This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green was a brilliant book and I loved it. I am looking forward reading more books by Linda.

Big Thank you to to Quercus Books for the advance copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Even the deepest buried secrets can find their way to the surface...

Moments before she dies, Nicola's grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden.

Nicola's mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola's daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty's garden, it's clear that something sinister has taken place.

But will unearthing painful family secrets end up tearing Nicola's family apart?

The new emotionally-charged suspense novel from Linda Green, the bestselling author of While My Eyes Were Closed and After I've Gone

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Nicola lives in Yorkshire with her husband James and two daughters, Ruby and Maisie. All of her life she grew up with the knowledge her mum and her Grandma did not get on and they rarely visited her grandparents home. Despite this, as Nicola becomes an adult and mother herself, she builds her own relationship with her Grandma. As the novel opens, Betty is dying and Nicola is sitting with her as she takes her last breath. Just before she passes she whispers to Nicola to watch over her babies at the bottom of the garden. Alone with her grief she wonders why, of all the things she could have said at the end, her Grandma chose to tell her this. The only thing at the bottom of Gran’s garden are fairy statues ones that Nicola used to talk to, sing to and dance around. On a visit to sort out some of her Grandma’s paperwork , Maisie finds a ‘fairy’ bone that she dug up next to the fairy statues. Nicola is now sure that on her death bed her Grandma revealed a family secret. Armed with a spade Nicola moves the statue and digs underneath it and as much as she hoped she wouldn’t find anything, she discovers remains of a human skeleton. Despite her mother warning her of to leave things as they are, Nicola goes to the police and reports her find, concerned that there will be more under the second fairy statue. Whose babies are they? Surely no one in her family will have murdered a baby? And why has her mum just cut her out and stopped talking to her? As the police dig up all the bones and do DNA checks, Nicola tries to piece together her family history and locate another family relative who was alive at the time this may have happened. As Nicola delves deeper into her families past, so her life as she knew it starts to unravel , yet she is sure her mother knows something despite all her denials.
Linda Green has written yet another incredible read cleverly unfolding the story through three voices. This ingenious narrative allows the past to catch up with the present and together the reader, and Nicola discover all the family secrets long buried, but never forgotten.

The Last Thing She Told Me was a great textbook mystery. Told from varying different time frames and different people, it certainly keeps you engaged and guessing! Considering some of the points of view we weren't sure who was narrating, was super interesting and kept me intrigued. I'd certainly recommend this, though clear trigger warning for rape and child death.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*thank you to Netgalley, Linda Green and Quercus Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


2 stars.

TRIGGER WARNING: sexual abuse, rape, death of a baby.

I decided that I was not going to of myself at further risk and read the last 20% of this book. While I enjoyed parts of it, the abuse was way too triggering for me. I have PTSD and am rather angry that this did not come with a warning. While I did like her writing and the way the story captures your interest, the abuse scenes were far too detailed. For that reason, I can not give it more than 2 stars.

This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.

The Secrets we keep, and thr stories we leave untold...

As her grandmother dies, she whispers of the 'babies at the bottom of the garden', Intrigued, Nicola embarks on a journey of discovery, to uncover the meaning behind these curious last words

What follows, is a fabulous tale of old secrets and how they reflect on the current world.

A great read, of a sad tale, well written and completely enjoyable.

I love Linda Green’s books and this one doesn’t disappoint again. From the moment Betty hints at her secret on her death bed, you can’t wait to discover what secrets might be hidden in this family’s history.
Although it is a very sad story, with quite disturbing content, I found it really gripping.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for letting me review this book.

A fabulous read from Linda Green.

This was a mystery told from three generations of the same family. Full of tense, gripping moments and many twists and turns the story was intensely exciting to read and the characters were well fleshed out. It was also very emotional and heartbreaking and it had me hooked from the start. I would definitely recommend The Last Thing She Told Me.

Geez I’m a mess!

I read the blurb and how can I refuse this

“Moments before she dies, Nicola's grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden.

Nicola's mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola's daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty's garden, it's clear that something sinister has taken place.”

What comes after is all kinds of things, rape, abuse, guilt, secrets, lies, and more.

It’s hard to put in to words how this book makes you feel but I will say read it with tissues for one. It’s a crazy blend of a lot of things and a book I’ll remember for a while to come.

