If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman @tlcbooktours @wmmorrowbooks #bookreview

Happy Thursday all!

This book! So emotional, so heart wrenching, so raw! Should come with a box of Kleenex!💔

My Thoughts

Hannah Beckermen has written a supremely emotional story, seriously this book should come with a box of Kleenex! This book did not break my heart it tore it out of my chest, chewed it up, spit it out, stomped on it a couple times and then slammed it against the wall! When I finish the book I dried my tears, took a deep breath, and just sat there quietly and thought. It is days later now and I’m still thinking about it. This book was a poignant look at one family’s journey to healing. Sisters Lily and Jess have been estranged for over 30 years, something happened all those decades ago and one sister is not able to forgive the other. Their mother Audrey is now ill and wants to find a way for her daughters to reconnect, she has two 17-year-old granddaughters who don’t even know each other. But after decades of secrets and hurt will these sisters even be able to be in the same room?

I’m going to be honest I have no idea if I liked this book or not? It moved me and had a profound effect on me, but it was brutal! This is really a book that begs to be discussed, so if you have read this, please message me, I still have so many questions. I still cannot understand why Audrey just didn’t force the issue and have her daughters talk things out? I cannot imagine I’d allow my kids not to speak to one another for 30 years? This was a family that had gone through so much tragedy they really would have benefited from the support of one another and probably some good therapy. Miss Beckermen’s evocative storytelling was simultaneously beautiful and agonizing. Life is hard and this book does not pull any punches. I don’t usually add trigger warnings but this book deals with a lot of serious issues including illness, miscarriage, and suicide.

This book in emojis: 💔 👩‍👧‍👧 🤔 😭

*** A big thanks to William Morrow for my copy of this book ***

About If Only I Could Tell You

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 15, 2019)

“I loved it (even though it made me cry).”—Jojo Moyes

For fans of This Is Us comes a story of a family divided and the secret that can possibly unite them – a life-affirming novel with a twist will break your heart and an ending that will put it together again. 

 A secret between two sisters.

A lifetime of lies unraveling.

Can one broken family find their way back to each other?

Audrey’s dream as a mother had been for her daughters, Jess and Lily, to be as close as only sisters can be. But now, as adults, they no longer speak to each other, and Audrey’s two teenage granddaughters have never met. Audrey just can’t help feeling like she’s been dealt more than her fair share as she’s watched her family come undone over the years, and she has no idea how to fix her family as she wonders if they will ever be whole again.

If only Audrey had known three decades ago that a secret could have the power to split her family in two, and yet, also keep them linked. And when hostilities threaten to spiral out of control, a devastating choice that was made so many years ago is about to be revealed, testing this family once and for all.

Once the truth is revealed, will it be enough to put her family back together again or break them apart forever?

“Utterly compelling and completely heartbreaking. I couldn’t put it down.” — Ruth Hogan

“Totally engrossing, achingly sad and so perceptive about the corrosive legacy of family secrets.”—Kate Eberlen, author of Miss You

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Photo by Adam Jackson

About Hannah Beckerman

Hannah Beckerman studied English at King’s College (London) for her undergraduate degree, and at Queen Mary  and Westfield (London) for her master’s degree. She spent twelve years working in television, first as a producer for the BBC and subsequently as a commissioning editor for arts and documentaries at Channel 4 and the Discovery Channel USA. She lived in Bangladesh for two years, working for the BBC World Service Trust. She is now a full-time author and journalist as well as a book critic and features writer for the Observer, the FT Weekend Magazine and the Sunday Express. She is also a regular chair at literary festivals and events and has been a judge for numerous book prizes including the Costa Book Awards. If Only I Could Tell You is Hannah’s second novel. She lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Find out more about Hannah at her website, and connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.