Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This author is one of my all time favourites and this was up there with the best that she has written. It is a thought provoking and emotional read and I absolutely loved it.

This is my first read of a book written by Amanda Prowse. I very much enjoyed it and will definitely look Into her other work.

This is the story of Victoria. Her grandmother passes away and she is devastated by the loss. During the funeral, a stranger reveals to her, that she is her mother. Victoria doesn’t know how to take the news. This book is that journey into understanding, acceptance, forgiveness, love reconciliation and family.

This was a quick read for me! I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for their next book! I want to thank NetGalley & Lake Union published for the ARC and the chance to read this novel and provide a review.

A delightful story of loss and love, which held my attention throughout.

Victoria is living a happy life with her beloved Grandmother Prim in their lovely home, Rosebank, which she has been in all her life. Prim raised Victoria giving her a wonderful childhood yet Victoria feels someone is missing and that’s her dead Mum Sarah. Sarah was a studious girl guaranteed to go on to good things, which was until she was introduced to drugs. Unfortunately the love of her next hit was the only thing keeping her will to live. Prim desperate to spare her granddaughter this sort of life struck a deal with Sarah and took responsibility of Victoria to raise and cherish.

After the shock death of Prim, Sarah suddenly re appears sending Victoria into a spin. Reading how Mother and Daughter learn to reconnect was a joy but fraught at times. I totally related to the characters in this book as they come across as realistic and honest. My favourite quote in this book is that they will always share the same moon – how true and thought provoking.

My thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Day She Came Back is my first Amanda Prowse book. I felt that I have to read something from her as I read so many positive feedbacks.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster with Victoria, Primrose and Sarah. Victoria recently lost her beloved grandma, Prim who was the mom in her life. As an unexpected turn she meets with a woman, who claims to be her mom, on her grandmother’s funeral. She can’t believe it and takes it in a really sceptical way.

A very impulsive and touching women’s fiction novel about family love and loss.
Thank you for NetGalley and the Publisher for the copy.

This book is top form Amanda Prowse. A couple I read previously didn’t make me feel much but this is up there with my other favourite ‘The Food of Love’.
An emotional easy read that you can escape in for a while, highly recommend.

Prowse writes a good story. Victoria is very close to,her grandmother, Prim, but is unprepared for her death. Then she discovers a lie her gran,other told her, which will upend her life. She goes off the deep end for a bit, but gradually grapples with reality. I thought the ending was really good.

I have read and enjoyed many books by Amanda Prowse as she tells a wonderful story and this was no exception. Wonderful characters- Prim, Sarah and Victoria.
No spoilers but you will need tissues for this one. Although tissues are standard for most of Amanda’s books!
Many thanks to the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I throughly enjoyed this book, we’ll written. You actually could put yourself in the characters position. A woman who gives up her child to her mother. Having no contact with her daughter for 19 years. The mother and child go through a lot in those 19 years until they finally come together and tell each other their story. Heartbreaking to go through.

Yet another amazing book by Amanda Prowse. . I was so honoured to receive an advance copy of this book. I'm in awe of how she manages to do it time after time.

Just finished this wonderful story by this fabulous author. Whenever you pick up an Amanda Prowse book you know you are in for an emotional ride and this book is no exception.
I highly recommend this book. It will definitely stay with me.

Whenever you pick up an Amanda Prowse book you know you are in for an emotional ride and this book is no exception.

Amanda brings her characters to life through the pages of her books and writes with such empathy for all her characters, making them so realistic.that you feel you really know them.

This is a story of family, friendships, lies, grief and forgiveness.

Another winner from the Queen of family drama.

This story was an emotional rollercoaster of an 18/19 year old girl. This poor girl life is complicated enough with all the extra layers she had to face.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At almost nineteen, Victoria is not sure where life will lead her. She is looking forward to traveling and advendures with her best friend instead of rushing off to university as her peers are planning. When her grandmother dies unexpectedly, her life is upended. Victoria uncovers some surprising family secrets while working through her grief. As she is growing into her adult self, Victoria must decide if some lies are justifiable. Amanda Prowse explores grief, guilt, love and forgiveness in this tender story. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This truly was an amazing read. Amanda Prowse never lets you down and this is one of her very best yet, and that’s saying something after the number of first-class novels she has written.

This story tears at your heartstrings, evokes so many emotions and is just one of those stories that will stay with you for a very long time. Each character makes an impact, is memorable and relatable in some way. There’s so much to this story, it’s truly captivating from the beginning; the main character, Victoria, at only 18, has led a kind of different life having been brought up by her grandmother and has no other family. As we meet them, Victoria is about to explore the world and reach into her adulthood by travelling the world with her best friend. But tragedy strikes pretty early on in the book, and from that moment, life is nothing short of a rollercoaster for Victoria.