Brilliantly written & well put together, a must read for all.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author, Linda Green, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Last Thing She Told Me in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Unfortunately, I found it hard to get invested into the storyline of this book. I found it hard to connect with the central characters and found it very slow going. Not a book for me.

Family secrets.

Shortly before Nicola Hallstead’s grandmother dies, she whispers, “There are babies ……. at the bottom of the garden”. Nicola thinks that her grandmother might be hallucinating so close to her death, but shortly after, her little girl is playing around the fairy statues at the bottom of the garden and digs up a very tiny bone.

Nicola's mother doesn't want to call in the police but she does, and they uncover three dead babies have been buried. Two in her grandmother's garden and one in the neighbours.

Whose babies are these? Why have they been buried in the garden rather than the graveyard?

Linda Green’s characters are well drawn. Unfortunately, I felt that some of the storylines running through the book were contrived, especially the family dynamics. However, this is my opinion, and I'm sure that many readers will love this book and all the secrets that are exposed.

Bluebell

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This is story of women from multiple generations of the same family living in West Yorkshire (in fact, the setting is very close to my own home - Halifax, Hebden Bridge and Pecket Well are all within a few miles) and the book opens with Nicola sitting with her dying grandmother. Betty is 90 so her death is sad, but not a surprise, the shock comes from her final words - 'There are babies'...'At bottom of garden'...'Look after my babies for me'. Nicola tries to dismiss her fears but, when her little girl finds a tiny, human bone near fairy statues in the garden it becomes apparent that the old woman was telling the truth. As we discover the truth about these babies we also find out about the terrible things young women have suffered through the generations. The present day narrative is alternated with letters sent to Betty during her wartime girlhood and first hand memories of a young girl gradually realising that her emerging attraction to men is a horror rather than a joy.

Finally, thank goodness, the book group enjoyed the novel on the whole. Phil (who hadn't been having a good week) said it was like reading an episode of Happy Valley - I'm certainly counting this as a compliment as the novel shares the popular (and very well written) series' Calderdale setting. There were a few comments that the character of the main character's youngest child (a rather lively eight year old) was quite irritating - although the general consensus was that, well. eight year olds are quite irritating at times: that's their job. Our main conclusion was that this was a psychological thriller with a very unusual face - unlike so many other we had read with their unreliable narrators living glamorous lives in big city settings, these were very real, normal people living in settings we could get to on a local bus. The fact that these everyday women were facing various sorts of abuse, trauma and shame, sadly, led us to discussions of how real those situations also were.

Loved this book, couldn't put it down! I was totally gripped from the beginning and just had to keep reading another page every time. It also manages to be hugely emotional too, no mean feat for a mystery!

This has to be one of my favourite books of the year so far. When i first started reading it, i thought oh no this is going to make me cry all the way through. It brought back some tearful memories for myself, when we lost my grandma. However, i soon realised that this wasn’t going to be one of those soppy novels and the physclogical thriller began! I found this book so hard to put down and even though i guessed some of the plot and the storyline, i was still so shocked at the ending. I was annoyed when Nicola’s mum wasn’t talking to her but the. I understood why!

This was a beautifully written novel with all the necessary components that make up a psychological thriller. I think this novel will stay with me for a long time. Excellent book. I look forward to reading more by the same author!

I raced through this book in one day. I liked the way the different generations connected, each with their own secrets. And, the way the secrets were gradually revealed.

EXCERPT: 'She said something just before she died. Something I didn't understand.'

'What?'

She said there were babies at the bottom of the garden. She asked me to look after her babies. '

For the first time I saw Mum's face crack. Her eyes widened, and her bottom lip trembled. 'I wouldn't take any notice of her. She were probably losing her mind by then.'

'She wasn't, though. I asked her if she meant her fairy statues, but she was adamant they were babies.'

'She were probably thinking about angels. She used to believe in angels, you know. She told me once her angels would be waiting for her at the end.'

I stepped outside. Maybe Mum was right. It made more sense than anything I could come up with. It was only after I'd shut the door behind me and heard the anguished sob from the other side that I wondered if she might not be able to tell me the truth, even if she wanted to.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Even the deepest buried secrets can find their way to the surface...

Moments before she dies, Nicola's grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden.

Nicola's mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola's daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty's garden, it's clear that something sinister has taken place.

But will unearthing painful family secrets end up tearing Nicola's family apart?

MY THOUGHTS: By the time I got to the end of this book, I was blubbering and had burned a tray of biscuits I was making for the bake sale. I am still feeling rather emotional, and have no idea how to put my feelings about The Last Thing She Told Me onto (virtual) paper.

