Thank you netgalley for a copy of this book I loved it.
This book.is about a lady called Ellie and her grandson disappears after she is meant to be looking after him. She is distracted after discovering her husband has had another affair.

Then the story moves to the past with her childhood and what happened to her to make her how she is now. 
Then it starts doing chapters with a lady called jo who lives on the streets. 
To start with I did think what is going on did i miss where this up lady came into the story. But you get fully immerersed into the story and I just wanted to know what happens to both women and how they must mean something to each other and I did not see the connection coming.
I really enjoyed this book and would really recommend this book it's a fantastic read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Jane Corry and Penguin Books (UK) for letting me read this book.

This is the first book that I have read by Jane and I dont think that it will be my last.

The story is told from both Ellie and Jo, so is a little confusing at first. I don't want to give anything away and spoil it for poeple who wish to read this book.

I found it very eye opening and emotional in places but I carried on even though my eyes were filling with tears. If this is what James current book is like I hope that all of her past and future books are good to. Well done Jane on gaining another fan and keeping me interested throughout (even if it did take me a while to finish this), I still liked it. 

I would definately recoomend this book.

Ellie's life appears to revolve around her being a victim of abuse, firstly from her stepmother and then her husband Roger which leaves her mentally fragile. She carries.a.tragic secret involving her young half brother and on the day she eventually snaps and confronts  Roger she believes another tragedy has occurred while she is in charge of her young grandson. 
The story is told through the eyes of three people - Ellie as a grandmother, Ellie as a child and Jo, a homeless woman with an equally tragic background. A bit of a slow burner to start with but the final third of the story is a real page turner with surprises a plenty. I particularly liked.the way the court case he!ped.to draw.out the hidden truths and showed the real.Ellie to us.

This story switches between Ellie and Jo, both of whom have troublesome lives. Ellie is tormented by the fact she was in charge of her half brother when he died. She is living with her father and step mother, who treats her badly. Then when she marries is not treated well by her husband, resulting in a lack of self confidence and a fear something will happen to her children and later grandchild.
Jo is homeless and struggling to feed and clothe herself and we follow her through her struggles on the streets.

I found myself appreciating how difficult both their lives must be.

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy of this book.

This book was very easy to get in to. The pace was perfect and the story was unique. It was however more unbelievable than other stories I've read, even though it's pure fiction I'd like to believe that some elements could be true. The plot had me coming back to my kindle and the ending did the book justice.

Just read the book and couldn't put it down because I needed to know what was going on in the lives of Jo and Ellie. The book twisted the two tales together well. One woman who had an unpleasant childhood followed by a manipulative older husband and one woman who had no family or friends and lived in the streets. Gave a great insight into both lives, so very different but both destructive in their own ways. So glad it came to a happy ending. Fantastic read.

I’ve read a few of Jane Corry’s books. I always enjoy reading her books. They always grip me and keep me wanting more and this book was no exception. It was so easy to get stuck into. It’s one of those books that you don’t want to say too much about before people read it otherwise it will ruin the surprise of the story.

I Looked Away follows Ellie from being a young girl until she’s a grandmother. It bounces about in time and whilst this can sometimes confuse me, Jane Corry tackled it with ease. As a reader, I felt very sorry for Ellie. She goes through so much throughout her life. She’s definitely not has the best of luck. After some events in her life, her grandson Josh is her sole focus. However, when Ellie looks away one afternoon, things spiral out of control and bring events from the past right back to the present day.

Jane Corry takes the reader on such a journey. It really is an emotional read that keeps you turning the pages. Jane Corry covers many issues within the story and does it so well without you feeling like she’s trying to push everything into the plot. The characters are fantastically developed and easy to invest in. The dual timeline is fascinating and I love how it weaves together.

If you like a thriller with some twists and turns along the way, then this book is for you!

Ellie is grandma to Josh and she idolises him, but one thing stands in the way of her true happiness and that's her husband Roger's infidelity. One day, during an argument about his latest affair, Ellie takes her eye off Josh for a split second and what happens next changes everything and brings memories flooding back from her past that she thought were long buried. Jo is a Big Issue seller that Ellie regularly speaks to, gives her money, buys her a hot drink and food whenever she sees her, but their world's are about to collide in a way that nobody expected.

The story is told by Ellie and Jo in alternate chapters throughout, I was slightly confused to begin with how the two women were connected and where the story was heading, but it all became very clear in the last part of the book. This book covers a multitude of issues that are faced by many people in today's society; homelessness, domestic abuse, mental health issues, infidelity and more, and executed beautifully in this story, showing how well the author researched all the topics before putting pen to paper. One thing the author does highlight in this tale is how many good and generous people there are that will lend a hand to someone that is down on their luck, not all people look the other way and that restored my faith in humanity a little bit more after reading this. A very emotional and thought provoking read which I loved. Definitely recommend.

