This book starts off slowly but then the pace builds up.
The ending was very predictable
But still a good read

This book started out slow but I'm glad I persevered as I did enjoy it very much in the end. Jo is devastated when her best friend Ginny passes away and she gladly steps in to raise her teenage son. Her family is torn asunder when Ginny's son comes to live with her and he wants to find his father. He might be closer than Jo realises. There was some twists in this one and relationships developed. Themes explored was teenage drug use and racism. Would recommend

When I think of women's fiction, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

I had a whole barrage of thoughts to on this book as I ploughed through it but now that I have come to review it they all seem to escape me. On the whole, I am in two minds about the book as I am not a slow paced type of reader and as the story played out for pretty much the entire first half, it pretty much read more like the joys of parenting obnoxious moody teenagers...not to mention the gossip mongering and narrow-mindedness of so-called friends who were quick to judge another parent's child whilst defending the honour and accomplishments of their own.

The story begins with Ginny ruminating over the choice she has made, the secret she must keep whilst leaving readers wondering what is so massive that she, who processes everything by telling everyone, kept schtum on this...whatever "this" was. It is clear that Ginny is faced with coming clean in the face of death...and yet she chose not to. Why? We had yet to find out.

Jo and Ginny had been best friends for nearly thirty years so when Ginny lay on her deathbed succumbing to the cancer that was flooding her body, she pleaded with Jo to take in her seventeen year old son Victor. Jo never gave the option much thought but had thought it best to run it by hubby Patrick before making the decision. But dealing with the throes of teenage angst in the form of their own sixteen year old daughter Phoebe, they were both reluctant to take on another woman's child and therefore adding to their troubles.

However, as Ginny neared the end and she upped the ante in begging, Jo felt she couldn't say no to her best friend. After all, Victor had no one else but his ailing grandfather who was in no fit state to care for him. And so, she said yes. Patrick was far from pleased and begrudgingly travelled the three hours or so to Cardiff from their little village Sussex to bring Victor home with them. Relations were strained from the beginning as each tiptoed around the other in trying to accommodate the grieving young man. Phoebe was far from impressed with having to share her attention which manifested itself in even worse behaviour that had played out before this.

And so there were parties, drunken nights out, a car accident fuelled by smoking weed, shoplifting and generally acting out. As if that wasn't enough, now that drugs appeared to be in the picture, the finger was firmly pointed in Victor's direction. After all, nothing like this had ever happened in sleepy Snedhurst until a black teenage boy came to live in their midst. Now it's all drug-fuelled orgies and whispers in dark alleys with the sleight of hand exchange for weed and goodness knows what else. I mean, who'd have thought these innocent girls would be snorting coke on the best silver until "he" turned up corrupt them?

So Jo not only had to grieve for her best friend in private, for fear of upsetting Victor in his own grief, but she had to contend with the obnoxious teenage angst and outbursts from a somewhat out of control Phoebe who obviously thought the world revolved around her as well as the neighbourhood gossips who believed that Victor had come to their village with the express intention of corrupting their virtuous teenage community. People who she had thought were her friends turned on her as quick as the whispers that flowed through the village.

And just when she thought things could get any worse, she is hit with a bombshell secret she never saw coming which thus sent her spiralling into an abyss of guilt and blame. How could she not have known? How could she not have seen this coming? And how could the people she loved the most in this world betray her in the worst possible way?

While thoughtful and compelling, ANOTHER WOMAN'S CHILD is very slow to start. However, I wanted to know what the big secret was and how everything was going to pan out. Of course, I couldn't wait to see hypocritical Faye get her comeuppance when the tables are turned and she sees her own daughter for who she really is instead of keeping the blinkers in place preventing her from doing so whilst systematically shifting the blame solely onto Phoebe and then Victor. The other parents play little part in comparison to Faye who was meant to be Jo's best friend in the village.

To be honest, I struggled with the first half, I really did. I found everyone thoroughly annoying except for Jasmine, the mother who didn't get quite so much spotlight as evil Faye, and who always had a crocodile of colourful children following in her wake, and of course the strong silent resilience of Victor who had lost his mother so young and was trying to navigate a new life, a new school and a new family all at the same time in the midst of the quagmire. And yet, he was far wiser beyond his years.

I didn't really warm to Jo and was aghast at the way she allowed Phoebe to talk to her. If I'd have spoken to my parents like that I would have been grounded till I was 70! The complete and utter disrespect she shows her mother is mind-boggling. I know we've all been teenagers and have had to navigate hormones and adolescence, but I don't remember ever being so disrespectful as she is. And Jo just let her walk all over her, citing that pushing her will only escalate the issue. Had Phoebe been taught to respect boundaries when she was younger then she would have been less likely to be so disrespectful now. But hey, what do I know? I did , however, find Faye a little too quick to lay all the blame at Phoebe's feet and criticise Jo for her parenting skills in that passive aggressive way that sounds like she's joking but she's really not.

And yet despite all the angst, disrespect and prejudice in the slowish start, ANOTHER WOMAN'S CHILD picked up its pace in the second half as secrets and truths were were slowly revealed. I had worked out the "big secret" as I pieced the little clues together that had been peppered throughout and was left in tears by the end. Not in a sad way but a happy way. I was actually laughing through my tears, particularly at Jo's mum's impromptu speech in her oh-so-diplomatic way...lol

A reasonably good read, ANOTHER WOMAN'S CHILD will delight fans of contemporary women's fiction who enjoy the slow pace through an emotional journey that is thoughtful and compelling.

