Plot: In the summer of 1976, Robyn passes her days with her brother and best friend at the Lido. Their home life isn’t “normal” – they’ve moved recently and suddenly to the town for reasons that are currently unclear, and their mother brings home crying women. Rumours about their mother abound, and a strange man keeps approaching Robyn. Meanwhile, we follow a storyline 12 years in the future where Robyn and her brother have returned to find out the truth of what really happened, only to find a town that still has roots in the past.

My thoughts: The premise of a mystery that took place in the long, hot summer of childhood is always one that has me intrigued, but sadly this one didn’t quite live up to the promise of it for me. Neither of the timelines really had me interested as it felt like information was deliberately being withheld in both of them to keep the mysteries going, but it just felt a bit contrived for the benefit of the story.
The writing was very good, however, and really fit the hazy hot days of the summer – it was lyrical and lilting, told with a child’s innocence in parts and the rawness of an adult in others. While I found the story too slow to keep me gripped, I kept reading for the writing.

**Edited review**

I am editing my review as I feel I wrote my original review in haste - I didn't let the book 'sit' with me after I finished it. I have now. I'm upping my rating of this book to 3 as oppose to 1 star because in all honestly, this book doesn't deserve one star. It is very well-written. The main character, Robyn, is engaging and complex and I enjoyed reading about her experiences as a child from her viewpoint. The book also has a well-crafted atmosphere that reminded me of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. It had a similar pace, narrative structure, and intensity.

The only reason I am not rating this book any higher than 3 starts is because I did actually find it frustrating and, in the end, I felt extremely disappointed. Two main reasons:

1. What drives this novel is Intrigue. The desire to find out "what is going on here?" is what keeps you hooked until the end. Yet... yet pieces of the puzzle are held from us intentionally to build this very intrigue, pieces of the puzzle are intentionally withheld from us in a way that makes little sense. For example, Kit (Robyn's brother) holds the answer to many questions Robyn has. Yet he never says a thing.

2. The most frustrating part of all is the fact that the letter from Jemima - which is referenced early on in the book - isn't actually shown to us until the very last page. This made me feel cheated; as if the puzzle was designed to be impossible to complete from the beginning. And what's more frustrating than that?

**A sincere thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.""

Set in both the seventies and eighties I loved this book. There were times it was a little vague but it needed to be for the story to be told.

At one point I thought I had part of it figured out but once I got to the end I realised I had no idea! A brilliant book that I really enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Such a complex but intriguing read. The characters were quite complicated but not in a bad way. I kept reading late into the night because I needed to know more. Clever writing by the author and touching at times

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

Based on its description, I thought I would love this book--a child narrator, an evocative sense of place, an unsolved mystery. In reality I found myself questioning the main character's decisions and wishing the storyline moved faster. Still--a good read.

Took me a little time to get into this story but when I did I throughly enjoyed it. Slow start killer finish!!

This title started out strong, but sort of lost me toward the end - told in alternating perspectives between the summers of 1976 and 1988, the book lays out the workings of a particularly dysfunctional family. The writing itself is lovely and compelling, but as the book went on I found myself getting more and more frustrated at how drawn-out the suspense was and how unrealistically the characters behaved toward the end. It was enjoyable as I read it, but I found myself disappointed by the ending and ultimately unsatisfied.

A Little Bird Told Me was an enjoyable read for me, it wasn’t particularly fast paced but it kept me intrigued all the way through.
Robyn is the main character and it was nice to follow her on two separate timelines, those being the hot summer of 1976 and 1988. This book was a different read to what I usually read but it held my attention and the characters were likeable. It was a weird pleasure as well to read something that had no mobile phones, WiFi, internet, laptops, tablets etc in and I have to say I cant remember the last book I read that didn’t have any of that. It was interesting following Robyn’s journey and discovering that the people in the village never really forget or forgive anything.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Agora Books for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

It was ok. I did read this pretty fast but had a hard time really getting into it. I didn’t really connect with the characters. After reading the description I thought this book would be something I really enjoyed but it just wasn’t.

Brilliantly written. Had me drawn in from the beginning with lot so of twists and guessing. Characters were well written so I felt like I knew them. Was nice for a change not to be able to work out how the story would finish until almost the end. Recommended to several friends and will be looking out for Marrianes next book.

Set in the long, hot summer of 1976 and also in 1988, this is a quirky, slightly unusual book. At the centre of it are secrets and a tragedy, which nine-year-old Robyn only partially comprehends, so 12 years later she returns to the house where she spent her early childhood to attempt to make sense of what happened and to solve the mystery. Some of the writing in A Little Bird Told Me is accomplished and quite lyrical, but there’s also an unevenness to it, and for me the resolution doesn’t really come off, but having said that it’s a very likeable novel and kept me reading.

Excellent writing. I just couldn't put this book down once I'd started it. Hard to believe it's a debut novel. Just great.

In the scorching summer of 1976, Robyn spends her days swimming at the Lido and tagging after her brother. It’s the perfect holiday – except for the crying women her mum keeps bringing home.