I'd like to thank Penguin Books and Netgalley for the approval and will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads.

Ellie is looking after her beloved grandson Josh when she hears her husband on the phone to his girlfriend. She looks away and a tragic accident occurs.  
The book is written from the time before the accident and then after.  Ellie is struggling as there is also something in her past.  The book kept me gripped as I was desperate to find out what happened to Ellie and Josh, how does the mysterious Jo fit in.
I loved the characters and the tension build up.  I couldn’t guess what was happening next which I loved.   I will definitely be reading the next novel by Jane Corry.
 Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#IlookedAway #NetGalley

A fantastic book from start to finish. This story had so much suspense in it, I almost fell of my chair many times ! 

Ellie was my favourite character. She’d had a rough start to life which affected her later in life. Jane Corry highlights mental health and ptsd brilliantly in the character of Ellie. I felt sorry for Ellie, I just wanted to protect her. There was a quote in this book that is so true , ‘ you’re never too old to need a mother’, I lost my mum to cancer a few months ago and so many times I think ‘I need my mum’. I could really feel Ellie’s pain at losing her mum. 

The facts about different flowers were really interesting, I enjoyed reading about them. Who would of thought that such a pretty little flower the Buttercup, can be poisonous to both humans and animals ! 

I highly recommend this story, Jane Corry is a fabulous author who’s books never fail to hit the spot.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this! It kept me gripped. Loved the story line. Will deffo recommend to friends and family!

This is the first book I have read by Jane Corry and won’t be the last! 

‘I Looked Away’ is a fascinating thriller which weaves in the stories of two women: Ellie, who has survived a traumatic childhood and suspects her husband of having an ongoing affair; and Jo: a homeless woman that Ellie has helped in the past. 

Each chapter flips between the two women’s lives making it impossible to put down as you wait to find out what happens next. 

The story centres around the mystery of what has happened to Ellie’s grandson, who she looked away from for one minute and now can’t be found; and how Ellie has come to be in prison. We know there are twists to come and there is a mysterious third story about a young woman in an abusive relationship just waiting to be revealed. It kept me guessing right to the very end! An exciting read!

This book got off to a interesting start as we are introduced to Ellie, a grandmother with a traumatic childhood. We also meet Jo, a homeless woman, lost and alone on the streets.
What followed was a fast paced look back at Ellies life and how she has become the woman she is today, and we follow Jo's travels round the South West.
I spent a lot of the book wondering how Jo and Ellie were connected, and when it was revealed I was shocked. What an excellent twist!! 
I loved the ending, loved the characters and the relationships, especially those of Ellie and her step mother - their family dynamic was so well written.
Great book, would highly recommend.

This is a psychological thriller that resonates. Whilst, it has all the expected qualities of the genre, it contains so much more. A domestic thriller and a family drama, with secrets and tragedy. Mental Health issues and homelessness are major themes woven into the hard-hitting emotional story. The unreliable protagonist Ellie is a grandmother, which affords her a certain uniqueness in this genre, but her life is riddled with neglect, trauma and self-loathing. She is someone you empathise with, as each terrible injustice and secret are revealed. The ending seems just, but there is a twist that leaves you wondering.

The plot is complex and pacy, it keeps you guessing, whilst you are reeling from the horror and injustice of the women’s lives that are explored. It confuses, it’s meant to. The story is addictive, coherent, and full of relevant examples of mental health issues, and the largely overlooked plight of homelessness. It makes you think, and worry about the society we live in.

The thriller aspect is clever and calculating, the emotion is genuine and heartbreaking, the moral issues raised are thought-provoking and worrying. You will carry this story with you, and not many books in this genre can say that.

I received a copy of this book from Penguin UK Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

*** ARC provided by Netgalley via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ***

This is the first book I have read by this author though I can certainly see she has a strong following who have been waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for the release of this new book. I can see why, this was a gripping psychological thriller which offer a lot more than the synopsis suggests. 

I was drawn into our two main characters Ellie and Jo pretty quickly and then spent the rest of the book trying to work out how they could be linked. I got there in the end! This is more than the average ‘murder mystery’ and I’d certainly recommend this book to others.

