An abrupt change; a new friendship; a dark secret…Kind-hearted Violet has never fitted in, but despite being bullied at school is now content. She is dating ambitious Lenny, has her dream job in publishing and runs a book club at the local retirement home.However, when her relationship with Lenny begins to falter, Violet, hurt and alone, seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes … of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes her image and with her head held high aims to show that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life to be happy and successful.
Her long-term friends Kath and Farah worry about Bella’s influence and slowly Violet starts to distance herself from them. When she was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. She won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says…
Knowing You is about friendship and knowing who to trust with your deepest secrets; it’s about taking control of your life and not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Ruth Hogan, Gail Honeyman and Amanda Prowse
‘It delves into incredibly difficult subjects with class and sensitivity in a truly spectacular way’ Laurie Ellingham, author of One Endless Summer
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This was the perfect read. Evenly paced and a good thriller. I couldn’t stop turning those pages until I had devoured the book. It is full of humour as well as romance. I really enjoyed this book.
Favorite Quotes:
My first love was an assistant manager at the local bookshop where I had a Saturday job. It was then that I realised the most attractive thing about a man was the width of his reading list.
Uncle Kevin got headhunted. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Makes me think of my favourite Horrid Henry story about cannibals. It means he got offered a job in America, the place where people eat bacon with pancakes, do cheerleading and own guns.
I need help persuading Farah that there is no health scare big enough to warrant switching to soya milk.
I have a habit of calling on people at the worst moment. Like when Gran’s in the middle of putting on her tights or my brother has just plastered his face with shaving foam.
If she were an item of stationery, she’d be a stapler. Uncomplicated and unassuming but holding everything together.
I try not to think about it. But when I look in the mirror, I worry. I worry that the woman staring back isn’t me. She’s a stranger and I can’t find an instruction manual.
My Review:
Knowing You was an exceptionally engaging and thoughtfully written tale. I was intensely absorbed and quickly entranced by the ever enticing and smoothly fluent flow of the writing as well as the captivating narrative. Ms. Tonge’s emotive and nimble writing style deftly hit all the feels while peeling back an elegant vulnerability of the highly sympathetic character of Violet at different ages and timelines. Her poignant storylines were ingeniously paced, cunningly crafted, vibrantly detailed, and adroitly evocative. I was so impressed I raced to Goodreads and added her entire backlist on my TBR.
In addition to a new favorite author to fangirl, I also garnered two new additions to my Brit Word List with bedsit – which appears to be what I know as a studio apartment, and collywobbles – which appears to have several meanings such as nervousness and/or a queasy stomach.
Violet is a terrific young woman who has almost everything she wants … a great job in publishing, caring friends, and a boyfriend. Well not the boyfriend. She caught him cheating so he is gone. And with it, her self confidence.
Her new flat mate, Bella, aims to bring Vi’s self confidence back. She gets Vi on an exercise plan, eating much healthier food … and a lot less than she normally would. She talks her into buying new clothes as the pounds melt away. Changes her hair style. Pretty soon, she’s almost unrecognizable. Her friends are really worried. She’s moved away from her friends, until Bella is all that’s left.
This is a story of metamorphosis in a woman who feels she is less than what she could be. Bullied as a young child by other school children has never been forgotten. She had one friend .. .a boy named Flint, who was her best friend, who understood Violet.
Her mother didn’t approve of Flint and he suffered a terrible end. Vi won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says…
KNOWING YOU is about friendships and knowing who to trust with your deepest darkest secrets. Violet is learning about taking control of her own life … or is she?
This is a very well written story with credible characters. There are twists and turns that lead to an astounding ending.
Many thanks to the author / Canelo Publishing / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this Psychological Thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.