Another great book from Jane Corry that tells the story of Ellie, a young girl whose new stepmother makes her life a misery once baby Michael arrives. She tells her story of growing up and being responsible for looking after Michael and blamed for everything that goes wrong. It also tells of her in adulthood and her new life with husband Roger and her own two children.
The story also tells of Jo, a homeless lady who moves from town to town and is clearly hiding from someone and convinced that people are after her.
The two characters seemingly have no connection but as the tale unfolds it all becomes clear and keeps you turning the pages right up to the end.

This book certainly pulls at your heartstrings. You can not help but feel compassion for the main characters.
Jane Corry certainly has a hit on her hands with I Looked Away.

I loved this book as it was so different. It kept me on the edge trying to resolve the issue of Jo and Ellie but the ending made everything so clear. The chapters are well labelled allowing the pathways of both these ladies in a clear and logical manner. The research and knowledge of the subject of homelessness, trauma and controlling people was clear throughout the book but the final letter to the reader from Jane firms the basis of this so well. Jane Corry is certainly an author to follow closely.

Another page turner from Jane Corry who, for me, delivers characters, plot and pace in spades.

There’s so much here that’s so plausible. Life can turn from one split second to another and it’s so easy to identify with the appalling consequences of that momentary lapse of attention. Most of us have been there, but usually without such devastating loss. And from that premise, the author takes it just one step further and leaves the reader wondering about the truth.

Absolutely loved this. I’m only sorry I’ve finished it and gave to wait for another. My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

Another brilliant book from Jane Corry A well written story that pulls on your heart strings, great characters and a believable storyline.

This is a gripping story that draws the reader in from the very beginning, i found myself gripped right till the end, you do however have to keep focused as in some parts it get confusing,too much happening at once, but i did enjoy this book and will be checking out her other books

This is the first book I have read by Jane Corry and what an amazing story to start with! I was struggling with the book that I was reading so changed to this book and got straight into it. The book is written like a diary account so tells you whose account you are reading, either Jo’s or Ellie.

Ellie is a grandmother to Josh and loves him very much. She looks after him for her daughter Amy and this gives her a lot of pleasure. The only thing that stops her being truly happy is her husband’s affairs and there have been many over the years they have been married.

One day, she is happy and walking in the village when she spots her husband’s last mistress, Carole. She is buying a Big Issue magazine from Jo, the homeless woman. Ellie has got to know her a little bit by speaking to her and giving her the odd extra bit of money when getting a magazine. She drops her purse and her loose change goes everywhere. As she bends down to pick it up, Carole stands over her and whispers “I thought you should know, we’re still seeing each other. Roger wants me to be part of the family. Is your grandson enjoying his new playhouse?” “Leave me alone! You’re a liar”, Ellie replies shakily.Then she flounced off and disappeared up the high street.

When Ellie gets home, Roger lets her know that they are having Josh for a bit as their daughter has something that she needs to do. He has just said this when there is a knock at the door and then Josh is in her arms and smothering her with kisses. He wants to play cricket outside so out they go. Ellie sees that Roger is on his mobile and getting angry so tries to enter the house but the door is locked. He ends the call and puts his mobile away then opens the door. Ellie says “It was her, wasn’t it?” They argue, then suddenly Ellie remembers Josh. She runs back outside and tries to find him but he is nowhere in the garden. Then she finds a hole in the fence and climbs through to see a little red t-shirt in the pond. Her life will never be the same again.

Jo is a homeless woman who has been on the streets for sometime and moved around a lot. She has learnt to look after herself on the streets and is no stranger to having to hunt in the bins for food or leftovers. More recently she has taken to selling the Big Issue to get some cash to help with getting a bed for the night or clothes or shoes. Ellie has been talking to her, asking one or two questions when buying a Big Issue and giving her a bit extra money when paying. She hasn’t had an easy life and has had some regrets over the years.

This book was an exceptional read, really intriguing and I got into it straight away. So easy to read, well written and you could tell there had been lots of research done to make the book read like a true life experience. I didn’t want to put the book down. This is always a good sign. I liked the fact you knew whose account you were reading and got to learn so much of the characters and lives.

