I heard this was an amazing story and that it was hard to believe that it was fiction. Kudos does not do Louis Beech justice. The heart strings were tugged, pulled, and yanked on in this one. Thank you!

Secrets, lies, and disappearances loom in this well written novel. It's got a twist or two- no spoilers from me. Thanks for the ARC>.

A missing boy. A missing book. A missing husband. A woman who must find them all to find herself.
On the night Bernadette finally has the courage to tell her domineering husband that she’s leaving, he doesn’t come home. Neither does Conor, a foster child she has befriended for the past five years. Also missing is his lifebook, the only thing that holds the answers.

This was a heart-warming and powerful story. The chapters POV alternates between Bernadette, Conor and the Book. The characters were beautifully written. This was a great change of pace from all the other psychological thrillers that I read. I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Trafalgar Square Publishing for supplying a copy of Louise Beech's "The Mountain in My Shoe" in exchange for an honest review.

I found the book to be difficult to read - it was not engaging, and a bit contrived. There was nothing that caused me to really like any of the characters., outside of Conor.

There's both a gentleness and a harshness to this mystery, a combination Beech handles with deftness.

She must have encountered some difficulty with the way the novel begins - two seemingly unrelated people go missing at the same time - and the truth is that it was nearly impossible for me as a reader not to instantly try to make connections in my mind. I tried to hold true to the spirit in which it was presented and not do this, though perhaps my effort was too earnest and the author didn't have such high expectations.

In any case, it doesn't much matter. Whether there's connections or not isn't the primary point of the story - the primary point, for me, is how the relationships we have with other people affect us and our behavior. These influences may take years but eventually our love for our companions will change how we treat them, other people, and ourselves.

Beech's inclusion of Muhammad Ali was a lovely twist and once again illustrates to me that I need to learn more about this fascinating man.

Orenda Books gave me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this, my first experience with the author. Advanced isn't the correct descriptive here since the book came out here in the States back in December. Even though I do not normally request or accept ARCs once the release date has passed, I was too intrigued by the synopsis to pass this one up. I was rewarded with a lovely story that differs from otherwise similar mysteries with humble and unique elements. Beech is now on my radar!

I really liked this book, in spite of small issues. For example, I figured out the "twist" early on, and yet...I kept reading. The characters drew me in, the love around Colin, this foster child, and the way Bernadette and Anne watched over him - these things were very well done. Not trite or sappy, with just the right amount of feels. Had the plot twists been a bit more twisty or one character a bit less predictable...it would have been a five star thriller. As it was, it was more of a solid character based drama with some thriller plot stuff going on in the background.

Trapped in a terrible marriage, Bernadette finds solace in her volunteer work as a volunteer “friend” for foster children. She has formed a strong bond with the young Conor, the boy she has been matched with for the past five years. Her friendship with the boy has given her courage and the strength to leave her abusive husband, but the very day she is to leave him, he disappears. At the same time, Conor also disappears. Has Conor run away in hopes of finding his real family, or is there something more sinister at work? Beech is an incredible writer, her characters are so real. Once I picked this book up, I didn’t put it down until I had read the last page. Highly recommended