What a story!

This story is emotional and heartbreaking. So many kids go thru similar experiences and struggle with who they are.

Melody had a troubled life from a young age and never had stability. I understand this story more than most.
Having to live like Melody, growing up with so many unstable people in her life makes it so she truly doesn’t know who she is and what she’s about.
The struggles of being an adult but not understanding how her life had come to that point.
Being a young mother and making your child everything in your life until the day that child is an adult and now you have to figure out who you really are.

Such a great story that is informative and honest.

I have read all of Lisa Jewell's recent thrillers, but they did not prepare me for this backlist title (first published in 2009), which is more women's fiction than thriller - though it does have a mystery at its core. The mystery? What happened to Melody that she has no memory of her childhood years?

Melody is the single mother of a teenage boy. It has always just been the two of them. Though Melody does have adopted parents, she has not been in contact with them since she became pregnant at age fifteen. She works as a 'dinner lady' at the primary school where her son once attended. Melody and Ed live in a council flat in Covent Garden.

Melody remembers waking up after being rescued from her burning house when she was only nine years old. Before that... she remembers nothing.

For the first time in recent memory, Melody agrees to go out on a date with a man she met on a bus. They go to a hypnotist show and Melody gets chosen from the audience to participate in the show. The hypnotist regresses her to a five year old, after which she passes out. After awakening, she slowly, ever so slowly begins to remember flashbacks from her early childhood. As she does, she begins to piece together her past. She is very eager to discover her roots.

The narrative alternates between the present and past timelines when she was a tiny girl. I have to say that the scenes written from her childish viewpoint of a five, six, and seven year old girl were my favourites of the entire novel. She was a little girl whom everyone seemed to love, yet still - she fell through the cracks. During those years she suffered great upheavals in her life, and also experienced tragic loss.

Although I understood Melody's reactions to her adoptive mother, I couldn't help feel deeply sorry for the woman.

So much change, loss, and trauma when Melody was a tiny girl. Her mind just decided to compartmentalize and dissociate herself from her past. Repressed childhood memories.

Jewell’s writing is compelling. The Truth About Melody Browne is a story about truth and resilience. About realizing how your past impacts your present and about how dysfunction in families can reverberate over generational divides. A character driven novel with many poignant scenes that I highly enjoyed.

4.5 stars rounded up

It took me awhile to get to this book, on my to- be- read pile, but wow when I did I couldn't put it down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is an amazing book and a very endearing story.

I enjoyed reading this one from Lisa Jewell's backlist. I liked the way the narrative was laid out, but sometimes got confused when the reader would know something about Melody that she hadn't discovered yet. The character development was fantastic, it felt richer than your normal suspenseful 'thriller', but what it gained in fleshed out characters it lacked in the classic Lisa Jewell jaw dropping ending. I appreciated the HEA but if you're looking to be shook, just know the ending won't do that for you.

I really enjoyed this! It isn’t a typical Lisa book, but I enjoyed the characters. She always has a way of you rooting for the main character. I loved following her journey of finding out who she truly is.

I have always enjoyed Lisa Jewell’s books and this was no different. This one was a suspense filled page turner that hit every note for me. I really enjoyed the plot of this story and the characters were so intriguing!

2.5
I think I'm going to have to pass on Jewell's books from now on. I just don't find her books memorable or care about the characters and she uses cheap trigger topics for her twists to get reactions.
Melody was a girl who couldn't remember her past and then it started coming back. She had some traumatic events happen but I honestly couldn't remember what they were until I started writing the review, the were glossed over but supposedly life changing.

What a talented writer. Definitely an Auto Buy!! The Author absolutely has a way with words, she is incredibly talented in her story telling.

I've been putting off reviewing this one because I really didn't like it and don't have much to say. It just dragged on and on and none of the characters or the plot were engaging to me. Lisa Jewell is usually a hit or miss for me and unfortunately this one was a miss. I believe this is one of her older novels reprinted, and I just can't recommend it.

