I enjoyed this book. Very different to what I usually really but engaging throughout and I highly recommend.

The Impossible Truths about Love by Hannah Beckerman
Thirty something, stem cell academic Nell's father has just died and she spends a weekend at the family home helping her 2 older sisters pack up the house as her mother has dementia and needs to move to a care home. On his deathbed her father (doped up on morphine) tells Nell that " you need to know that I have always loved you even though you were never really mine to love." This starts Nell searching through boxes in the attic and questioning her dad's business partner to find out what her father meant. The story has alternate chapters between "Then" - over thirty years ago exploring her mother, Annie's story and "Now" with Nell's quest.

This has pretty consistent glowing reviews on Goodreads and Amazon about how stunning and heartbreaking the story is.However, I didn't really connect with the characters, I got really bored and didn't ultimately care what the "big secret" was. Everything was related in minute detail, cups of tea, pieces of wrapping paper, shafts of sunlight etc. and there were endless similies like a piece of GCSE coursework - I felt like shouting "get a move on!" I found this a slog.

When Nell’s beloved father tells her on his deathbed that he has always loved her, even though she was “never mine to love,” she is thrown into confusion. She wonders if his mind was wandering or if his words hint at an explanation of why she has always felt different from the others in her family, why her relationship with her two sisters has never been easy and why her mother has been over-protective, keeping her as close as possible. Her mother, Annie, now has dementia, and she keeps referring to things Nell doesn’t understand before relapsing into forgetfulness again. As the narrative switches to the past, Annie’s secrets are slowly revealed as Nell pieces her story together. This is an intriguing and poignant novel, sensitively exploring themes of love, loss and family ties. The impossible choices Annie and Nell face are thought-provoking and the central mystery makes it hard to put down. The ending is satisfying, but it left me wanting to know more, which is a sign of how involving the story is.

I loved this story from cover to cover. I truly beautiful story of unconditional love, loss and family. To follow along with Nell and her journey of discovery, was at times a little emotional, but beautifully written and a pleasure to read.

This was a deeply emotional story of loss, heartbreak, discovering truths, family, acceptance, letting go, trying to figure out who you are, understanding your past and trying to figure out how to navigate your new world. Nell has always felt like an outcast in her family. Her father, the only one who supported her choices tells her something that rocks her world while on his deathbed. And so begins her journey of discovery. This was beautifully written and a wonderful read.

A deathbed declaration….a series of events over the past 30 years that have led to suspicion along with the declaration add up to something not being quite right in Nell’s world. But who can she ask? Her mother is suffering with Dementia and her two much older sisters are reluctant to share information with her.

And do, Nell goes on a quest to find out the truth about her life, about where she comes from and who her family really are…

Gripping, I really enjoyed this book, It’s full of drama and you’ll be wondering how its all going to play out…very good!



https://mams.ie/forums/topic/the-impossible-truths-of-love-by-hannah-beckerman/

wow wow wow! What a book - one of the best that I've read in a long time. This book is about Nell, a 30 something woman whose Dad tells her something on his deathbed that triggers off a major train of events. With her mum suffering from Dementia and unable to tell her everything its down to Nell to work out what the truth is. Nell always thought that she was different and its this thought that makes her want to learn more. This book did have some great themes too - families/love/dementia/death and went back and forward between then and now. It kept letting little bits of info and ad it just made me want more and more - i just couldnt put it down. Everytime i thought id guessed what was going to happen then it changed and i was guessing again to the end. This was my first book by this author and i cant wait to read more.

A wonderful, emotional read! This was so beautifully written that I teared up several times throughout the book.

I don’t want to reveal too much of the story because I enjoyed unraveling the mystery myself. It’s set in dual timelines, 35 years apart. Nell, dealing with her fathers death and her mother’s dementia, is told by her father before he passed, “I have always loved you, even though you were never really mine to love”. This odd sentence sets Nell down a path she never knew anything about and answers questions she never knew she had.

The other timeline is 35 years prior, Annie (Nell’s Mum) and the tumultuous few years she had around Nell’s early years. The grief was palpable and decisions made that had life long repercussions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.

4.5★s
“You need to know that I’ve always loved you even though you were never really mine to love.”

The Impossible Truths of Love is the third novel by British TV and film producer, journalist and author, Hannah Beckerman. The last thing that her father said to her before he died has Nell Hardy puzzled. Asking her grieving mother, recently diagnosed with dementia, is unlikely to be fruitful, while getting past the resentment her older sisters bear her is a challenge. Might her father’s business partner, Elsa know something?

As she spends a weekend back in her hometown helping to pack up their parents’ house so her mother can go to a care facility, she comes across certain items: a folder of newspaper clippings about babies and a leaflet on adoption, that cause her to recall snippets of overheard conversations between her parents. In addition, her mother occasionally makes cryptic comments without explanation. She begins to wonder about her past, to ask questions…

Thirty-eight years earlier, Annie Hardy gave birth a little late in life to her third child, a boy, and she and Bill were overjoyed. Until, tragically, they no longer were. Annie was hit hard, and was unable to cope; it took quite some time for her to recover. Then life promised more joy: dare she trust it would stay? Could she survive the traumas coming her way? What was the right choice in the impossible dilemma they faced?

