This my first time reading a Amanda Prowse book and I am impressed. This book grabbed me right from the start and never let go. Victoria lives with her only living relative her Grandmother Prim. Her Grandmother suddenly dies and Victoria thinks she's all alone in the world until a woman shows up at the funeral claiming to be her Mother. Feeling hurt and betrayed goes off the deep end. Is this woman really her Mother? Can they forge a relationship?

Extraordinary! The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse was extraordinary in every way. I loved this book. Let me count the ways.

First, the characters are fabulous. Primrose was the grandmother everyone would love to have. Although, she is in her eighties, she stays young, vibrant and loving. She is the mother figure for the main character whose name is Victoria. Victoria is her 18 year old granddaughter who lost her mother as an infant. There are other characters in the book that you either love...or don't.

Second, I really liked the story line. I don't think I've read anything quite like it. It takes place in Epsom in Surrey, England about 13 1/2 miles south of London. I think what really captured my interest is part of the book took place in Oslo, Norway. My grandmother came to the states from Norway when she was six years old. I got a glimpse of the country I always wanted to visit.

Third, the family home Victoria and Prim grew up in was called Rosebank and was an added character in the book. This house has been in the family for many years and was built by Victoria's great grandparents who also hand dug a little lake in the back yard. That home came alive for me. I wanted to visit and roam through all the rooms.

Fourth, this book had all the feels. So many emotions were explored including friendship, love, anger, hurt, fear, loss...its all in this story. If you love books that take place in other countries and time periods, you can't go wrong in picking up a copy of The Day She Came Back.

Fifth and finally, this book was written by Amanda Prowse! This is the third book I've read by her and I have fallen hard for every one of them. If you haven't read any of her books, I highly suggest that you do. She has written a lot of books so, I have to get a move on! Happy reading!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.

This was an ok read for me. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it either. The story of an 18 year old who suddenly finds out the mother she was told died is really alive. The one person who she needs answers from as well is dead...her grandmother who raised her. You see how the shocking news affects Victoria and how she tries to forgive and move forward with her only living family member.

What happens when the person you loved most in the world betrays you with life long lies and deception? After her beloved grandmother passed away, eighteen year old Victoria was faced with the very real situation of her long dead mother being very much alive. Victoria’s whole being was suddenly shattered in total disbelief, anger, and a false perception of the life she had once known.

This was a very emotional read especially when truths were discovered and the emotional process of coming to terms with not only the death of a constant presence in one’s life, but a rebirth of sorts for a life and love that was always present… but never acknowledged.

I liked the characters, especially Victoria’s extremely supportive best friend. However, I felt one of the most important aspects of the mother- daughter relationship was not fully addressed. Other than that, this was an engaging story.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

This is a very slow-paced book, and I almost gave up on it after a few chapters. However, I have trust in Amanda Prowse’s writing so persevered.
The pace doesn’t really pick up, but the book is filled with emotion. I can’t say that it really touched me like a lot of her books have but it was a pleasant enough of a read. We start off meeting Prim and Victoria on a lazy hot summer’s day. The day soon turns sour when Victoria finds her beloved and lively grandmother has passed away. The book is mainly about her coming to terms with her new reality but also the lies that have been told to her all of her life start to unravel. She is not prepared for the truth and reacts very badly to everything that is being hurled at her.
I had to keep reminding myself that she was only eighteen as sometimes she acted a lot older. However, other times she would seem very immature, and it was then I had to remind myself she was barely an adult.
Her inner dialogue did become very repetitive throughout, and it made the book feel as if it wasn’t moving forward. I think the book could have been half the size with some of this dead weight cut out.
I was expecting more from the revelation as to why Victoria had been lied to her whole life. It was built up and built up that the reveal fell a little flat. I wanted more and wanted to be shocked on behalf of Victoria, but it was a little lame.
The ending is quite lovely, where everything starts to come together, and it was worth persevering with the book to see how it all developed. It was nice seeing all the new relationships between the characters evolving and Victoria growing into a woman.
Overall, even though slow-paced and not filled with the usual ‘kick you in the gut’ feels, it was still a charming read.

I haven't read anything by this author before and was pleasantly surprised. The book kept me enthralled as I read it in an afternoon. Lately, we're seeing a lot of books about "family secrets," but this was unique in that the protagonist was not necessarily likeable and the subject of drug abuse was dark and believable. I expect I'll read more from this author in the future.