I would like to thank #KerryFisher, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #AnotherWomansChild in exchange for an honest review.

A good book
Great characters
Will keep you hooked
A lot of twists and surprises you won’t think of
Thanks NetGalley

Having read a few books by this author and thoroughly enjoying them, I was excited and looking forward to loosing myself in this book of hers, knowing that she does write such great stories.

Truth be told, I had hoped to enjoy this story a lot more than I had, but unfortunately for me, I found it to be quite slow paced and a slow burner for the first half of the book. Don’t get me wrong it was a well told story, with great characters and the author dealt with some real issues throughout some of which were focused around bereavement, racism and drug use in teenagers and did them all justice.

Once into the second half of the story, things started picking up and started to happen and I was able to enjoy the story a lot more than I’d started at the beginning. I’m glad that I stuck with it and didn’t give up, which is something I rarely do anyhow.

The only odd thing a I found strange, is the abrupt change in Phoebe personality and the direction that her life was going, she was clearly in a dark place, treating her parents like crap, going through something but it never came to light as to why Phoebe was being the way she was. She just all of a sudden saw sense and began to change, no explanation to the readers whatsoever. Now I’m not a parent myself and so maybe this is completely normal behaviour for a teenager and so no explanation was required/needed, in which case if that is so, then the author did a great job with that character.

So despite me not having enjoyed this story 100%, this hasn’t deterred me from reading future books by this author and so I will be looking forward to reading her books again in the future.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Another Woman's Child was my first book by Kerry Fisher. I have to say that I LOVED her writing style. This book as heavy on the drama, and included a lot about teenage drama/issues, racism and loss of a parent. To be a best friend like Jo and Ginny, and the magnitude of what Jo did by taking Ginny's son as her own was very heartwarming. I enjoyed this novel, and look forward to more by Kerry Fisher.

Another Woman's Child was very well written and kept my attention. The ending was not a shock but Kerry delivered the story so well. Can't wait to read more from this author.

Loved this Kerry Fisher book. This emotional, gripping and heartbreaking book is an absolute must read....wow....just wow!

Kerry Wilkinson does an amazing job of bringing readers into a story and making them care about the characters. His Jessica Daniels series is one of my favorites and his stand alone books cross and/or blend genres on a regular basis. You never know what to expect from his characters, which makes for very good reading. ANOTHER WOMAN'S CHILD bridges emotional challenges that will raise questions in most of us on what lies beneath the surface of our communities.

Jo lives in an insulated community. Her neighbors all look like her, their families are all similar with no integration issues because there is no integration. When Jo's long time best friend dies, she brings her 17yr mixed race son into her home, never expecting racial prejudice to be one of the problems facing her. But this, along with so many other issues, must be faced before her family can become whole. She will be confronted by many surprises along the way as she, her family and her community learn acceptance and compassion. An absolutely wonderful 5star read.

This book is another though provoking, emotiona read by Kerry Fisher.
When Jo's best friend passes away, she offers to take in her 17 year old son Victor. Even though she knows it won't be easy for any of them, she does what she believes is right.

The story tackles themes of drug abuse and racism, along with many others.
This is a fascinating, gripping story that pulls you in from the first page. The characters are realistic and likeable, and the entire book was written so beautifully, it was hard not to feel connected to these characters and the situation they are in.

An absolute page turner that I adored.

Another Woman’s Child,’ is another emotional family drama from Kerry Fisher. When Jo’s best friend Ginny dies, she offers to take care of her 17-year-old son Victor despite knowing it is not going to be easy, especially for her husband and teenage daughter.

Tackling themes of racism, drug abuse, teenage rebellion, privilege and much more, this is another gripping read from Fisher. Although the start was a little slow and the ‘twist,’ fairly obvious, it was still an engaging read.

What a brilliant read. Its a very well written story of love, family and friendship. I was hooked from the first page and loved the characters.

Highly recommended to all and well deserves the 5 stars.

Thank you Bookouture and Netgalley.

Another Woman’s Child was another fab book by Kerry Fisher. I really enjoyed this book and I just had to keep on reading. A great page turner that I found hard to put down. A thought provoking book of a family who take on another teenager on the death of his mother and takes you through the ups and downs of family life.

A really lovely story about a family who take on a boy into their home when his mother, their friend, dies. This causes upheaval not least because of his race. Heartwarming story about family and friendships.

This book was not my cup of tea. I think the author gave her characters too many issues to deal with and it bogged the book down.

An emotion packed drama unfolds in Another Woman's Child. There were several impactful themes in this story. One that really touched me was how to react in the presence of racism. Jo struggles to speak her mind when she sees and hears racial discrimination. Another theme is family. and exploring what it means to bring another child into your home. Overall, I found Jo's character to be difficult to like, I think some of it was the writing, and that her character reacted in an irritatingly predicable manner for longer than I enjoyed. Overall, I enjoyed this story but found it a bit hard to read at times, due to the repeated reactions of Jo. I did find the storyline enjoyable as well as the other characters.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a reviewers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Loved this book! Thought provoking, intriguing faced paced book. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating from me. Thank you Bookouture, Netgalley, and Kerry Fisher for this book in exchange for an honest review!

I read this in one day! An amazing book very well written and full of characters that you care about. It kept me engrossed from start to finish. Highly recommended.

This book was brilliant! So thought provoking and empathetic. I could really relate to the main character and it really made me consider casual racism more seriously.