Way Back by Sara Cox

In my opinion...

I enjoyed Thrown, Sara’s previous book, but I loved this latest novel.

The story is not full of twists and turns, it’s not complicated and demanding but it’s full of heart and humour. I feel that Sara’s personality is very present in her writing, and that’s a good thing, as she comes over as a woman that, in spite of being a ‘celebrity’, keeps her feet very firmly on the (Northern) ground.

Josie is a likeable character, funny and quick witted. She shows strength and resilience in some difficult situations and as the reader you are very much willing her to succeed. I can imagine her clearly in her ‘manky bobble hat’as she goes about her chores on the farm.

 She has some fabulous one liners which made me laugh, followed very rapidly by wondering why I hadn’t come up with such a witty apposite description. Maybe part of her attraction is that she is just so relatable to many of us.

Sara obviously loves books and I hope she continues to entertain us with her tv book show, radio programme and her writing.  

Want to know more?

Josie's life is fine. Absolutely, completely fine.

Nice husband, brilliant best friend, a gorgeous kid at uni. The big house of her dreams on its leafy London street is a lifetime away from the Lancashire farm of her childhood. So what if her mother is tricky, and James isn't in love with Josie any more, and maybe she's not in love with him either? It's great to have time to herself now Chloe's flown the nest . . . isn't it?

This is the life Josie never believed possible. The life she needed when her heart was breaking as a child, when her mum wasn't coping and Josie had to grow up too fast. So why this feeling, nibbling away at the edges of Josie's thoughts? The sense that she has lost something. That she has lost herself.

If Josie is to truly live, she must now take back the reins and confront her future. And to find her way ahead, she needs to go back - way back.

To the place where it all began . . .

My rating

Definitely a 4++ fizzy glasses

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton & NetGalley for my much appreciated & chortled over ARC