Home Truths

Drawn in from the very beginning, when knight in shining armour, Alex, first encountered Eleanor, who hadn’t had much luck since moving to London from America.

Nine times out of ten I can get a plot pretty much sewn up quite early on, and I enjoy playing detective while I’m reading. I also enjoy those plots that I just can’t quite figure out.
This was very much one of them!
Tina Seskis completely threw me off course with this one.
From very early on I was convinced I knew who the villain was, and I had ideas as to how that person would do their damage, and to who they’d do it to.

How wrong I was!

Despite wondering what certain characters were up to, having my suspicions, and knowing that things weren’t quite what they seemed, I did not manage to figure out the twists.
I was shocked at the deception that I’d totally missed.
I enjoyed the fact that I was unable to put my finger on exactly what was going on, and therefore I was as much in the dark about the upcoming big reveals as the characters were.
When it all became clear what was happening, I found myself wanting to go back to the start and read it again with the knowledge I now had!

The characters were interesting. I liked them all and disliked them all at various stages of the book. One minute I felt I knew them, and the next I was left wondering if they really were as innocent as I’d previously believed.
That doubt that the author cast over them was fantastic at keeping the reader from figuring out the secrets that lay ahead, as they all, at times, seemed to be up to no good.

A great, beautifully written, easy to read book, of which Tina Seskis seems to be able to produce so well.

Don’t go into this thinking you’ll be able to work out how the story will play out, because I guarantee that you won’t quite be able to see what’s coming!

Another really good book from Tina Seskis, I had been checking Netgalley for weeks waiting for this book, she’s the queen of twists and this book does disappoint!

Oh my word I have just finished this book and all I can say is Wow ! What an absolutely fantastic super read this was. I knew from the first chapter this was going to be a good one and I certainly wasn’t wrong. This is a book that had me gobsmacked at times. There are times when you read a book that after a few chapters you have a fair idea who the perpetrator is but this book threw me for six. This is a book which I can honestly say you won’t want to put down. Great characters and a superb storyline..

Well !!! What a story!
From the first chapter, I was drawn in and hooked. Each chapter was short, easy to read .. and left me wanting to know what was coming next.
A really good read again from Tina Seskis. Kept me gripped until the end! Will definitely be recommending this.

Tina Seskis does it again! A 5* read that will have you engrossed from the start, with a fantastic twist that I did not see coming. I literally had to pop my eyes back in their sockets near the end!

Well!!! I sat turning the pages on this one, curious, like a nosy neighbour twitching their curtains. Needing to know the ins and outs of the lives of these four characters!
The story ticks along nicely detailing the lives of two couples over many years. I became addicted quickly to the characters and wanted to keep reading to know where it was all going. I like to think I’m a good detective and can guess the outcomes of most books, but having read Tina’s book The Honeymoon I knew I’d have to be pretty clever to work this one out!
I loved that it was easy to follow with nice short chapters. The description throughout is fantastic allowing you to really get to know who you’re reading about, well so you’ll think! Its full of secrets and lies but you won’t be able to quite put your finger on it all until the final pages.

I highly recommend Home Truths which will be released on December 1st. Perfect timing for lighting the fire and settling down to read this by the Christmas Tree!

Thank you Tina Seskis, Net Galley & Amazon Publishing for my ARC.

Book Description-
A strong marriage can cope with the unexpected. But can it survive the unimaginable?
American nanny Eleanor was never meant to meet Alex. But when she walks into his London police station to report a stalker, everything changes for them both. He’s convinced he can protect her from anything and anyone. She hopes her darkest days are behind her.
As they settle into their life together, two hundred miles away another young couple faces an uncertain future. Christie knows Paul is a decent man, but she can’t shake a clairvoyant’s warning: ‘Never trust your husband . . .’ When a work trip tests their bond, will she overcome her fears for the sake of her family?
Ten years later, both couples are still together, for better or worse. But as doubts and resentments begin bubbling steadily to the surface, all four of them start to question the choices they’ve made.
At least the secrets they all brought into their marriages are still well hidden.
For now.

