How well do your family really know you?

Book blurb

Belle can’t wait to finally have her twins all to herself after their first term at university. But when Kit unexpectedly brings back her boyfriend Ivo, Belle has to welcome him into their home. Charming and confident, Ivo soon wins over the family, but Belle can’t shake a strange feeling. And when Ivo reveals he knows a lot more about Belle than he first let on, she realises his intrusion into their lives could destroy everything she has built. How far is Belle willing to go to protect her family and herself?

My thoughts

Belle is a happy, settled wife to David and mother to twins Jess and Kit. David is a teacher. Belle is big on family and is excited as the twins are due home for Christmas break. Jess is at Exeter and Kit is at Bristol. Belle sea swims every morning with her fellow Southwold Sea-Girls. In the winter that means her and Nancy. They Buddy up to ensure that if either has a problem the other is there to help.

Returning from her morning swim Belle gets a call from Kit, the younger twin, she wants to bring Ivo home for a few days over the holiday. Ivo? Belle asks. Kit’s boyfriend! Belle is surprised and not too happy. Feeling manipulated she sees that there is nothing more to say than yes. This is so like Kit! She and David were expecting a cosy family Christmas with the girls and Morag, David’s mother who lives in the granny flat attached to their house, catching up on the past few months especially as this was the girls first term, the first time they had all been apart for so long. It was just for a few days before Christmas. They would have to make the best of it.

Belle uses her morning sea swim to clear her head and work things through. She loves that first breathtaking moment when she plunges into the water. She finds the cold sea water swim at this time of year exhilarating but she understands the importance of keeping safe, the shock to the body of the cold waters can be deadly, that’s why she and Nancy swim at the same time. So many of the other Sea Girls give up during the coldest months. Not Belle it’s so much a part of her.

Then they are all together, it’s wonderful to have the girls home and all the family together again. Ivo is welcomed and they gather inside to chat and catch up. Maybe all will be okay and it’s only for a few days and then Ivo will be off and Christmas will be here.

Then it happens. Call me David. Call me Belle. Ahh, Bella, says Ivo. What! Belle is transported back to a time she had long forgotten, to that moment of madness – Felix! Surely not, how could Ivo? Then Ivo tells them about his father who was in a band called Hush. And Belle’s world turns upside down!

As Belle tries to make sense of what she heard she is filled with a sense of dread. Then over the course of the next few hours and days she and David are faced with Kits surprising decisions about her future. As she and David try to deal calmly and steer Kit to consider her choices in a more rational manner other things, little things and then bigger ones make Belle worried for Kit, for her family and the sense of dread looms large.

Belle worries that her secret will come out, that her family will be broken and when she adds the worry of things actually happening to her family she knows she must act, she must find out about Ivo in order to make their world right. What she learns is devastating, scary and makes Belle more determined to rid her and her family of this menace. What happens next will be to the reader as that first stroke is to the sea swimmer it will take your breath away.

Twin Truths is well written, the characters well drawn, the setting allows for the sense of community to be well utilised. I enjoyed the morning sea swim although only vicariously! It was fascinating to read and learn about it. I liked the way that the surprise elements were often subtly integrated into the storyline so that your reaction and that of the character was virtually simultaneous. The plot was well conceived and executed. All in all folks this is a doozy of a story and one that I would certainly recommend.

Note: When Belle is remembering things the sections are in italics so it is clear for the reader.

Afterthought: This is Jacqueline Sutherland’s second book. I haven’t read the first. I’ve heard that an author’s second book can seem to be disappointing in comparison if that’s so then all I can say is that The Coffin Club must have been really good.

Book: competition win.

Thanks

My thanks to Margot Weale and Point Blank for a copy of Twin Truths by Jacqueline Sutherland

I was delighted to receive the following message from Margot at Point Blank:

“Hello! Congratulations you have won a copy of Jacqueline Sutherland’s Twin Truths!”

What a lovely message to receive and I’m delighted to have received this terrific book Twin Truths by Jacqueline Sutherland.

Information

Published: Point Blank (April 6, 2023) | ISBN: 9780861544059 | Pages: 288

Buy: Waterstones | Blackwells | AmazonSmileUK | Hive | Bookshop.org (affiliate link)

Author: Jacqueline Sutherland worked in corporate PR and marketing for over 20 years. She began her debut novel, The Coffin Club, on the 2020 Faber Academy Write Your Novel course. Jacqueline lives in Guildford.

Books

The Coffin Club | Twin Truths