I’m truly honoured that book blogger Yvonne Gill has taken such care with her review of Lyrics for the Loved Ones. Not only has she beautifully articulated her response to the novel – both her reservations and appreciation – she’s shared some of her favourite quotes from the text. I’m delighted that, overall, she found it an entertaining and uplifting read.

Here’s a short extract, but do check out her full review.

I approached this series with some trepidation and not a small amount of angst. However, I found myself becoming lost in a world where the characters took over from the very first page, to the final word, with me very much on the outside, looking in and eavesdropping on their lives. The atmosphere they created through their interactions and conversational, free-flowing dialogue, really lifted them off the page, made them three dimensional and brought them to life.

Yvonne Gill

After half a century confined in a psychiatric hospital, Matty has moved to a care home on the Cumbrian coast. Next year, she’ll be a hundred, and she intends to celebrate in style. Yet, before she can make the arrangements, her ‘maid’ goes missing.

Irene, a care assistant, aims to surprise Matty with a birthday visit from the child she gave up for adoption as a young woman. But, when lockdown shuts the care-home doors, all plans are put on hold.

But Matty won’t be beaten. At least not until the Black Lives Matter protests burst her bubble and buried secrets come to light.

Will she survive to a hundred? Will she see her ‘maid’ again? Will she meet her long-lost child?

Rooted in injustice, balanced with humour, this is a bittersweet story of reckoning with hidden histories in cloistered times.

Follow this link to purchase a copy: books2read.com/LovedOnes