Family drama which begins when Cecily, the matriarch suddenly flies off to Greece, leaving her daughters bemused. I almost stopped reading this at the introduction of Felicity, but carried on and it did improve. What a family, with lots of unlikeable traits, self serving doesn’t even begin to cover it! The most unlikeable one is Marnie who you would think was a petulant teenager if you didn’t know her age. It was exasperating to see everyone pandering to her. Also exasperating was the loose ends which makes reading about some of the characters a waste of time. Loved the cover and Kefalonia descriptions, but sadly not the book itself.

I found this book to be very predictable, which takes out the enjoyment out of reading for me. Whether I feel this way because of the amount of books I read, I’m not sure. However I’m sure some people will enjoy this book, but sadly it wasn’t for me.

Cecily & Norman Nightingale have three grown up daughters, but unbeknown to their daughters they have been keeping a big secret from them. This secret goes back to before any of them were born.

Suddenly one day Cecily goes running off to Greece leaving her husband and children in the lurch. A few days before she ran off she received a letter in the post, giving her instructions to go to a rural retreat in Greece. The letter also stated that everything was paid for. Cecily had been waiting a long time for this. So she knew that she didn’t have any other option but to go.

The daughters go around to their parents house, to see what they can find out from their father. Their father doesn’t tell them anything and says they will have to wait till their mother gets back. The daughters are also upset that she has left their father alone to fend for himself and that she also isn’t there to look after grandchildren and generally run around after them all.

Cecily isn’t sure what to expect or what will happen at the Greek retreat. as she is hoping to meet her long lost older daughter. She hasn’t seen her daughter since the day she had to give her up. Cecily wasn’t given the options of keeping her daughter. She had to do what her parents told her.

Cecily also has no idea as to when or if her long lost daughter will contact her or even let herself be know. The weight of all of this along with the waiting is causing Cecily a lot of anxiety, so much so she wonders why she has gone. She was also wishing that her husband was with her, as he always knows what to do and say.

Eventually Cecily meets her daughter but things don’t go as she hoped and expected. Her daughter seemed cold and distant. She knew that her daughter held all of the cards, but she did invite her to meet the rest of the family.

When she finally arrives home she has to sit down and tell her daughters that they have an older sister. Not only that but their father’s deceased brother is their half sisters father and that their father is her uncle.

Everyone’s lives are turned upside down and things don’t go well when they all meet up. Will the sisters accept and eventually take in their estranged sister in to their lives. Will they also be able to forgive and get their lives back on track or will the secrets cause a rift that can’t be healed.

An English family is faced with the specter of the past in this family drama. Years ago, a young girl was forced to give up an illegitimate baby for adoption. She receives a message claiming to be from this child and goes to meet her. As her family struggles with the past and present, the question is, was this family missing a piece the whole time? An emotional but uplifting book.

The Last Piece is a story of family, and the secrets that can be hidden in their past. The story starts with a couple’s three adult daughters discussing why their mother Cecile has suddenly flown off to Greece with no advance notice or warning, apart from a mysterious letter that she has received. Her husband Norman isn’t telling her secret, and the girls are left to speculate about what might be going on.

The story spins out from there and is an enjoyable read! It’s an interesting look at the past and how families dealt with the secrets that they kept and why they would keep them. I thought the premise of the story was interesting, and it took some twists that I didn’t expect, so I was pleasantly surprised at points and it added to the quirks. There were some time jumps through the book, which were good for moving the plot along quite quickly, but there were also plot points, particularly around the storylines of each daughter, where it felt almost as though plots were built up and then quite quickly glossed over or dealt with, which was a bit of a shame. Each daughter was in a significantly different family situation, and it felt as though they were each used to build tension in the first half of the book, only for their stories to not really come to much in the end.

Overall though, a good read and definitely worth a look!


I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This family drama was lacking for me. I never really got into the story or the characters. I think the story itself and the subject matter was good but I think it could have been told with more feeling. Having been adopted myself, I was quite interested in this book. The Nightingale's were a very close nit family where the 3 sisters always met at the same bar, ordered the same thing every 3rd Wednesday of the month. It was a tradition that they kept no matter what was going on in their personal life. They also kept a lot of their feelings to themselves and did not share with each other their deep down personal troubles. Mom, Cecily, did have her inner turmoil since she had to give her baby up for adoption 50 years ago when she was 16. She never forgave herself for this but she never really tried to find her child either. I am glad I finished the book because you do get some clarity in the end if that is what you can call it.
Thanks to #AmazonPublishingUK & #netgalley for this digital copy of the book

I started off this book really enjoying it. The characters are vibrant and the story flows very well, with a bit of a mystery about why Cecily, mum of adult children, takes off to Greece with no explanation. About a quarter of the way through, the story goes back in time, when Cecily is a teen, and reveals her back story. At this point, the novel began to drag and drag, and I could barely make it through this point. When that portion was over and it was back to "real time" in England, with her adult daughters and their busy lives, I no longer cared about Cecily, her husband and the adult daughters. That was at about 55% on the Kindle version, and I gave up on it. I knew it would end one of maybe three ways, and I wasn't interested in spending the time on it. It's probably a pleasant enough ending, but just not dynamic enough to keep my interest. Sorry, not sorry. I am grateful to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read a free e-copy of The Last Piece in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review and I appreciate the opportunity to read it.