The Truth About Melody Browne, by Lisa Jewell, was such a good read. Melody Browne had a tough start to life. Her earliest memory is of the day her house went on fire and she was outside sitting in the lawn. She has no siblings and her life is simple. Until she turns 15 and finds out she is pregnant. Her parents leave tell her she can’t keep the baby and that if she does keep the baby, she can’t stay with them. She decides to have the baby and leaves her parents and never looks back.
Fast forward 18 years later and her son is turning 18. Her life if safe and simple. She works very hard to provide for her son and they have a good life. Things are actually looking up. While in a date to a a Hypnotist show, Melody’s world turns upside down. After she is hypnotized, she passes out and hits her head. Her date gets her home and she thinks nothing of it. But the next day she starts remembering things that she had never thought about. Memories of people and places and immediately tries to figure out, what she has stumbled upon. i really liked this story and I really liked the characters. Melody seemed so real and honest. Her love for her son and her need to figure out these secrets is heartwarming. Can she piece these empties together? What will it cost her if she does? Can she ever go back to what, was her simple life? This was a 4 star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley & Lisa Jewell for my copy for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors, I always know when I read a book by her, I will love it. I loved the twisty storyline in this book. It kept me guessing the whole time, as to what would happen next. I was intrigued the whole time reading it, and didn’t want to put it down. I recommend checking it out!

I love Lisa Jewell, so I was excited to read THE TRUTH ABOUT MELODY BROWNE, which published back in 2008, but was just released in the US.

This was another great story full of family drama, which is definitely a favorite for me.

*many thanks to Atria/Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Fire burned young Melody Browne's home down and after she could not remember anything from before that day. Presently shes a single mom of a teenage boy. She decides it's time to start dating and heads out to her date at a hypnotists show. There she faints and starts to remember what happened before that fire.

This was not my favorite Lisa Jewell book. It was alot different than the others I've read. It took me awhile to get into it, but after I did I finished most of it in one afternoon.

Thank you to Netgalley and Artia Books for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
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I think when I saw Lisa Jewell as the author I was expecting a thriller and this definitely isn’t so maybe that’s where my disappointment lies. She’s a great writer and a wonderful storyteller so I’m sure I’m in the minority when I say this one didn’t work for me.

I made it to about 40% into the book and nothing is holding my interest. The time line keeps jumping back and forth and it’s hard to follow.

This was a different writing style than I am used to with Lisa Jewell. This was a beautiful tale of discovery. Melody is a character you route for. I was drawn into her journey and was sad when it was over as I found myself wanting to know more.

This was an enjoyable change of pace from so many books lately that are trying too hard to twist and shock you with unbelievable events. This was just a story that took us from A to B, in a good way.

Melody Browne is a single mother in her 30s, working as a kitchen assistant, and estranged from her parents since she became pregnant at 15. While on a date at a hypnotist show, Melody faints. All of a sudden she starts having flashbacks of a childhood she can't remember. A traumatic fire when she was nine caused her to lose her memory. Now, she's remembering places and people, but the more she remembers, the more questions she has. Will she ever discover the truth of her past?
This story jumps from Melody's present and her brief and jumbled flashbacks to her childhood from ages 4 to 6. I was concerned with her relationship with Ken because, while he was probably meant to be a steady and sweet adult presence in her life, I thought his possible intentions were creepy given his lifestyle. Her past was just so tragic and heartbreaking, it almost seemed a blessing that she blocked it out her while life.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

This book was totally different from the thrillers I've come to know Lisa Jewell for, but it was no less thrilling. I loved Melody Browne, both as a kind-hearted, precocious little girl facing far too many struggles far too young, and as an adult, a loving mother with a blurry past learning who she was and who she is. Sometimes back and forth time jumping can be irritating but Jewell did it so well. I wasn't constantly wishing for it to get to one POV because both POVs were equally engaging. Tragic things happen in this book but it isn't a tearjerker and there are good, hopeful, heartwarming things, too. It was a perfect balance, one I don't feel like I've seen too often. Whether you are a Jewell fan or not, try this one out!

Thank you NetGalley, Jewell, and publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I didn't realize this was an older book recently rereleased! I'm a fan of Lisa Jewell and I enjoyed this book, though it wasn't quite what I was expecting from the author. I'm used to reading her thrillers, so this was an unexpected (in a good way) read!