as such but as I was reading it became clear to me; the expectation that everything would and should be done for her. Everyone bending to her needs because in the end it's just easier - I've been there.
My sister is Beth; she is 55, still lives at home and has never had a relationship. She has always felt she cannot leave mum on her own. She has sacrificed her own life and exists in a quasi fantasy world where she believes she is intellectually superior to everyone else and just chooses to be 'quirky'.
They live in a world of their own making - for example the kitchen ceiling collapsed 3 years ago as neither had the wherewithal ago to source a plumber when a leak appeared in the bathroom above 2 years prior to that (even though they had insurance to cover it). They never even cleared the debris up. They waited 3 years for social services to do it.
The novel was so close to my experiences that I was hoping for an answer at the end but, of course, there wasn't one. There isn't an answer; my mum was damaged, through her own set of personal circumstances. Her behaviour is her response; her survival mode if you like.
Our dad left home when I was 10. I don't know if he left my mum because she was like she was or she became that person because he left. Whichever, the damage is done - to me and my sister.
I could go on but this is not my story I just wanted to illustrate that people do live like this and the fallout is traumatic.
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Bluecashmere.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating characters, driven together and apart.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2020
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This book is quite different from other of Lisa Jewell’s novels. Recently, I have read: ‘I Found You’, ‘Then She Was Gone’, ‘Watching You’ and ‘The Family Upstairs’, all psychological thrillers, all extremely well -written. Some readers have been disappointed that crime is not the central issue here and miss the suspense that characterises that genre. There is certainly no lack of psychological insights in this novel, which I found every bit as satisfying as the later novels I refer to.

Lisa Jewell’s great accomplishment is her portrayal of credible and interesting characters. It is here more than anywhere else that she excels. Many crime thrillers have cleverly contrived plots, but because the people involved never come palpably alive, it is often difficult to become actively engaged with what happens to them.

Here, all the focus is upon a single family, the Birds. The parents, Lorelei and Colin have four children: Megan, Beth and twin sons Rory and Rhys. Two other characters in particular feature strongly within the family circle, Vicky and her children, neighbours, and the enigmatic Jim. At the heart of everything is the mother, Lorelei, an increasingly eccentric character who over many years exercises her influence upon her children via a variety of stratagems. Each of this group is fully realised and distinctively unique in their own ways. Much of the skill of the novel is the way in which Jewell keeps interest alive in each of the members of the family, via both incident and dialogue, while at the same time never losing her focus on the family as a whole.

She combines great subtlety and feeling with a forward momentum that rivals many a crime thriller. A powerful novel, original and memorable. I recommend it.
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R M Arthan
1.0 out of 5 stars WORST BOOK I'VE EVER READ & I'VE READ PLENTY
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2020
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First book I've read by Lisa Jewell and probably be my last. This is by far the worst book I've ever read and I've read plenty. The most boring, unimaginably lack of a plot or stortline book I've ever read, don't know how I managed to stick with it to the end. It jumped from one period to another causing confusion, storyline and plot minimal and hint of a possible scandal/shocker turned out to be nothing more than a damp squid and gad to wait right till the end to find that out. Everytime I was about to give up, there appeared to be a tiny spark of interest, which fizzled out very quickly. I've never been so bored reading a book as I was over this one and feel those people who have given it four and five stars can't have read a decent book before and I feel I need to send them a list of some really good books to try. Either that or they are very easily pleased and/or are family members or friends of the author? I'm annoyed about the hours I've wasted reading this book and only hope my review can help to save other readers from the same terrible fate. Please please please give this book a wide birth.
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Cate Hamilton
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful storytelling and character portrayal at it's best!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2018
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Lisa Jewell's characters are all so authentic and individual. She manages to draw the reader into the lives of even those that perhaps we'd find even a little off-putting at first glance. However, the detailed portrayal of the nuances of feeling and the events in the lives of the family make behaviour many of us might find to understand more comprehensible to a point where our sympathies cannot be withheld. Masterful storytelling and character portrayal at it's best!
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