What a beautiful book! Heartbreaking … but so, so beautiful!
Audrey is terminally ill and moves in with her daughter, single mom Jess, and teenage granddaughter Mia. It was a difficult choice deciding who she should live with, Jess or her other daughter Lily, especially as the two haven’t spoken for 30 years! But eventually, Audrey is sure that she must live with the child who needs her most. Lily is a successful career woman with a secure marriage and a teenage daughter, Phoebe, almost the same age as Mia. (It’s just such a pity the two have never been allowed to meet.) So Audrey decides that she must live with Jess – who has always struggled, with relationships, jobs, finances … with life in general.
Beckerman masterfully crafts a penetrating and thoroughly credible narrative on the inner workings of a family at war with itself. Her characters are so flawed that one instantly loves them for their absolute authenticity. Just like any family, this one started out with hopes, dreams and plans for happiness and contentment; for a positive and bright, successful future. But as they say … “Man proposes, God disposes.” For this family, it just wasn’t to be. But … is there still time to redeem what seems to be a hopeless situation?
Where did the rot set in? Where did the bitterness, anger, resentment and misunderstandings all build from? The author cleverly builds the tension throughout her story, telling it from the perspectives of all three protagonists: Audrey, Jess and Lily, until you are chomping at the bit to find out what actually happened here? Where did it all go so wrong?
This book has everything in just the perfect doses: friendship, love, loss, fear, anger, strength, belief, and lots and lots of heart. I recommend you read it with copious cups of tea, bars of chocolate, a snuggly blanket, and a rather large box of tissues.
I adored it, and give it 5 very shiny, glittery stars!
About the author:
Hannah Beckerman is an author, journalist, event chair and broadcaster. In the UK she writes for The Observer, The FT Weekend Magazine and The Sunday Express, and is a book critic on BBC Radio 2. She regularly chairs at literary events and panels across the UK and has judged numerous book prizes including the Costa Book Awards.
Before becoming a writer, Hannah was a TV and film producer, spending fifteen years producing and commissioning documentaries about the Arts, History and Science both in the UK and the US.
She lives in London with her husband and daughter.
Thank you to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the blog tour for this.
I’m on the tail end of the blog tour for this, but please take a look at what these lovely bloggers had to say about If Only I Could Tell You …
Jan's Book Buzz 
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