I was pleasantly intrigued by the beginning of the book but it took less than 10 minutes to solve the mystery of the letter and the rest of the book seemed to me to lack a certain something.

In Greece we have chapters of Cecily mooning around the hotel waiting for something to happen and when Marnie does deign to appear her character is simply obnoxious with no redeeming features.. I am sure I would have told her to take the obvious chip on her shoulder.

In Harrogate we have 3 unlikely siblings and a truly unbelievable twin tale including a delicate twin who has had five children of her own - not too delicate then? In addition we have the Paragon of the husband.. None of these characters felt fully fleshed out and I wanted to scream at them to do something.

When finally Cecily and Norman decide to tackle the problem (whilst not exactly intending a head on collision) Sofia's reaction to their appearance is so not what I would expect. I did like the reveal at the end and felt it fitted the storyline well but Overall i think the author missed opportunities to really make the narrative stand up. Her characters fell at either end of the likeability spectrum with nothing in between.

I also felt splitting it into all these parts was totally unnecessary. The book was on evolving story line and didn't need to be segmented. It made for a fragmented novel overall.

I haven't read anything by this author before and wouldn't necessarily look for anything else by her in the future

I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

An interesting family drama where a mother Cecile starts a series of changes by suddenly breaking character and went off on holiday without mentioning a word to the family. Such a close family, why would she do that? I enjoyed getting to know these women, so entwined with each other, and followed their journey of discovery. Not so much a mystery/thriller as I thought but enjoyable just the same.

This was a beautifully and well written story. I loved all the characters and were believable. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Cecily. Thought provoking and not the ending that I had expected.

What a lovely read. Took you through the journey. Loved how the characters reacted to the situation. Would recommend

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good story.
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2020
I found this to be a great story about family and the secrets they keep, and how they are viewed once the secrets are revealed. I thought the characters made sense. I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion

Secrets, family, relationships, such a great read, thank you, beautifully written. Would definitely recommend.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cecily's story. She definitely earned my sympathy for her life-changing situation. I also enjoyed the story being set in parts of England. Clark developed her characters with realistic flaws, which contributed to a surprising ending. An interesting story of family dynamics!

This book was a DNF for me. Honestly, it was a did not start. I didn't make it past the scene on the airplane with the grandmother. The whole book seemed ensconced in stereotypes. When the grandmother started to worry about traveling on her own because she hadn't really done that in so long, I thought - this book isn't for me.

Cecily Nightingale has it all, a loving husband and 3 grown daughters. She is as steadfast and predictable as the day is long. One day she takes off for Greece without any notice to her kids. Only her husband knows why and he isn't telling the girls.

Cecily has a huge secret from her past that she thought would never come out. However, after she receives a letter inviting her to Greece, she feels she must take this chance, even though there could be devastating consequences to her family.

This is an amazing story for family, love and redemption.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

I received an advance copy of this book through Net Galley, but my review is my own. I found this book a charming companion over the weeks I was reading it. Not sure what it ultimately amounts to, but sometimes being pleasant is enough.

The book tells the story of Cecily’s happy family with three grown daughters and a handful of grandchildren, and the turmoil that Cecily is thrown into when a letter arrives from her past. Most characters are fairly well developed and their motivations understandable. Light reading with an attempt at deeper meaning thrown in there.

The Last Piece by Imogen Clark

A sudden departure. A story decades in the making. The chaotic, but happy, every day life of the Nightingale family is thrown into disarray when Cecily disappeared to a Greek Island with no warning or explanation.

I was disappointed in this book. The plot just went on and con without coming to a solution. Most of the characters, other than Cecily and Norm, had no personalities. I did not like the way the book ended.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for review.

Cicily is an older woman with grown children. She has never done anything spontaneous. Now the girls are shocked to learn she has traveled to Greece, by herself. When she returns they find out they have a grown half sister in her 50's. This throws the whole family into a frenzy. Stories that deal with adoption can go several directions and this is a well written realistic story. Not all meetings with birth parents go smoothly and end up one happy family. I like this story has a little unknown thrown in for the ending. I've read Imogen Clark before and enjoy her style. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Family, secrets, relationships, ...this was an enjoyable read. Emotional at times, it was a beautifully written story.
Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.