Sometimes there is a family secret buried so deep that no one talks about it. Secrets have a way of coming out. In this book, the mom has a secret that she has kept for most of her life. She was very young and decisions were made for her. Then she receives a letter and she must face her past. With all of the emotions and regrets all brought to the surface again, she has to find the courage to tell her family her secret. This book does a wonderful job of expressing the raw emotions that they all feel. Everyone reacts differently when they learn the truth and this book portrays this very well. This book shows that life is messy. Sometimes when you think you are getting your wish, it doesn't quite turn out the way you picture it, but you can find contentment with what you do have.

This is the story of a mother with three grown up daughters who suddenly disappears to Spain. She has been invited to a yoga retreat to meet a fourth daughter whom she gave away for adoption when she was sixteen. The reunion does not go as planned - said daughter is resentful, truculent and mostly silent. However, she persists and tries to unite the family. Her husband, Norman is a rock who is very supportive and has full knowledge of all that happened - in fact the father is his brother. They gradually begin to understand the reasons for the new daughter's behavior and to accept her on her own terms. I found this to be quite dull and predictable with not a great deal of depth of character. But I love the cover!

This book left me turning the pages so quickly to find out which missing piece of the "puzzle" that the author would reveal next! Really enjoyed it!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc

This is not the kind of book I normally read but I found it truly delightful and was glad I picked it up. It centers are Cecily, mother of 3 grown women and wife of Norman, who takes a last-minute trip to Greece, which is totally out of character for her. Turns out she was summoned by another daughter Marnie, who she had given up after giving birth as a teenager.

All of the characters in this book were real- I was able to empathize with them across the boards and I liked how the story didn't get tied up in a nice bow, but was a little messy and surprising just like real life. The author does a great job of taking the reader back in time to Cecily's pregnancy and weaving that storyline in with the current one. I particularly identified with her husband, Norman, who seemed solid and caring, if not a little bit put-upon by his giant family and all of their situations.

Even if you don't normally read family lit like this, I'd recommend the book- it stuck with me and I believe it will continue to do so, and I find it rare to read a book in which the author connects you to characters in this manner. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am not familiar with this author nor had I heard of this title before coming across it on Netgalley. The pretty cover caught my eye and I found the summary to be quite interesting. I was quickly drawn into the story and loved the mystery of why Cecily was being flown to a resort in Greece on short notice. It was a great summer read and transported me to Greece along with her. I would love to be flown to a resort spa in a beautiful small Greek village on the coast! what a dream! The story takes a different turn once you find out who invited her and why she was there. It wasn't as "light and beachy" as it began, but it was still interesting and enjoyable. I liked also delving in to each of her daughters and their different personalities and stories. Overall, a good read.

Thank you NetGalley for your ARC of The Last Piece by Imogen Clark. I enjoyed reading this book and the quirkiness of all the characters. Each daughter had her own interesting story, but the main story revolved around their mom. I would recommend this book as a pleasant, fast, easy read, but I really wish the ending was a little happier for Cecily. This is why I gave it four stars instead of five.

I needed some light reading and The Last Piece fit in perfectly. Imogen Clark gives us a well-written novel filled with family turmoil and has us feeling as though we are a fly on the wall. I really enjoyed the "up front" blunt honesty by all of the characters as they rode a roller coaster of emotions.
Cecily runs off to Greece, leaving her adult daughters and husband behind to fend for themselves, as she finds herself having to deal with a guilt filled situation of some fifty years ago. I often thought that the next chapter would be predictable but Ms. Clark had me all topsy turvy as she went against the grain and had her characters go in a completely different direction than I had expected.
Well written and definitely one I recommend!

A good read about family and secrets. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters which is why I have given this book 3 stars. The plot was good but I would have liked the characters to have had more depth.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

An interesting family drama with a mother with a 50 year old secret and 3 three daughters, all with their own issues. My favorite person was Norman, the father who was clear-eyed, supportive and understanding. Also a good description of unwed mothers in the 1960s. Poignant and believable story.

I received this book from Netgalley as an ARC.
Cecily Nightingale receives a letter and drops everything to travel to Kefalonia for a few days. The family is thrown into chaos with no warning or explanation. Cecily had a 50 year secret that she had kept from her daughters. Many family secrets are revealed during the course of this book.

I enjoyed this well written engaging story. The best thing about the book was the family dynamics involving all kinds of secrets and drama. At the core was Cecily's husband providing a place for everyone to depend on. The only thing that bothered me about this book was that none of the characters ever really deal with the secrets as they arise. Everyone finds out about them, but no one actually confronts them and resolves anything.

This book is worth the time to read. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys family drama books.

The Last Piece is a beautifully written complicated story of family that keeps you guessing through the first half of the book. It drove me crazy that I didn't know exactly what the secrets were but it's also the thing that made this book so interesting to read! Once I was finally clued in to what Cecily's mysterious trip is all about, I couldn't book the book down!

Cecily the reliable and predictable mother of the Nightingale family mysteriously decides she must visit Kefalonia. With no explanation or warning her three daughters are suspicious. Will Cecily be able to continue her decade old story? How will this affect her family? Will she have to tell the truth?