Beckerman touches on topical and age-old themes in this dual timeline story of lies and secrets and agonising discoveries. Her depiction of grief and depression feels authentic, and the attitude of Nell’s sisters will resonate with those who find themselves in the default carer role for elderly, frail or demented parents by virtue of proximity. Fans of Kelly Rimmer’s novels will likely enjoy this one. A moving and thought-provoking read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK.

This was such a touching book with so many truths that came unravelling in this family when the father utters one last comment on his deathbed. I devoured this story wanting to know how our main character Nell searches to discover her truth and how she deals with the discovery.

A beautiful exploration of what it means to be a family, The Impossible Truths of Love explores the story of Nell and her parents Annie and Bill. Tackling dementia and parental death, the narrator tackles unreliable accounts of her parents past as she searches to find out what her father's last words to her really mean. Told between past tense and present, The Impossible Truths of Love illustrates how far parents will go to protect their children and how simple mistakes can change the course of a family's history.

I really enjoyed this novel by Hannah Beckerman - the prose was beautifully written and she tackled infant death, parental death and aging tactfully. I gave it three stars because I felt like some of the supporting characters got lost in the story - I would have loved to see some resolution between Nell and her sisters, or Nell and Elsa - but they fell by the wayside as the story played out.

Thanks to Net Galley, Amazon Publishing and Hannah Beckerman for the ARC!

Read if you like:

+ Family Dramas
+ Investigative novels
+ Self-identity and character growth

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for reviews.

This book is like finding what happens in the past. The character Nell discovered about her mother's past when she was a baby. Learn the truth about what happened and why. This is a great book.

On his deathbed Nell’s father in Hannah Beckerman’s The Impossible Truths of Love tells Nell a secret that she wasn’t his to love. From that point on, Nell is determined to find out who she really is. Told in a dual timeline story format, this well-written book about secrets, grief, loss, identity, and family will have you questioning the powerful emotion of love and what really makes a family.

Triggers: Loss of a child, depression

The Impossible Truths Of Love is a novel where there is no right or wrong. Emotionally charged this novel is the story of Nell, Annie and Bill. Alternating between the past and present this book is a story of a mother and daughter but with a layer of secrecy.
This novel is a very emotional read. All the characters in this novel have a reason for how they act and behave. It is very difficult to say if I loved or liked it because it's not a subject to be judged. By the end of the novel all I wanted to do is cry. Annie's story and her grief is written so well that it tugs your heart. Nell's confusion at her mother's past behavior, her dad's devotion and her exclusion from her sisters life all makes sense as the story unfolds. A 4 star read but be prepared as this novel definitely is not for everyone as it deals with a very difficult subject.

A beautiful story of the resilience and power of love. Annie is the youngest of 3 girls, but has always felt left out , the 3rd wheel. When her father makes a cryptic remark on his deathbed, and her mother is dealing with dementia, Annie tries to sort through family secrets while managing a career and her own relationships. I really enjoyed this book and thank NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review it. #lovewins #familysecrets #TheImpossibleTruthsofLove

I couldn't really get into this book. It wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the book no matter how hard I tried. I may go back to the book at a later date.

I loved this book from the way it was written, how the characters were developed to the subjects that were touched like love and grief. It is definitely one of my favourite book I have read this year.

I really loved this mystery story and found it totally engrossing. Nell is by her father’s side as he is dying of cancer when he tells her that he had always loved her even though she was never his to love. Perplexed by this comment, Nell sets about trying to understand what it meant. The story alternates between past and present but is not jarring at all to move through these different times. Exploring her parents’ marriage, Nell struggles with grief, identity and belonging. A beautifully told tale that immersed me.

What a roller coaster ride of a story! And mostly happened over one long weekend with flashbacks to 35 years earlier. The story is of one woman's journey to learn her history that was unexpectedly triggered by something her father says to her the last time she sees him before he dies. It is pushed along by a number of comments her mother who is suffering from dementia makes. Random comments that don't seem to apply to anything unless you combine them with what her father said and some things she finds as they are cleaning out her parents house in preparation for her mother to move into a care facility. From the very beginning of the book, the author skillfully takes you down one path and you are convinced you have figured out what the truth is only to have a twist thrown in that heads you in another direction altogether. This was a very enjoyable story that held my attention to the very end.

I had mixed feelings. Some of the writing was just lovely and Hannah Beckerman certainly knows how to put words together. My problem in reading was there were too many about the one thing and then the heightened emotion was repeated about the same event as the follow-on parts of the story emerged. I was swamped. So the emotional tug that some reviewers had praised highly was missing for me. Other than that, it was a nice story with sibling antagonism mixed with love and resentment, arising from what would have been an agonising emotional experience (no spoilers)