I Looked Away is a cleverly written thriller that left me guessing until the end. I have read my husbands wife by Jane Corry last year and I think this equally as brilliant.
The book is centred around two women that have very different lives, you have Ellie who is married to an ex university lecturer and spends as much as her time allows with her treasured grandson. Then there is Jo who is living from day to day, no house, no security and is living off hope and good will of others. Ellie has taken her eyes off her grandson for two minutes as she argues with her husband over a suspected affair and in that time “she looked away” something dreadful happens.
This is a book that deals with sensitive issues well, we have homelessness that has made me realise that most people are there through no fault of their own and we also have PTSD, emotional abuse and mental health and how this has a lasting effect on a person.
This was a cleverly written thriller that I enjoyed immensely and enjoyed the reveal even more as I had no idea how it all linked together.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third book I have read by Jane Corry and by far the best. It was obviously well-researched and the descriptions of homeless people were rounded, encompassing all types of folk who find themselves with no home and no security. Ellie and Jo's lives are quite believable sadly. I felt invested in the characters and wanted to know all about them. This was quite an emotional read in places, the story is well-paced and often shocking.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Jane Corry/Penguin Books UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

DNF at 16%. Unintriguing, there's so much focus that's not on the accident but it's not building suspense or backstory, it's just boring me. I can't see the connection between the two POV narrators and quite frankly, I'm not that interested.

I Looked Away by Jane Corry

Another brilliant book from Jane Corry. Engaging and compelling from the very first page. The complex characters revealed themselves as believable human beings, each with their own agendas, motives and traits. The mental anguish experienced by the two main protagonists was thought-provoking and finely written, taking the reader on a rollercoaster ride of emotions right through to the final page. The ending was both surprising and superb. No spoilers but, if you are a fan of Corry's previous thrillers, this is the best one yet! A great page-turner. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley for supplying an advance copy.
(also posted on Amazon)

I love Jane Corry, this book is definitely my favourite of hers so far. I found myself getting so emotional at times that I had to stop and gather myself. Once in a while you'll read a book that will blow you away and stay with you long after you turn the last page. This is that book!

When I saw that this was available I snapped it up super quick and I wasn’t disappointed.
Ellie is in prison and we don’t know why, she’s in a loveless marriage to cheating Roger and has two grown children. Tragedy happens one day while Ellie is watching her grandson and her life spirals out of control from there.
We also meet Jo, a homeless woman who’s life seems to be a million miles away from Ellie’s, but some how they are connected.

A well written story that pulls on your heart strings, great characters and a believable storyline.

I am a big fan of Jane Corry and have read her previous books, I looked Away is amazing and my favourite one by her...so far!

This author has created such an addictive and emotional story that incorporates so many different elements. These have been brilliantly researched and woven together to create a stunning read.

It revolves and evolves around Ellie. Where to even start with this fabulous character... circumstances took her from a happy, carefree childhood so full of love and happiness that is until her world is totally upended. After a traumatic experience, she finds her life changes, what should be a new start turns sour. She finds herself in situation after situation, at times only barely coping, this is not how childhood should be. She feels lost, continually isolated and inadequate. These feelings over the years are gradually cemented and added to and it doesn't help that she has never come to terms to deal with the grief that her original trauma stems from.

As I mentioned this author deals with some serious elements and she does them exceptionally well. Dealing with PTSD, emotional abuse, mental health and homelessness are definitely serious and often misunderstood. Now given the nature of some of the topics you may think that this book would be a sombre one, in fact, it is far from that. Instead, the author has created a flow and pacing that suits her story so well, it effortlessly flows and is an absolute page-turner. I found myself wanting to get the bottom of what makes Ellie tick, to discover all about her life.

At the end of the book, Jane shares some personal experiences and also a section called "The Science Behind the story", and also an insightful Q & A with Claire Pooley who specialises in trauma and is a psychotherapist and mental health nurse. I found these additions to be so interesting, they add an extras something special to the work that went into the story.

This book is such a good read on so many different levels. It's emotional, poignant, insightful and thought-provoking, along with that I saw a glimpse into a different side of society.

I Looked Away is a book I would Highly Recommend!

Every Monday, 49-year-old Ellie looks after her grandson Josh. She loves him more than anyone else in the world. The only thing that can mar her happiness is her husband's affair. But he swears it's over now, and Ellie has decided to be thankful for what she's got.