This might just be my favourite Imogen Clark read so far.
A beautifully poignant tale of love and loss, travelling back to sixties Britain when unmarried mothers were sent to Homes and usually parted from their babies.
The Last Piece sweeps the reader along in its wake, caught up in the ebb and flow of family drama that many of us will be able to relate to.
I loved the Nightingale family. Julia and Lily the twins, one a GP and single, the other married and with five children under the age of 9, and elder sibling Felicity, unhappily married with a child who was very hard to conceive.
They all live locally in Harrogate, Yorkshire, near to Mum and Dad, Cecily and Norman.
All the of the characters are distinct and have very likeable personalities. The differences, the quirks, the varying circumstances they find themselves in, are all very true to family compositions and dynamics. A wonderful portrait of the the ups and downs, of infidelity, divorce, motherhood and varying types of family set up, The Last Piece explores all those connections that make us family.
Not everything is joyous though. There is some real heart-breaking, soul searching sections where the reader is transported to another time and place, where we ache with regret alongside Cecily and feel every bit of the confusion, doubt and pain that being a mother can bring.
I liked the way the novel was dived into parts, each one telling of a particular time in this family's life. I particularly enjoyed the reality of the Mother and Baby Home in Wales and the parts where Cecily is in Kefalonia.
And what held this book together in such a delightful way, was steady Norman, attempting Jamie Oliver recipes, trying to clear out the shed and working on a jigsaw puzzle that after months of completing, just doesn't have that Last Piece.
Sometimes though, the whole picture is fine without that one little bit because, as the author describes so well, real life is never, ever perfect but it doesn't stop it from being good.
Join Cecily and Norman, Felicity and Richard, Julia, Sam, Lily and Marco in their journey with Marnie and learn more about what it is to belong.

The Last Piece is the fourth novel by Imogen Clark. Cecily Nightingale is a 60 something homemaker in a small town outside of Leeds, England. Cecily and Norman have been married over 40 years and have three daughters, Felicity, a high powered executive and mother of 4 year old Hugo, Lily, homemaker and mother of 5 young boys, including a set of twins, and Janet, Lily’s twin and a practicing GP. Each daughter has a side story, but this story is primarily about Cecily.

When Cecily takes off from her home alone for a short stay in Kefalonia, Greece. Her husband is calm but her daughters are distraught at this unusual behavior. On that trip, Cecily is ready to come face to face with her past, not knowing how it will effect her or her family’s future. And the effects will be varied, with each person dealing with their own reaction, none stronger than the major shift in how the Nightingale girl will view Cecily from now on.

This is a well plotted tale told with heart and showing the gamut of emotions throughout a family story that actually began in the 1960s. The characters are richly drawn, the settings are described such that the readers feel as though they are there. This was an intriguing story and I do recommend this book!

A beautiful story of a mother doing something so out of character, in hopes of helping her family. She goes to Greece to fulfill a chapter of her life she thought was closed. As she plans her return to her three daughters she is hopeful that she can keep her family together. Beautifully written, and such a beautiful family dynamic.

The initial pacing felt a bit slow/awkward but once various plot pieces were in place, this was somewhat understandable because there are multiple stories weaving around the main one (Cecily's) and things of this scope takes time to develop. These additional stories made the overall book richer but didn't shift focus away from the main one.

I guessed Cecily's secret fairly early on but wasn't fully correct regarding how this reveal would affect each family member or how things would be resolved by the end of the book. I was saddened by the circumstances that brought Cecily and others to this point but appreciated the amount of details regarding her time at The Home.

The chapters alternating between Greece and England kept things interesting as readers "saw" things from most perspectives. My opinions of various characters shifted from first impressions to the way they were by the end of the book but one stayed fairly constant for me: Norman. I liked him at the start and still liked him at the end. Most of the others shifted between like and tolerate based on the scenario. I say most because there are two characters I didn't like as soon as they were introduced and certainly didn't like their actions/behavior throughout the book. I won't say who because I don't want to color others opinions of them.

This book didn't have the happy ending I am used to (which is okay) but what it mostly did was make me stop and think. What would I have done if I was in Cecily's shoes? What would I have done if I was one of the others being told Cecily's secret? I honestly don't know those answers and that's okay, too. Would I read anything else by this author? Much easier to answer: yes.

A family story that is told well and is easy to read. It’s fairly predictable in some parts but clearly the author isn’t trying to make the past the unexpected. It’s the present and future that she makes more unexpected and that does make the book a bit different.
I wanted and hoped for a different ending but the more I think about it I’m not sure what that could have realistically been.

What happens when your prayers for happily ever after aren’t answered the way you always thought they would be? Can you be a ‘real family’ when there will always be a piece missing? This book addresses what happens when lost family prefers to stay lost, and yet, life goes on with both joy and sorrow. A thoughtful exposition on what makes a family in many forms as lived by a mother, four daughters, and several grandchildren.

I received an ARC electronic copy of this novel on July 20, 2020, from Netgalley, Imogen Clark, and Amazon UK publishers. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Imogen Clark writes a tight, compelling tale. It is always a pleasure to read her.

The three Nightingale daughters of now-retired Cecily and Norman are all in their thirties and independent, though still residing in their home town, and very differently focused on this life. The eldest, Felicity, has a high-stress, high powered career as a GP and despite being married to Mr. Wrong she is finally the mother of young Hugo after several runs at IVF. The twins with different birthdays are also truly independent thinkers - Julia is settled into a high-powered job, still single, and running out of time to find Mr. Right and start a family. Lily married young, and she and husband Marco are the parents of five sons, the youngest twins, and have expanded their Italian restaurants into a fairly nice conglomerate, still small enough to handle without losing control of the end product, but productive enough to allow Lily to stay home with the boys.

And then Cecily receives a letter inviting her to Greece where Marnie Stone will be willing to meet with her. And completely out of character, Cecily drops everything and flies away. Why would she just do this with no notice, no planning? Her daughters are flabergasted, and Norman is mysteriously silent on the whole matter. What is this all about? And how is it going to impact their well-established lives?

There were certainly very enjoyable aspects to this book. The twins relationship was lovely as was Cecily's marriage. Then there were parts that weren't so enjoyable, and sat rather uncomfortably with me. All in all an interesting, light read that kept me engaged at the time. And really, what more could you want?