With the flare of other wonderful British authors, Tina Seskis puts pen to paper and creates a rather dark, extremely detailed tale of love, marriage and life as two couples form bonds that no man should put asunder.

HOME TRUTHS is a telling tale of how couples change, how the blush of new romance grows deeper in many ways even as the ties that bind them can become restrictive. Eleanor and Alex are strangers to Christie and Paul, but each of them will keep secrets, tell lies, and display all of the human failings and flaws, as well as insecurities faced by all. Woven within the fabric of this tale is the unknown, what will happen to each couple? Will they survive the struggles of marriage? Or will a master deceiver play them like puppets in the game of life?

Prepare yourself to ping-pong back and forth on your feelings regarding these characters as we witness mistakes made and compounded, as well as the resulting gaping wounds. Just when you think you know the outcome, Tina Seskis pulls a magnificent twist that will leave you reeling!

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Lake Union Publishing! This is my honest and voluntary review.

At the beginning of Home Truths, Seskis definitely sets the atmosphere by giving the reader a lot of questions to consider. Someone is in prison, but who are they and what have they done?  These questions were in the back of my mind all the way through the novel as I tried to work out how events would conspire.

Home Truths is set over a 25 year period and I enjoyed following the characters over such a long time. Seskis moves with the times really well and captures the changing cultures and concerns in society brilliantly as the story progresses.

The novel has several different narrators: Alex, Paul, Eleanor and Christie. The connection between them is not immediately clear, but I was intrigued trying to work it out. I found the story something of a slow burner, but this gave Seskis the opportunity to develop her characters and I enjoyed getting to know them, particularly the women.

As Home Truths reaches its conclusion, the plot becomes explosive and there are several twists. I was desperate to find out what happened and was turning pages furiously!

Well this was one interesting and twisty book! Pretty much all the way through I was trying to play detective to figure it all out. I had lots of theories but was never quite sure if I would be proven right. There is a moreish quality to the story especially as the little twists and surprises easily pulled me in deeper and deeper. In Home Truths you will see the story told from the perspectives of Paul, Christie, Alex and Eleanor. In these characters I found very different personalities which definitely helped to make them stand out. The plot covers twenty years, beginning in the nineties and following the lives of these four characters. With this passage of time it really gave me the chance to get to know them along with giving a much deeper feeling to the story as the reader is well and truly immersed in their lives.

Tina Seskis has written a character driven story that takes a look at relationships and family, showing both the good and the bad. Then you have a number of secrets and lies woven through which helps to create a tension that builds with every page. Home Truths is like a giant puzzle, one that I couldn’t wait to solve with little revelations along the way all helping to build the suspense. The pace isn’t necessarily always fast but the plot unfolds at a steady pace until all the puzzle pieces are finally in place. I could see that the characters were heading for trouble and believe me I had plenty of ideas but I never expected it all to conclude in such a surprising, dramatic and explosive way!

It’s not very often these days that I read a thriller, but I’m so pleased I chose to read this one. There’s a great deal about this book – the character development, the ins and outs of people’s daily lives, the complex relationships, the distinctive voices of its characters – that makes it appeal equally to a reader of women’s fiction. And my goodness, I really did enjoy it.

After the intriguing voice of the prologue, the book begins in the early 90s – as American nanny Eleanor meets eager policeman Alex when she reports her concerns about a stalker. Meanwhile, in what seems a quite separate story line, Christie struggles to trust husband Paul. The book follows their lives over several decades, as their lives and relationships develop and change – the two stories never converging, but expertly twisted around each other, recounted through the well-sustained distinctive voices and viewpoints of the four separate characters.

There are clearly hidden secrets, and the characters themselves are really satisfyingly complex – and the author very cleverly plays with the reader’s sympathies and levels of engagement with the characters as their stories unfold. There are small revelations (and a few surprises) along the way, but the tension cranks up steadily and inexorably as you become increasingly convinced that there’s more to these stories than you’re seeing on the surface.

