Great story that kept me turning the pages. Great story, great writing and characters. Really enjoyable and would read this author again.

It’s been over a decade since Grace Fairley’s youngest brother tragically passed away in a car accident and within her family relationships are very strained. Her parents Sarah and Doug’s marriage ended, her sister Faith and brother Tim don’t speak to their mother and it’s broken her heart. Her family own a farm at Miners Ridge in South Australia, her brother and sister still live in the small country town and they could easily visit Sarah in Adelaide.

Grace, helped her mother out by buying her a unit to live in, supported her through her cancer battle and she’s been offered a new job. Grace works as a financial analyst, she accepts the opportunity to work in London and her mum assures her she will be fine. Sarah left Miners Ridge eight years ago, she’d had enough of her husband behavior and she couldn’t take it anymore. The farm has been in his family for generations, like most farmers Doug loves his land and it’s always been his main propriety.

Sarah is lonely in Adelaide after her mother passes away, she decides to visit Miners Ridge and a place where she spent thirty five year of her life. Sarah has ties to the town, after her first trip, she rents a house for six months, makes friends with Carol the cleaner and volunteers at the local art gallery. She wants the repair the relationship with her son Tim, her rather stubborn daughter Faith, see her grandchildren and she’s the one to make the first move.

Grace is busy in London, she misses her mum and is feeling down and tired. On her last visit to Miners Ridge she met landscape gardener Aaron Halliday, he’s a friend of her brother Tim’s and they keep in contact. Grace and Aaron live in very different worlds, he makes Grace feel like she has never done before, now she’s stuck across the other side of the world from him and her mum.

When Grace Went Away is a brilliant story set in my home state of South Australia and I really enjoyed reading about familiar places. Strong women, Grace and Sarah had to decide what they really wanted out of life and achieved it.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, brilliant and five stars from me.

When Grace Went Away by Meredith Appleyard is another stunner novel by the author. This reader couldn't put the book down. Grace's character was simply scene stealing, and yet, this can be said for many of the characters. Multiple storylines in the narrative with a couple of curly twists ensured that the pages kept turning in what was an unmissable read.
Review copy received from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley

EXCERPT: Bearing down on seventy, my plans had never included living like I was, alone, in the shadow of my eldest daughter and estranged from the people and places that had come to mean the most to me.

Getting old had always conjured up images of Doug and I taking in the sunrises and sunsets at the farm together, hopefully content, with our children and grandchildren never far away.

How had I made such a muddle of being a wife, a mother, and then a grandmother? I'd had such ambition to be the best.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: 'Functionally dysfunctional.' That's how financial analyst Grace Fairley describes her family in the small South Australian farming community of Miners Ridge - a family fractured by tragedy and kept that way by anger, resentment and petty jealousies. As the eldest sibling, Grace tries to keep the family in touch, but now she's accepted a promotion to the London office. Time-zones and an enormous workload mean she's forced to take a step back, although she finds time to stay in contact with Miners Ridge landscape gardener Aaron Halliday.

Sarah Fairley, Grace's mother, fled Miners Ridge and her embittered husband eight years ago. Now, in the absence of Grace, she finds herself pulled back to the small town where her estranged children and grandchildren live. Drawn into the local community, and trying to rebuild family relationships, she uncovers a long-kept secret that could change her world ...

Can Grace, Sarah and their family find a way to heal? Who will have the courage to make the first move?

MY THOUGHTS: I loved this gentle story of a family that has slowly fallen and drifted apart. Meredith Appleyard has written an honest portrait of life on Australian land. Aussie farmers battle the elements like nowhere else I can think of. They are constantly in drought. Or being ravaged by fire. Or flooded. And still the farmers battle on. They have a fierce pride in their land and what they do. A pride and stubbornness that can get in the way of their own lives and those of their families.

When Grace Went Away is told through the voices of Sarah and Grace, her daughter. Sarah was once married to Doug, a farmer on the outskirts of Miners Ridge, South Australia. When their youngest son, Luke, died it tore their marriage and their family apart. Originally a city girl, Sarah fled back to Adelaide and her mother. Now sixty eight and an orphan, estranged from her only sibling, having survived cancer, and no longer content to be reliant on her eldest daughter Grace who has moved to London, she decides to move back to Miners Ridge to try and mend some bridges with her remaining two children. But things don't go quite to plan.