Then one day, while she's looking after Josh, her husband gets a call from that woman. And just for a moment, Ellie takes her eyes off her grandson. The accident that happens will change her life forever.

Because Ellie is hiding something in her past.

And what looks like an accident could start to look like murder . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It can be confusing as it tells the story of two women Ellie and Jo. I kind of worked out half way through what was going to happen and how it would happen, well part of it anyway. I didn't expect the complexity of it and the last 100 pages of the book had me racing to find out what happened. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

‘I Looked Away’, what a great read, it just kept on giving. Just when you thought it was all played out it came together for a great finish. I particularly liked reading about life as a homeless person. It introduced us to a number of other characters, of special note was Steve. Can there really be someone as generous a spirit as him? I’d like to think so. Poor Alastair whose street name was Tim, abused, made another life for himself running away and then was reunited with his mother after three long years.
How can one not feel sorry for Ellie? Losing her mother so early in life and having to endure ‘losing’ her father to a stepmother with some serious issues.
A very imaginative and multi-layered story.

This book follows Ellie from being a young girl right through until she becomes a grandmother. Ellie has not had much luck and she has had to endure some awful things in her life. Ellie loves her grandson, Josh. She takes care of him on a Monday afternoon. Her husband is having an affair. But when Ellie looks away one Monday afternoon, the consequences are dramatic. It brings things from Ellie's past to the fore.

This is one emotional roller coaster ride you won't want to get off. It deals with bullying, danger, homelessness, deception and much much more. The story has a dual timeline which gradually comber gets as we mean the end of the book. This is a fantastic read that's gripping and will make you think how other people have to cope day to day. The characters are realistic and believable.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and the author Jane Corry for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this book took me round the houses and back again as it weaved around and about. We first meet Ellie in prison but it isn't explained why she is there. We then flash back to a day in her past where she is distracted whilst looking after her grandson with devastating consequences. We then meet Jo, a homeless woman who is making ends meet by selling the big issue. Quite what the connection there is, well, you'll have to read the book to find that out. No spoilers here. Back with Ellie and we follow her both in prison and also back in her past. Back to her childhood, the death of her mother, the addition of step-mother and then step-brother and we see the events that shaped the person she is today. The stories of Ellie and Jo meander around each other - back and forward in time - until finally all the layers have been peeled back and the full picture starts to emerge and the truth becomes apparent. A truth that, oh my, just tugged on my heartstrings as the pieces fell into place.
I can't go into any more detail here without the dreaded spoilers but I have to say that, as well as being extremely well crafted and written, the story flows incredibly well even with all the flitting around; both between characters and in time. Characterisation is good and the majority are easy to connect to / emote with, and the pacing is darned near perfect. Enough information was imparted to keep my interest with enough withheld to keep me intrigued and make me read on.
It's a book that is best off reading without knowing anything. A book that you just have to take everything, all the way through, at face value. It's hard to explain without spoilers but I have to say that I have never been so wrong about what I thought was going to happen and yet it felt so right... and I was left completely satisfied. Apart from the urge to go back and re-read the whole thing - if only time permitted...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I was hooked from the start. There are a number of stories entwining throughout but you need to keep reading to understand how and why they are all linked.

This is a well written story with believable characters covering some poignant topics, that kept me gripped from start to finish. There were some twist and turns that kept me thinking and questioning everything I’d read. But I definitely didn’t see the big twist coming.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for and early copy.

The story starts with Ellie, trying to rebuild her marriage after husband Roger’s affair. All is going well until she meets her husband’s ex in town and starts to doubt his commitment. She returns home to confront him, leaving grandson Josh alone in the garden. Turning around, Ellie realises he’s missing, only to see a shirt floating in next door’s pond.

The narrative then splits into two separate tales - Ellie’s childhood and; homeless Jo travelling round the South of England. Interspersed in Ellie’s life are references to ‘the accident’. I did find the different timelines difficult to follow as they were so disparate, however as the story reached its climax, all became clear and I could understand why it was laid out the way it was. Ellie’s childhood tragedies and current troubles linked together and Jo’s tale made sense.

I thoroughly enjoyed the overall story, confusions aside, and felt it was believable and realistic. The setting descriptions of Jo’s travels were really good and brought the areas to life. Ellie’s struggles through childhood were sensitively described without going overboard, and sympathies were definitely with her.

A really good read and one I thoroughly recommend.