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Can't resist picking up a WBN book when I spot one! Found this in the Cancer Research charity shop in Girvan.

In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for more than sixty-one years.

Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face.

Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

I had no idea what to expect of this book - the WBN cover gives nothing away! - & whatca delightful surprise it was.

All I will say about this book is I LOVED it. Young Esme is such a character (unfortunately for her!) & her tale is both heart breaking & shocking....one minute I'd be smiling at her antics, the next gasping or cringing with disgust & horror at the way she was treated. It's beautifully told in flashbacks & snippets from an old woman's confused memories but I' ve said too much already....

...because I would say, & I know many others agree with me, don't look up any reviews before reading the book , it's something to be read with no preconceptions & hopefully then you'll find it a delightful surprise just as I did.& I'll pass this copy on shortly for a new reader to discover :o)

Passing onto someone whop I hope will enjoy it ;o)

Released as part of the "WHAT'S IN A NAME" Challenge (#26)

Thank you Plum-crazy . . . now there's a statement I thought I never would have heard from someone who reads every last word, backwards and forwards. Twice. before even starting a book - so I will take heed and just read!
Lovely to see you. Hang in there my lovely, crazy mate and I'll see you in a few days.
Merry Christmas x

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Happy reading.

Poor, poor Esme. Locked away in an asylum at 16 for 60+ years for no reason really. Her whole life, snatched away from her, her child, her family - everything just gone for the length of a life time.

As previous reviewers of this book have mentioned, its best to just get immersed into this book without an preconceptions, without knowing too much and going on Esme's journey with her. Along the way, we meet and get to know Kitty - Esme's sister, whom I'm not very fond of. Also her parents, again, I found to not be very nice people. And Iris, who gets the phone call about her great-aunt Esme who she has never heard of and who is being released from a psychiatric unit as the hospital is closing down. This news is of a shock to her but she has to find out if Esme is actually related to her and what to do with her essentially.

The writing style of this book through me initially. I started reading this book before bed and thought I would read to the end of the first chapter.... ermm, what chapter!? There aren't any! But that didn't stop the book flowing, the only difficulty it made for me was knowing when to stop reading. Instead of reading for 10-15 mins, an hour later, I was still holding this little book in the dim light of my lamp ploughing through the pages!

Before starting the book, I'd obviously read the back of it, but I just needed to see how it was going to develop, a thirst for what was going to happen to Esme and how she ended up in the psychiatric unit in the first place. The characters were just excellent, you get a real feel for each of them, how they think, what they are like.

And the ending, I had to re-read it, 3 times actually. Before the realisation dawned on me on what actually had happened!! And to me, it was well written and an appropriate ending for the terrific book.

This will be joining the V bookring.

Taken from the V bookring.

Read this book in a couple of evenings and like others I was appalled at the way young Esme was treated but not unduly surprised as sadly that was the way of those times. Everyone was expected to be conventional and toe the line. Also there was no such thing as sex education which caused problems for men and women alike.

Reserved for Chremajora via European Wishlist Tag gane,

Mailed to another bookcrosser via the wishlist tag game.

Thank you for passing this book on to me as part of the European wishlist tag. I love Maggie O'Farrell's books and am looking Forward to reading this one soon.