Today, I am delighted to be chatting about the latest (rather brilliant) novel from author, Joanna Cannon.

My thoughts

This was the most wonderful, gentle and uplifting of books. I adored Margaret and Derek and it felt such a privilege to watch their story unfold. This is a love story unlike no other. A tale of loss, tragedy and finding the way to carry on in a future that you never imagined.

What do you do when your whole world is taken from you? Forty years have passed since their daughter, Jeanie, disappeared and Margaret and Derek have never had any closure. They muddled through life, doing the best they could but always with the worse possible loss hanging over them. There is something very touching about their relationship and their closeness. You can feel the love between them. We look back at events alongside Margaret as we join her just three months after Derek’s death. Suddenly she is alone and all the people she had loved have been lost and she can’t seem to find her way through. Past memories and heartbreak begin to dominate her thoughts and just when Margaret feels she just can’t move forward a visitor appears – much to Margaret’s surprise – and together they begin to uncover what happened to Jeanie all those years ago. The subject matter is heart-breaking at times but Joanna handles it with such tenderness, humour and sensitivity that it was the most heart-warming and emotive of reads. There were tears and laughter and I thoroughly fell in love with the story. It shows that we often don’t know what is going on behind the curtains of our neighbours and friends. All is not aways as it seems and people can often surprise us if we let them in. A mystery at it’s core but it is also a novel about ordinary people living through exceptional difficulties and how kindness can help bring light into even the darkest of times. A hughly comforting read for anyone who has ever lost someone they love, be it of the two or four legged kind.

I am very grateful for the publisher allowing me to read this on eBook via Netgalley. I shall most definitely be buying myself a hardback edition. It is a beautiful and uplifting novel and has won a permanent place not only on my bookshelf but also in my heart.

Synopsis

MARGARET THINKS HER TIME IS UP… BUT MAYBE HER TIME IS NOW?

Things have been hard since her husband Derek died, and they never really got over the disappearance of their daughter, Jeanie, all those years ago.

Despite everything, they built a lovely life together… it’s just starting to feel impossible for Margaret on her own.

Then one day, Margaret returns home to an unlikely visi­tor, and together they set out to discover what really hap­pened to Jeanie.

Perhaps if you knock on enough doors, you might find another end to your story…

You can find out more about Joanna Cannon by visiting her publisher’s website: https://www.boroughpress.co.uk/contributors/joanna-cannon/

Thank you for visiting Tales Before Bedtime today. I hope you’ll come back again soon.

Happy reading!

Shelley