Well written story. Great character development. This is a lovely story about the love of family. Keeps you in suspense until the end. I really enjoyed this novel!!

Leah and Clio meet outside Leah's front door. And they are so far apart in society but end up becoming the best of friends, bringing out the best in each other and supporting the weak parts in each other.
I clicked the story-line quite fast, although I had a few doubts every now and then.
The author has taken a rather predictable story-line, added twists and turns and colourful characters that make it a most enjoyable read.
No matter how deep you try to bury a secret it has a way of coming out when least expected and hurting the innocent.
A tender, goose bump-inducing read that really made a predictable story totally unpredictable.

thank you for allowing me to read this book. it was very easy to read. i enjoyed the story line and the characters. look forward to reading more from this author.

Frankly speaking, I should not have liked the book as much as I did. I understood the storyline from the beginning, knew the events before they happened and generally not a fan of the topic being handled. Despite all of the above conditions, I liked the book, enough to give it four stars!

I do not know what to credit for this strange occurrence, but it might have been the four women of the tale. There are more strong women, but four of them are our main focus. Two women in the past and two in the present cross paths with intent on one side and no ulterior motives on the other. There are men in the story as well, but only a handful are worth talking about in terms of inherent goodness or even the proper behaviour, the others are what form the bones of the story. I do not want to say anything further regarding them, but if you are even remotely like me you will know what you are heading into few chapters in. The author has written well and drawn vivid enough characters to make that possibility very strong. I was not fond of the main 'villain(s)' of the piece, but I do not think we are meant to. 

I recommend this to those people looking for a well-written piece of family drama, spanning multiple decades and two families.

From the beginning of the book, I thought I knew the story and the likely outcome but far from it. The book is well written with unexpected twists and turns that capture your heart. The book reflects a mother’s unconditional love for her children in an intriguing and thought provoking manner.
Difficult to put this book down!

A wealthy woman shows up on Leah's doorstop and ends up becoming her friend. She is wonderful to Leah's two children. But Leah can't figure out why she'd pick her to be friends with. When she first showed up she said she remembered something about her house, thought she'd been there before. Leah and Clio become very close. Clio isn't telling Leah everything however. Such as, who she really is. Great suspenseful book!

Where The Story Starts is a fantastic storyline with great characters. Imogen Clark is a wonderful author who gets better with each book.

I’ve given a review on Goodreads (which I thought I could copy here but can’t!) so please have a look at that too.

I really enjoyed this book, with its strong characters and engaging storyline. A tale of 4 women and the man who links them all, Where the story starts is the story of Leah and her unexpected friendship with Clio. The reader knows far more about Leah’s story than anyone else and what really stood out for me was that where Imogen gives you that clue to a twist, I didn’t find myself trying too hard to second guess what would come next. I was so interested in letting the story play out that I found myself just enjoying the story - it’s not often I find that.

Every bit as good as Postcards (and I enjoyed it much more than The Thing about Claire), this story of love, friendship and loss is a joy to read.

This is the third novel I have read by this author. Having loved her first, “Postcards from a stranger”, but not been won over by the second, I’m delighted to say that this new novel won me over from the first chapter.

A mystery surrounds a chance arrival of a stranger on the doorstep of a family house, and a new friendship unexpectedly ensues. The book flicks back and forwards in time to the previous generation of these two characters, and the family that surround them, and the tension builds and mystery deepens as many new questions are woven into the plot.

This book is responsible for my missing the first day of my recent holiday as I just could not put it down! The mystery held true till late in the book, and all the ideas and events were well planned and thought out, with convincing settings and characters. It is written in a lighter style, easy to read for instant diversion, however with some nice literary motives and metaphors.

I hope this author continues to produce enjoyable work – I look forward to reading her next one.

Yet another great novel from Imogen Clark. From start to finish, I was hooked. The characters are very well drawn and I could see them as I followed their stories, jumping from the past to the present. Told in the first person by each character, it brought me ever closer to them all.
The book covers a topic that very few of us have experienced, but Clark has made it all too clear what the consequences could be.
Already looking forward to the next one.

Wow! I really enjoyed this book. The secrets hidden in these two families were easy to work out but the book is actually about the characters and how they handle themselves and the situations they find themselves in. Very well written, the characters have great depth and really came to life for me, as did the descriptions of Whitley Bay and Hartsford. I read most of this book on a lazy Sunday afternoon and it became a bit un-put-downable which is always an indication of a great read!