The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse is kind of a coming-of-age story. Victoria has been raised by her grandmother, mostly. Her grandfather had died when she was nine. Her parents had both died of drugs overdoses when she was a baby. She's almost 19 now and planning a six-month long trip to The Far East and Africa with her best friend, Daks. Daks will be off to university when they returned. Victoria did plan to go on to school, but then, who knows? It was a day like any other day. Daks and Victoria had gone to the coffee shop to check Victoria's schedule. One the way home, Victoria had taken the long way, passing by a sporting goods store where the boy she liked worked. She got home and ran to find her grandmother. She found her, dead on a lounge chair on the patio. Thus began the worst weeks of her life.

During this story, Victoria, goes from irresponsible, protected teen to a more mature and understanding young adult. In her grief, she made some mistakes but seemingly learned from them; had her first sexual experience; and learned to love people who were flawed, as we all are. She started off gullible, sad, and often thoughtless...typical for the age. But, she had more problems to solve than most 18 year olds. And she managed to solve them, mostly because she had people who loved her available to help. This story is a real-life tragedy, the kind many of us have in our lives, although hers piled on in a very short period of time. It was heart-breaking and heart-mending. A terrific characterization. A very gripping read. I recommend it.

I was invited to read an ARC of The Day She Came Back. by Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #thedayshecameback

Amanda Prowse is just sensational at these family dramas !! Her latest book doesn’t disappoint and you really don’t want to miss it.

Victoria was raised by her Grandmother, Prim, after the death of her mother when she was just a baby. Prim is the only living relative that Victoria has but then one day she returns home to find Prim dead, in her favourite chair. At the tender age of eighteen Victoria finds herself all alone in the world. How will she cope ?

Victoria’s bestfriend tries to help her and so does Prims gentleman friend but ultimately Victoria feels alone. On the day of Prim’s funeral a familiar looking lady turns up and after a very brief chat she reveals she is Victoria’s mother. How can this be ? Could this woman be telling the truth ?

The book follows the lonely, heartbroken Victoria and her journey to grieving for her Grandmother and potentially meeting up with the mother she thought was dead. This is a fantastic book and you really feel as though you are travelling along with Victoria in her grief. A very emotional read and one you will not want to miss.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

The story is full of sympathy, anxiety, hurt, bereavement, drug addiction, adjustment and trust.
Grandmother Prim, mother Sarah and daughter Victoria have all made sacrifices/decisions that have formed their lives but eventually when the truth comes out they recognise that those choices were made out of love, compassion and hope.
I don't want to spoil the plot, please read the book.
Exactly what I have come to expect from Amanda Prowse, A heartfelt read which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I want to thank Net Galley, Amazon Publishing UK, Amanda Prowse for a pre-publication copy to review.

The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse was a great read! It was my first book to read by this author and I can tell you I was not disappointed! Oh my gosh this book brought so many emotions to me! I cried, laughed and was so happy to see the finish!
This book is about Victoria an 18 year living with her Grandmother Prim in England! Victoria was always told that her father died before she was born and that her Mother had passed away from drug abuse. Victoria’s best friend Daksha was always there for Victoria. They had planned on traveling the world before college. Unfortunately, one day Daksha had came over to the house and they were going to go get a coffee and pick up Grandmother something’s. When Victoria got home she found her grandmother had passed away. Now is when things get really bad! A strange woman shows up to Grandmother’s funeral claiming to be Sarah the dead mother?
Then Flynn the guy that Victoria had a huge crush on her shows up and spends a few days there. Not good at all! Victoria quickly spirals down from the bad influence of Flynn and she was even really hateful to her best friend Daksha.
Could Victoria trust that Sarah was her mother and why did grandmother lie to her? I would suggest you run out and get this book as soon as possible!
I received this from Amazon publishing UK and Netgalley as an ARC for an honest review.

Another excellent read from Amanda Prowse, this story will break your heart and keep you up at night reading. Beautifully written characters ( as you would expect) and fabulous locations. Victoria is a great character and throughly deserves a best friend like Daksha who with her family love and support her.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

There were times that I absolutely adored this book and the potential for the storyline to grip the reader...unfortunately there were also times where I just felt frustrated by the storyline and the characters! So it was a mixture of a book and a mixture of a review.

