It’s such a pleasure today to be joining the blog tour and sharing my review of the latest book from Beth Moran, Take Me Home: published by Boldwood Books on 13th October, it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance e-copy (provided via netgalley).
Beth really has very quickly become one of my favourite authors, immediately added to my “must read” list without even looking at the blurb. I’ve seen her say that she writes about characters “who know that life can be tough sometimes, but they learn to find joy and beauty amongst the mess, especially when they look for it together” – and she certainly leaves her readers feeling as “uplifted and inspired” as she could possibly hope for, with her books just getting better and better. Boldwood have been giving some of her pre-Boldwood books a fresh lease of life too – I particularly enjoyed the last one, We Are Family, with its wonderfully developed characters, distinctly dark edges, and so much more that made me declare it my new favourite (you’ll find my review here). But where Beth’s books are concerned, my new favourite is so often only one book away – a new one this time, and I was SO looking forward to it…
Sophie Potter’s job is helping people deal with the worst, because Sophie Potter knows what the worst feels like.
An expert at keeping moving, with her trusty motorhome and faithful dog Muffin, Sophie has built her life around keeping her loves and loyalties as few as possible.
Fabulous fifty-something Hattie Langford has kept her heart and past safely stored away too. But for reasons she’s only willing to share with a stranger, Hattie needs to tell the story her family has been hiding at Riverbend, their home in Sherwood Forest. There is a history of heartbreak and hurt that Hattie is ready to face.
As Sophie helps Hattie uncover the secrets of generations of women who have lived at Riverbend, along with the stories of the men they have loved and lost, they start to see echoes in their own pasts. And as Riverbend shares its biggest secret of all, can Hattie and Sophie finally embrace the lives they’ve put on hold for so long, and risk their hearts to men who can break the Riverbend curse?
Having experienced a considerable measure of her own grief and loss, Sophie has built a business helping others, travelling the country in her camper van and tidying up all the loose ends – the paperwork, the house clearances, the family disputes – after the deaths of their loved ones. But her latest assignment is rather different – her client, Hattie, is very much alive, needing her help in sorting through the clutter and memories behind a locked door in the attic of her beautiful home at Riverbend in Sherwood Forest.
Hattie is an artist, and helps others too through her art therapy – but she also has her secrets, and a compelling story to tell. As their relationship develops, Sophie – with the intervention of Hattie’s closest friends who are on their own separate journeys with Hattie’s support – begins to embrace the possibility of her own fresh start, moving on from the difficult experiences in her past and perhaps opening up her heart again.
I totally adored this book – an emotional story beautifully told, the perfect balance of laughter and tears, a tentative romance that was everything I wanted it to be, and the most wonderful cast of characters. As Hattie and Sophie spend time sorting through the remnants of the past, a compelling story unfolds through glimpses of a difficult family history, laced with slowly emerging secrets – and Sophie’s own story slowly becomes clearer, as she begins to unpack her own past, face up to her fears, and look to the future.
Sophie’s journey was an experience I felt so deeply – the depth of her grief and the acute damage hidden behind her professional facade, the slow healing through the connections she forms with others, the joy of her new relationship tempered by the secrets she needs to keep. And then there’s the romance – complicated by the shadows of the past and the impossibility of total honesty, but with an intensity that touched me to the heart. Emotionally, everything about this book is absolutely perfect – some of the story’s twists are unexpected and particularly moving, but the author deals with them with exceptional compassion and sensitivity.
The female friendships that run through the book are just fantastic – the women in the unusual friendship group are just so wonderfully drawn, very real and with their own issues and problems, finding strength in each other. The warmth of their mutual support and love often moved me to tears, while the humour they found in every situation also frequently had me laughing with them. And while some of the themes of the book might seem a little heavy, there most certainly is plenty of laughter – a lightness you might not expect, but always so perfectly judged.
Beautifully written, a compelling story, and a cast of characters I felt entirely drawn to and invested in throughout – just wonderful, and without question one of my books of the year.
About the author
Beth Moran is the award winning author of twelve contemporary fiction novels, including the top ten bestselling Just the Way You Are. Her books are set in and around Sherwood Forest, where she can be found most mornings walking with her spaniel Murphy. She has the privilege of also being a foster carer to teenagers, and enjoys nothing better than curling up with a pot of tea and a good story.
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