Teenage pregnancy. Date rape. Illegitimacy. Blended families. Family rifts. Generational relationships. All these topics are part of the book, but definitely not the sum. We learn the story of Nicola's family mainly from her point of view, interspersed with letters from William, a Canadian airman stationed in England during WWII, to Nicola's grandma, Betty. There is also historical input from two other people involved in the story, whose identities are not revealed until almost the end.

I have long had a fascination with graveyards and love to wander the older sections, trying to decipher the inscriptions on the long neglected stones, and wondering about the lives of the people buried there. Now I will also be wondering about the secrets that have been buried with them.

WARNINGS: Tissues mandatory. Do not read and bake without fire extinguisher at hand.

💕💖💕💖

THE AUTHOR: I was born in North London in 1970 and brought up in Hertfordshire. I wrote my first novella, the Time Machine, aged eight, shortly after which I declared that my ambition was to have a novel published (I could have been easy on myself and just said ‘to write a novel’ but no, I had to consign myself to years of torture and rejections). I was frequently asked to copy out my stories for the classroom wall (probably because my handwriting was so awful no one could read my first draft), and received lots of encouragement from my teachers Mr Roberts, Mrs Chandler (who added yet more pressure by writing in my autograph book when I left primary school that she looked forward to reading my first published novel!) and Mr Bird.

My first publication came when I was thirteen and my Ode to Gary Mabbutt won second prize in the Tottenham Weekly Herald ‘My Favourite Player’ competition. At fifteen I won the Junior Spurs Football Reporter of the Year Competition and got to report on a first division football match from the press box at White Hart Lane (I got lots of funny looks and none of the journalists spoke to me.)

At sixteen I embarked on ‘A’ levels and a journalism course at De Havilland College, Hertfordshire, and my college magazine interview about football hooliganism with local MP and football club chairman David Evans made a double page spread in Shoot! magazine (they never paid me) and back page headlines in several national newspapers (only a nice man at the Daily Star bothered to check the story with me).

I joined my local newspaper, the Enfield Gazette, as a trainee reporter at eighteen. During a ten year career in regional journalism I worked as a reporter on the Birmingham Daily News, news editor on the Birmingham Metro News and Chief Feature Writer on the Coventry Evening Telegraph, winning Highly Commended in the Feature Writer of the Year category of the 1997 Press Gazette Regional Press Awards.

I loved working on regional newspapers but by 1998 my features were getting too long and the urge to write a novel had become too great so I left my staff job to write my first novel and work as a freelance journalist. I have written for The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Times Educational Supplement, The Big Issue, Wanderlust and Community Care Magazine. I’ve also had a short story published in Best magazine

I found the writing and working from home a very solitary process so also worked as co-ordinator of the Birmingham Bureau of Children’s Express, a national charity which runs a learning through journalism programme for young people and taught journalism to schoolchildren for the National Academy of Writing. After I moved north in 2001 I qualified as an adult education tutor and taught creative writing classes to students aged between 18 and 82 for the Workers Educational Association across Calderdale, West Yorkshire.

After more than a hundred rejections from agents for my first novel (and more rewrites than I care to remember) I finally got an agent but still couldn’t get a publisher. I started work on my second novel I DID A BAD THING in 2003, finished the first draft and gave birth to my son Rohan in 2004, rewrote the novel and got a new agent in 2005, obtained a two-book deal with Headline Review in 2006.

I Did a Bad Thing was published in paperback in October 2007, made the top thirty official fiction bestsellers list (and number 3 in Tesco!) and has so far sold more than 77,000 copies. 10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love was published in paperback in March 2009, reached no 22 in the official fiction bestseller charts (and no 4 in Tesco) and has so far sold more than 80,000 copies. Both novels were also long-listed for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Following the success of my first two novels I got another two-book deal from Headline Review, with Things I Wish I'd Known being the first of these. I am currently working on my fourth novel.

I enjoy travelling.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

On the day her Grandmother passed away, Nicola not only had to say goodbye to her, she also had to listen to her Grandmothers last wish. This wish being that Nicola look after the babies buried at the bottom of the garden.
It wasn't just babies that where buried there, it was centuries of secrets that blow lives apart and also bring to the fore, sinister goings on.
I really enjoyed this book but found some of the material hard to read at times, although it highlights issues that can and have occurred through the years.