Here’s a taster of a lovely new review of Lyrics for the Loved Ones. Click the link below to read the full review.

Anne Goodwin has the knack of striking that balance between injecting an element of lightheartedness into the narrative without diffusing the gravity of the situations. Neither does any one thrust swamp another. It’s well judged. It’s thoughtful work that enables us to react to some of the world’s craziness and immorality alongside the characters in the book.

Gill @ Bookphace

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