As the heatwave boils on, tensions in the town begin to simmer. Everyone is gossiping about her mum, a strange man is following her around, and worst of all, no one will tell Robyn the truth. But this town isn’t good at keeping secrets…

Twelve years later Robyn returns home, to a house that has stood empty for years and a town that hasn’t moved on, forced to confront the mystery that haunted her that summer.

And atone for the part she played in it.

This one was a very slow starter for me. By 25% of the way inI still hadn’t found much of an interest with either of the 2 main characters. Ive read a lot of time flipping novels but this one didnt feel to me as if Tey were very connected. I obviously knew they would be but with only snippets of the past story there wasn’t enough to grab me to want to find out more. I dont think the pieces of the story from the past were long enough to get hooked into it, so I felt like I was asking a lot of questions, like why had the 2 siblings returned home in the first place?
The ending was good as a story but felt it wasn’t really explained. Just one that wasn’t for me, but remember just my own opinion. Give it a try you may disagree.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Not the fast paced, page turning heart racer I’m used to but a good book nonetheless. I enjoyed it being set in the 70’s and 80’s, took me back and a refreshing change to not have mobiles and the internet involved. In a nutshell, Robyn and Kit return to their hometown to try and find out exactly what happened to their Mother 12 years ago. Robyn will learn that people in a small town either have long memories or [pretend to] remember nothing. This felt like a gentle mystery though there are unsavoury elements inside, it also shows, thankfully just how far we have progressed when it comes to domestic abuse and the attitudes towards it. Highly recommended and my thanks to Agora books and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Both timelines interested me and I couldn't put the book down. A compelling read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

This was a cracker of a book. Well done to the author for keeping me gripped to this story line. It did more than I thought it would at the start and it led me different ways than what I imagined. Thank you.

A book I probably would not have discovered without the help of NetGalley,which would have been my loss. Well written story weaving together two summers in the life of a strong woman protagonist. I enjoyed it quite a lot and look forward to reading my of Marianne Holmes' work.

EXCERPT: What Kit knows and what I know is not the same. I have become my own secret curator of the facts. It's all in the suitcase I keep under my bed along with all the other monsters.

Matthew and Kit think they can protect me even now by keeping the past hidden. But they’re wrong. I already know more than they think.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Besides, if you were one half evil, wouldn't you want to know about the other half?

In the scorching summer of 1976, Robyn spends her days swimming at the Lido and tagging after her brother. It’s the perfect holiday – except for the crying women her mum keeps bringing home.

As the heatwave boils on, tensions in the town begin to simmer. Everyone is gossiping about her mum, a strange man is following her around, and worst of all, no one will tell Robyn the truth. But this town isn’t good at keeping secrets…

Twelve years later, Robyn returns home, to a house that has stood empty for years and a town that hasn’t moved on, forced to confront the mystery that haunted her that summer.

And atone for the part she played in it.

MY THOUGHTS: This is one of those reads which is not going to fit neatly into any one category. The story is told over two timelines, 1976 and 1988. Historical fiction? Not to me, I lived those years, but I suppose to some they may qualify A Little Bird Told Me as historical. There is family drama, mystery and crime. But just what happened and to whom is not made clear until the final chapters of this intriguing book.

A Little Bird Told Me is beautifully written. The characters are 'real'. I could feel Robyn's fear and her anger, her confusion and determination. The author writes in a determinedly vague fashion, so that at times the reader is also confused. But remember, you are seeing parts of the book through the eyes of the child Robyn was at the time. And she doesn't understand a lot of what she sees and hears.

This is a slow burner of a book. It is a book that is, in places, eloquent and lyrical, in others, brutal and raw. It is a book that I enjoyed immensely, and I will be watching for more from this author.

And please don't skip the publisher's foreword. It is a delightful story about how they came by the book and published it. I'm glad they did.

THE AUTHOR: Marianne Holmes was born in Cyprus to RAF parents but is now firmly based in London. After a sensible career in marketing, Marianne is now focusing on her love of language and writing.

A Little Bird Told Me is her first novel.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Agora Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of A Little Bird Told Me by Marianne Holmes for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

A Little Bird Told Me is Marianne Holmes debut novel. It moves back and forth between 1976, when Robyn and her older brother, Kit, were children and twelve years later, after a series of events have left more questions than answers.

The relationship of the siblings is one of the things that makes this a good book. Kit, with an older brother’s perspective, knows and remembers things about their childhood that Robyn doesn’t understand. They return to their hometown in order to find answers to the events that led up to their escape from the town. At times the writing is magical and evocative, the story, told from Robyn’s perspective, unfolds slowly and the suspense continues to build to the final chapters. And, all the while, there is a sense of doom hanging over a small, gossip-ridden town that hasn’t changed very much since Kit and Robyn were children.

There were times I felt the story dragged a little and it seemed to stall now and then, but for a first attempt it is a well-thought out and well-written mystery. It deserves a 3.5 and I look forward to more from Ms Holmes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Loved this book. I look forward to reading more from this author. Wasn't sure at first if it was my type of book but it grabbed me by the first chapter. I recommend to anyone.