This is a book where you can’t help trying to second guess the outcome, and whether there was any connection between the stories – at times I was convinced I’d sussed it out, but I was entirely on the wrong track. In fact, I followed the false leads repeatedly – and really enjoyed the experience. It finally plays out right at the very end – and although I’m usually not a fan of the jaw-dropping twist, it was totally unexpected but entirely believable, and exceptionally well handled.

If I do have a criticism (and it’s only a little one), I did find the book just a little wordy at the start – the style took a few chapters until I felt comfortable. But then I realised that I was halfway through – and that I was totally embroiled in the lives of the characters, the pages were turning faster and faster, and that I had a really tight knot of anticipation but really couldn’t put my finger on the cause. This was such clever writing, as the tension steadily mounted and you grew increasingly convinced that something was going to happen that would rock the foundations of the characters you felt you’d come to know so well.

I really enjoyed this one – and would most definitely recommend to others.

(Review copied to Amazon UK, but link not yet available.)

I keep finding elements of Ruth Rendell in Ms. Seskis books and for this reader, that's a good thing. There is always this multilayered story where the connections are slowly revealed, characters are not always what they seem on the surface and it just makes for a compulsively readable story. In Home Truths, you will be surprised at the connection between the two couples, Eleanor and Alex in London and Christie and Paul hundreds of miles away. I read this over the course of a weekend of dreary, rainy weather and I just could not stop reading. I am glad I was home alone, as I am sure I would have had to tell my spouse to get lost!! I did also read One Step Too Far and I will definitely go back and read her other books.

When Eleanor walks into a London Police Station she is unaware of just how her life is about to change when she meets the charismatic young police officer who takes her complaint of having a stalker seriously. What then follows is a cleverly plotted psychological thriller which keeps the story moving along at a suspenseful pace.

Intertwining two complex stories is no mean feat and yet, the author does a great job of building a rapport between the reader and the main characters so that an emotional bond is formed with all of them. On the surface we have two very different families who, seemingly, have no relationship whatsoever, and yet as things start to be revealed so the tension in the story gets tighter.

I can't say too much about the main focus of the plot as that would really give the game away and this is a complex story which is definitely best read with no preconceived idea of the direction it is heading. I so enjoyed the challenge of trying to piece together all the pieces of the puzzle and, most unusually, for me, I didn't see the twist coming, so that when it hit me I enjoyed thinking over the cleverness of the overall plot.

I've now read several of this author's work and each successive story seems to get stronger, with I think, Home Truths being one of my favourites to date.

Four people. Two couples. How and why are they connected?

When young American nanny Eleanor walks into Finsbury Park police station to report a stalker, she meets Alex. Alex Moffatt, the policeman on duty, was immediately smitten and decided that he would be the one to look after Eleanor. Christie has been badly hurt before by a previous boyfriend but needs convincing that Paul is different and can be trusted.

Beginning in the early nineties and spanning a period of over 20 years, Home Truths is a suspenseful story that will keep you guessing until the end. Each chapter is voiced by one of the four characters, Eleanor, Alex, Christie and Paul and we follow these people through the ups and downs of their lives and relationships, all the time knowing that there has to be a connection between the strands, but wondering what on earth it is. Having the different voices tell their part of their story works well – you get to know the character and it gives them some substance and depth.

Secrets and lies are at the heart of this intriguing story. There were one or two areas that I wished had been explained a little earlier rather than being teasingly referred until the end (but that just may be me being very impatient) but on the whole this was an excellent read that kept my interest all the way through. At one stage there was that ‘penny dropping moment’ and I thought I knew part of what was happening, but I had absolutely no idea as to the reasons behind it. There were a couple of other strands which I thought I had sussed, needless to say I was completely wrong!

I’ve been reading and enjoying Tina’s books since her debut, One Step Too Far. They all focus more on characters and behaviour and always have at least one twist somewhere along the line to shock and surprise – and Home Truths certainly has its share of those! The character development, the intricate relationships and the way the story builds to a dramatic conclusion are always so very well done and a new book is always something to look forward to. I very much enjoyed Home Truths – definitely one to recommend.