“I Looked Away” by Jane Corry introduces us to Ellie, from being a young girl until she becomes grandmother. When she was 5 years old, she has witnessed her mother’s death and had to grow up with her father who then remarried a neighbour, bringing a stepmother who detested Ellie and a step – brother Michael to the family. She’s now married to an ex – University lecturer Roger, has two children and an adored grandson Josh. When she’s looking after him one Monday afternoon, something tragic happens, something that will put Ellie in prison and is going to change her whole life.
Jo has her own prison experiences but now she’s homeless, travelling from Bristol to Devon and Cornwall. She’s a Big Issue seller. They meet each other when Ellie runs away after what has happened to Josh. The stories of the two women meander around each other, back and forward in time, but do they have something in common?

The story is told from Ellie and Jo’s points of view and those two personal accounts are more than absorbing. They are mixed with little mentions of some other relationship that is like a dangerous shadow. We have two different characters that at the first sight have nothing in common but whose stories, for some reason, intertwine, meandering around each other, the dual timeline gradually converges, until we eventually get the final reveal, the whole picture emerges and the truth comes out. The author slowly paints a picture of Ellie, of her past and present, and we are able to see all the events, like the death of her mother, then getting a step – mother and brother, that shaped her to be the person she is today. The circumstances took all her happiness, carefreeness away from her, she finds herself in situations that she never should experience. She starts to feel lost and isolated and really, she never learns or comes to terms of how to deal with grief. Manipulated by her step – mother, then by her husband, Ellie’s life seems to be one huge battle.
Slowly and subtly, we get to know Jo’s background and her hidden past. Jane Corry has done such a great job writing about Jo’s time on the streets, she captured all the reality and brutality of this situation – she brings the lives of the homeless with raw honesty to the pages, and this part of the book must have been so passionately researched, enlightening us more about this subject, giving some answers, explaining.

I really like Jane Corry’s writing style – it seems so uncommitted, with distance but it works so well in this psychological thriller and you can feel author’s heart in every single word and the research that went into the story is meticulous and made it eye – opening and showing that not everything is always either black or white, that there are also other shades of grey. It’s simply extremely well written and crafted and the pace is just right, seamlessly flowing, with characters and time

“I Looked Away” was a very emotional story that touches on mental health, despair, love and loss, bullying, homelessness, about giving when you yourself don’t have much. It really captured my heart and my attention. It was incredibly well plotted, with twists and turns and mystery to solve that you know can happen at any time, teasing you all the time and making you want to read more and more, and then it comes, expected yet unexpectedly and leaves you feeling dizzy.. This was emotionally charged, captivating and taking your breath away psychological thriller, dealing in a brilliant way with some very realistic issues that people must deal with every day. Highly recommended!

This really was a page turner and impossible to put down. And everything came together in the end. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I did not see that coming and it was a pleasant surprise. To see how a child has to grow up under such difficult circumstances like Ellie, it broke my heart. And then there is hope that life only can get better when Ellie is responsible for the direction she's headed in. But that's not how it works...

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Ellie is a 49-year-old grandmother who enjoys looking after her beloved grandson, Josh. One day, when looking after Josh, her husband gets a phone call from the woman he's been having an affair with, the one he promised Ellie it was over with. And Ellie takes her eyes off her precious grandson. That moment will change her life forever. However, Ellie is hiding something in her past and what seemed like an accident could now be murder. 

'I Looked Away' follows Ellie in different timelines - childhood, motherhood and the present day as a grandmother - as we learn her story. We also meet Jo, a homeless lady on the run, in the present day timeline, but Corry keeps us guessing throughout the book as to her connection to Ellie. Ellie is a middle-class woman, married to Roger, a university lecturer, while Jo is homeless - both from different social classes, but neither has had an easy life. 

Difficult issues are tackled - including emotional abuse, homelessness, death, love - but each is tackled carefully and sensitively, but it does make it a complex thriller, and very hard to put down at times. 

Definitely recommended!

Unfortunately I didn’t get on with this book, I found it hard to connect with the characters as the dual perspective got confusing. - I will try again in the future though x

I found this book a bit slow to start and I thought I was going to struggle to get into it but I persevered and am glad I did.

The book itself touches on more than one sensitive subject which some readers may find distressing but it all adds to the story. 

The book opens with Ellie, a middle class woman, who dotes on her children and her grandchild. Her husband is a philanderer and  they are currently attending marriage guidance classes after his latest dalliance. He has sworn he is no longer seeing this woman and that he wants to make a go of it for the sake of his family. However, while Ellie is playing with her grandson in the garden she spots her husband on the telephone having an animated discussion. What happens next has an effect on all of their lives. 

We then have alternate chapters between Ellie and Jo (a homeless woman who appears to be on the run) which take us back to Ellie’s childhood and her marriage and Jo’s travels. 

This is a very cleverly written book and I was taken aback in bits but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.