Portobello Book Blog

I am very pleased that Fionnuala Kearney has taken part in a Q&A session for my blog which you can read here. You can also win a copy of the book, courtesy of the publishers Harper Collins. Just comment on this post before 8pm (UK time) on Monday 22nd June and I’ll pick a name out the hat as a winner.

I thought this was a brilliant, really well written story. Initially, it seemed that it would be about the disintegration of Beth and Adam’s marriage, told in alternating chapters from both characters’ points of view. This in itself was an absorbing part of the story as the reader learns what has happened and begins to form opinions of Beth and Adam. Fionnuala has written a convincing account of how betrayed Beth felt whilst somehow managing to make the reader feel some sympathy for Adam.

And then the first of the secrets is unexpectedly revealed and we discover that there is quite a lot that Adam has been keeping from Beth. Quite a shocking secret has to be disclosed causing more heartache for his family. I thought that the author was very good at gradually revealing the full extent of all that Adam had hidden from Beth and Meg, their daughter, as well as from everyone else in his life. It was all told in a way that was very believable and did have me feeling that I could perhaps understand why Adam behaved the way he did.

Fionnuala Kearney has written so well about the emotions felt by her characters be it grief, betrayal, despair or anger. I am making this book sound like it is all doom and gloom but it isn’t. There are many lighter moments such as Adam hiding behind the curtains to avoid Beth and Beth rediscovering her ‘mojo’ while in America. And the ending of the book was convincing too, with hope of future contentment and happiness for all the characters. I really enjoyed this book and found it a compelling read. It is one of these books where you wonder what you might have done faced with the same situations. An excellent debut novel and I look forward to reading more by Fionnuala Kearney.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper for the chance to read and review this book. You, Me and Other People was published in paperback on 18 June 2015 and you can buy now for Kindle here: You, Me and Other People. 

What the book’s about:

THEY SAY EVERY FAMILY HAS SKELETONS IN THEIR CLOSET . . .But what happens when you open the door and they won’t stop tumbling out? For Adam and Beth the first secret wasn’t the last, it was just the beginning. You think you can imagine the worst thing that could happen to your family, but there are some secrets that change everything. And then the question is, how can you piece together a future when your past is being rewritten?