I’m a huge fan of Tina Seskis’ writing so I was thrilled to get a copy of Home Truths and I’m really pleased to say that I loved it!

Home Truths opens with a young American woman, Eleanor, reporting a stalker to the police. The officer, Alex, who deals with her is immediately drawn to her and wants to look after her. We also follow a couple, Christie and Paul, who are really happy together but a visit to a psychic puts doubts in Christie’s mind and this comes to haunt her.

I did find the first couple of chapters a little difficult to get into but once I got into the flow of the writing I honestly couldn’t put this down and I read it all in one sitting! I love it when books feature multiple characters and I feel equally invested in finding out about all of them. It meant I enjoyed each chapter but was also keen to get back to the other characters and this made the book so gripping and fast-paced for me.

I found Home Truths to be an incisive portrayal of marriage and how one moment of not being open with your spouse can have ramifications that are further reaching than you can imagine. This is a thriller but it felt like a character study too – we see the day to day of these two couples’ lives and you really get to understand them but then the novel moves forward a few years and you see where they are now.

I loved the exploration of what makes a person who they are, and the way that each of the four main characters had things about them that made you question them. We know from early on that something bad happens in the book but I couldn’t for the life of me work out who was involved. I was mulling over several possibilities and whilst I got close with some of it I was wrong for the most part! I love when a book keeps me guessing all the way to the reveal.

I’ve really enjoyed all of Tina Seskis’ novels to date but I can definitely say that Home Truths is her best yet! I could not put this book down and even now I’m still thinking about it. I highly recommend this one!

This is a story of two marriages that you know are going to have to connect at some point, and usually I am pretty good at guessing what the twist will be, but this one definitely took me by surprise! American nanny Eleanor meets her future husband Alex, a police officer, when she goes to report a stalker. Alex "saves" her and they fall in love and build a life together. Christie's ex cheated on her so she has trust issues, but Paul is faithful and devoted, even through a rocky start to their marriage when Christie suffers postpartum depression. The characters are realistic, mostly likeable, and 3-dimensional. I give this 4 stars out of 5 because, while the story moves along at a decent pace, I knew something more had to be coming and it seemed to take a very long time to get there (I guess I am not very patient!)

Four people. Two couples. How and why are they connected?

When young American nanny Eleanor walks into Finsbury Park police station to report a stalker, she meets Alex. Alex Moffatt, the policeman on duty, was immediately smitten and decided that he would be the one to look after Eleanor. Christie has been badly hurt before by a previous boyfriend but needs convincing that Paul is different and can be trusted.

Beginning in the early nineties and spanning a period of over 20 years, Home Truths is a suspenseful story that will keep you guessing until the end. Each chapter is voiced by one of the four characters, Eleanor, Alex, Christie and Paul and we follow these people through the ups and downs of their lives and relationships, all the time knowing that there has to be a connection between the strands, but wondering what on earth it is. Having the different voices tell their part of their story works well – you get to know the character and it gives them some substance and depth.

Secrets and lies are at the heart of this intriguing story. There were one or two areas that I wished had been explained a little earlier rather than being teasingly referred until the end (but that just may be me being very impatient) but on the whole this was an excellent read that kept my interest all the way through. At one stage there was that ‘penny dropping moment’ and I thought I knew part of what was happening, but I had absolutely no idea as to the reasons behind it. There were a couple of other strands which I thought I had sussed, needless to say I was completely wrong!

I’ve been reading and enjoying Tina’s books since her debut, One Step Too Far. They all focus more on characters and behaviour and always have at least one twist somewhere along the line to shock and surprise – and Home Truths certainly has its share of those! The character development, the intricate relationships and the way the story builds to a dramatic conclusion are always so very well done and a new book is always something to look forward to. I very much enjoyed Home Truths – definitely one to recommend.

Home Truths by Tina Seskis opens with a young American woman, Eleanor, reporting a stalker to the police. The officer, Alex, who deals with her is immediately drawn to her and wants to look after her.