Written with so much sensitivity and courage.

Loved every sentence, telling true, personal stories that have been hidden for decades takes guts. An admirable piece of writing, beautifully narrated too!

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Extraordinary story – you'll be moved and uplifted

Superbly written and extraordinarily moving. Listening to this had a powerful impact on me – you will not have heard a story like this before. It grabs you and won't let go. Helen Garlick's writing is fluent, touching and poetic; and at the end we are left with an uplifting message. A terrific buy.

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Wonderful read full of honesty

Loved Helen's narration on her book. The story brings you inside Helen's family and the secrets. Every family has secrets but not many people are brave enough to put pen to paper and tell. Wonderful Read

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A beautifully written book

This book is brilliant. I loved it.
so beautifully written, with heartfelt stories that capture a tragic event and how it affects the lives of friends, family and beyond.

Read by the author it makes it even more beautiful, with her gentle humour, and sadness flowing through.

This book will make you think, it will inspire you.
I've listened to it twice already and I know I'll listen again.

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I’m not sure what to make of this book

I saw an article in the Waitrose magazine about the author and on the back of that decided to download the audible version of this book. It was read by the author, whose voice was ok, although not the best I’ve heard. The story promised a lot as it got going, however to my mind it never really delivered. Although it is undoubtedly heartbreaking and life changing to lose one’s brother in such sad circumstances, I’m not really able to define what the author was trying to say. She spoke about the family dynamics and the personalities within it, but didn’t seem to hold herself under the same microscope she held on others. The revelations that came out of reading her late Mother’s letter, appear to irritate her, not least because she felt she should have been told earlier. She promotes ‘talking’ as a therapy which is a positive, but only if people want to share. Presumably her brother and Mother didn’t want to ‘share’ and her sense of injustice over this is irritating. Mother’s are aloud to have lived their own lives and keep their own secrets. Other people don’t live to serve our needs entirely and the author comes across as a little trite to be honest. Overall the story was a bit lack lustre and to be honest I found myself adding my own conclusions (do we know if her brother’s friend Nick actually had homosexual tendencies?) The only thing that surprised me about this book is that all the paths created by the author, didn’t actually lead to where I thought they would! I’ve heard worse, I’ve heard better!

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1 person found this helpful