I really loved this book and it was easy to reward it with a 5 star rating from me.
This book is about Victoria, who's loving grandmother that she has spent most of her life with, passes away. However, at the funeral, an unexpected guest turns up! How will Victoria cope with this extraordinary news? Will she be alone forever? Or is the family she has always longed for closer than she thinks?
I have previously read numerous Amanda Drowse novels, all of which I have enjoyed; I found this novel to be quite an easy and compelling read which I read in one entire sitting, it seems once I had started, my kindle was glues to my hands!
I loved the descriptions of every minor detail, the author didn't leave any aspect of the vision out, and it worked wonders for the imagery which wasn't lacking in any chapter.
I loved how the story ending was clear not vague, those endings to me are the best kind. I could definitely relate to Victoria's character and empathise accordingly.
I also loved Daksha's character, a well needed supporting best friend that every teenage girl yearns for when feeling a little lost, or a lot lost in Victoria's case.
I recommend everyone to get a copy of this book, it has to be one of the best books I have read so far this year.

Imagine growing up never having known the love of your mother or father. Growing up knowing you lost one parent before you were ever born and the other sometimes shortly after. Imagine growing up knowing drugs were to blame and how that would shape your life. Imagine growing up with a grandmother who bestowed all of the love in her heart on you, all of the love she had for their long-lost daughter and for her granddaughter. And imagine, just before your 19th birthday, you come home to find the one person you love the most in your life has died. How do you recover from this, how do you go on? And then imagine, that you find out that everything was a lie. How do you recover from that, how do you go on? An amazing story of survival, of will, of understanding, of forgiveness, and of love. A beautiful story!

This is a solid story about a family with a secret. Victoria is only 18 and trying to navigate life after the death of her beloved Prim. This follows her journey of discovery over the course of over a year.
I really enjoyed the side characters like Daks, Mrs. Joshi, and Gerald. She might be alone, but with friends like these on her side, Victoria can do anything. What she did do was drone on and on about her alone-ness and how very wronged she is. I get the angst, but there was too much. The rest of the story reads well and was enjoyable.

I chose to read this book because I found the idea interesting. However, I found myself getting bored after a few pages. I even set it aside for a few days and forgot about it. Since it couldn’t capture my attention enough I chose to set it aside for good and just walk away.

Once again the author Amanda Prowse has told this new story in only a way that she can. I really loved this story!
How nice it was to meet her new characters of this book.A young girl of 18 years, Victoria ready to discover/travel the world with her best friend.I loved how his story was set in 2 nice places including one Scandianvian country. This story has what makes good story telling, some nice moments, mixed with a tragic event where the main character Victoria feels all alone in the world, how a big dramatic event changes her whole world. Her grandmother Prim had been there for her and then she was gone. How life wasn't what she had expected it to be, Lies, deception, how Victoria tries to understand and of course get past what she had believed was her life.All the questions that needed answers. Discovering that with anger and hurt there is somewhere along the way, a road to forgiving and healing and that not always the path is easy to find. Victoria goes through her life and she does end up doing mistakes. This story telling was no exception it was really good, a story that was emotional and the book was really hard to put down once I started reading it. This story has the parts that a good book should have and that is what makes it a great read.! I could definitely recommend this book and it's gotten my 5 stars.
I'm grateful to have gotten the opportunity to read this book and want to thank the author and the publisher!
Charlotte N

4.5 stars

I received a complimentary e-book copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Amanda Prowse, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

My goodness, this book touched me. It was just lovely, but also dark due to the family issues which I enjoyed. The protagonist is Victoria who is a few months younger than my daughter. It really invested me in the story; however, I would have been invested in the story if there were not this coincidence.

I loved learning about the two main locations in the book - Epsom and Oslo. I have been to neither, but now I want to do so.

The characters were strong, real, and true to the storyline. Amanda Prowse's books are ALWAYS so real!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

I did not like this book. Characters were whiny. The nay great character was Daksha and she wasn’t in it enough. This book held no interest for me.

I liked the concept of this book, but it fell flat to me. The characters weren’t well-developed and I found the explanation for the lie unbelievable.