Victoria has to grow up fast, but she gets a chance to be a child again and grow a real relationship with someone she never thought she would, and although it’s impossibly sad, both parties have to come to terms with a lifetime of sadness, loss and lies, but it only makes them stronger for it.

In true Amanda Prowse style this book is wonderfully engaging and fills your heart with sadness, warmth, love and loss - like only one of her books can. The journey we go on with Victoria has it all, a Mother who selflessly gives up her child, dealing with addiction, loss of a beloved family member and teenage anxiety, not to mention the topic of boys and virginity... you name it, it’s in this book!

I wasn’t sure what to expect as I read this story, what you want the outcome to be, and at times Victoria really messes up and almost loses her best friend and her self-worth. She is not alone, despite feeling like it, and manages to pull herself through the anguish and toward her new future. I don’t want to give anything away, but you will finish this book genuinely satisfied with the outcome and you won’t be able to get the characters and storyline out of your head for quite some time.

I love all of Amanda’s books, however I have to say they get better and better and this one is up there with one of my all-time favourites.

Thank you to NetGalley and as always, the author, for the chance to read this ARC.

Another fab read from Amanda Prowse, she just keeps giving. What a powerful thought provoking read, would highly recommend this

Victoria is a naive 18year old, who lives with her grandmother, Primrose (Prim), both her parents having died when she was a baby. Her grandmother dies suddenly, and this sets Victoria off on a rebellious path, especially when it appears her mother could still be alive.

This book started slowly but was really nicely paced in the second half. It is well written, and the characters have depth. There is a nice weaving of the feelings between Victoria, Prim and Sarah, the reasons for the deceptions that have angered Victoria to almost self destruct nicely laid out in a series of letters. The scenes between Victoria and Sarah are beautifully written and realistic. However this feels as though it is aimed at the young adult demographic, rather than general adult fiction. I also probably shouldn’t have read it having recently lost a close relative. But I’d certainly read this authors work again, but this one was not for me.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review,

Amanda Prowse has a wonderful way of making quite ordinary, normal believable characters come to life on the page.

This book is about Victoria an 18year old who has been brought up by her larger than life Gran, Prim after her mother died when she was a baby. Then Prim is taken from her. Victoria doesn’t know what she will do and how she will cope without her.
Then at Prims funeral a strange woman turns up and will things ever be the same again? Victoria’s world is turned upside down.

I really enjoyed the book, the characters are believable and I like the relationships between them interesting and relatable.

A wonderful family drama that is a lovely easy read.

An enjoyable read despite being somewhat predictable. I like Amanda Prowse's style of writing having read, and enjoyed, several books of hers in the past dealing with relatable modern family issues. I liked most of the characters and their development throughout the book but couldn't quite take to Victoria the main character which was unfortunate. I thought she was a little too wallowing in self pity with a high degree of anger and lack of sensitivity for others, which given her background, was not totally surprising just a little repetitive at times. A good read none-the-less and up to Amanda's standards

Amanda Prowse always writes beautiful stories about human life.

The Day She Came Back is about 18 year old Victoria who is being raised by her maternal grandmother, Prim, after her mother died when she was a baby. Victoria arrives home after going to the shops to find her beloved grandmother dead in the gardening room. At Prim's funeral an unfamiliar woman is lurking in the background. When this stranger speaks to Victoria it is to relay a terrible secret - what will Victoria make of this secret?

A poignant read but ultimately with a feel good factor.

Victoria has been raised by her grandmother, Prim, after her parents died when she was a baby of a drug overdose. When she is 18 Victoria and her friend, Daksha, are planning a trip to figure out what they want to do with their lives. One afternoon she comes home from an errand and finds her grandmother has passed away sitting in her chair in the garden. Prim is alone with no family and then a strange woman, Sarah, shows up at the funeral claiming to be her dead mother. There were times I wanted to smack some sense into Victoria. She had good friends and people to help her but she was so angry at the lie her grandmother told that she lashed out at everyone. She hooks up with Flynn, a boy she had a crush on in school, and things go very badly. Finally she begins the process of healing and reconnecting with her mother.

There were times when I did not like Victoria but she was acting out of character for her but at the same time her emotions were predictable. Sarah's strength and sacrifices were remarkable and I liked the slow building of their relationship and the bonding between them. Everyone should have a friend like Daksha.

The setting of her home with Prim, Rosebank, sounded wonderful with turret rooms and stained glass and I can picture the "old lady" decor with all of her mementos. I could almost smell the flowers she kept around the house. The setting in Oslo was likewise appealing with the cold and crisp air, people walking and biking everywhere, the warmth in the coffee shops and the spare decor of Sarah's and Jens's apartment.

The author takes on a difficult topic and family drama but never crosses the line into being maudlin. This is the second book I have read by this author and I look forward to many more.