Meanwhile in London, settling into her dream job Grace is surprised by the presence of an old lover and finds that even after all the years she has been away, and although she has always pretended otherwise, deep down, she still thinks of Miners Ridge as home.

The whole time I was reading When Grace Went Away, it was playing like a movie in my mind. Although I have never been to the Adelaide region, Applyard's descriptions of the countryside and the people had me feeling homesick. Life in small Australian towns is like nowhere else. The fly-in, fly-out culture, women alone coping with their families for weeks at a time, the relentless dust, the culture of holding on to your land no matter what. All this is realistically portrayed by Appleyard, and woven into a story laden with family dysfunction, grief, loss, love, friendship and resentment.

A moving story, and a satisfying read.

❤❤❤❤.5

THE AUTHOR: Meredith Appleyard lives in the Clare Valley wine-growing region of South Australia, two hours north of Adelaide. As a registered nurse and midwife, she has worked in a wide range of country health practice settings, including the Royal Flying Doctor Service. She has done agency nursing in London and volunteer work in Vietnam. After her first manuscript was rejected, she joined a writers' group, attended workshops and successfully completed an Advanced Diploma of Arts in Professional Writing with the Adelaide College of the Arts. And she kept working. When she isn't writing, Meredith is reading, helping organise the annual Clare Writers' Festival, or at home with her husband and her border collie, Daisy.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin Australia via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of When Grace Went Away by Meredith Appleyard for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

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Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for an advanced copy of this book to read and review . I hadn’t read any books by Meredith Appleyard but I will be seeking her books out in the future. When Grace went away tells the story of the Fairley Family who live in the small South Australian town of Miners Ridge . It is a family drama and really makes you think about the effect tragedy and grief can have on its members. Sarah , the mother of the Fairleys tells her story in the first person while Grace , the eldest daughters story is told in the 3rd person. I really loved the switch in narration . A fantastic story and highly recommended !

I’m a big fan of Meredith Appleyard’s books and this ticked all the boxes.
Since the death of Luke, the youngest of the four Fairly siblings, in a car accident a number of years ago, the family has become totally dysfunctional and broken. Eldest Grace has always felt to be the glue that kept the family, if not together, then the go between both parents and her siblings.
She is a successful financial analyst and has been offered a contract in the London office but with the family still torn and resentment, anger and jealousy simmering through them, she still feels she has to be the peacemaker from far away. Perhaps it’s time she steps back and let matters take it’s course and just maybe she can find some happiness herself.

A contemporary family drama set in a small farming community of Miners Ridge, in the Mid north of South Australia, it didn’t capture the small town community feeling that I have taken from some of her other books but it was no less enjoyable. Most of the characters have their own journeys and they are interwoven, in a multilayered plot to a well to a satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

I have just finished this book and it was awesome, I don’t know how I am going to be able to leave Miners Ridge and the Fairley family, this family is going to stay with me for a long time to come. The story of a country family that seems to be falling apart slowly over the years and then a tragedy pushes it to bursting point, so many things have happened over the years things kept secret things that should be said, hurts and jealousies, will they ever be able to mend their hearts and family?

Miners Ridge is a rural town in South Australia and the Fairley farm has been in the family for generations Doug and his wife Sarah have four children Grace, Faith, Tim and Luke, life on the farm is a struggle and this is their story. After the tragic loss of their youngest son the family slowly crumbles, Sarah leaves Doug and moves to Adelaide, Grace is working for an international bank in Adelaide Faith is married and living in Miners Ridge with her husband and two children, Tim is now helping his father on the farm.

Grace Fairly is the eldest of the four siblings she is in her forties and loves her job, when she is offered a promotion to work in London she jumps at the chance but there is the family to think of, since her mother has moved to Adelaide she has been helping her and doing her best with visits back to the farm to keep the family at least talking, always thinking of other people maybe it is time for Grace to think of Grace.

Sarah is thrilled that her daughter is going off to London she has done so much for her and the family, the move makes Sarah realize how much she is missing out on her children and grandchildren and makes the decision to move back to Miners Ridge at least for a short time this causes a very big ripple through the family but maybe the start of a better future for the family.

I loved this story from page one and it was a hard book to put down, the emotions that flow through the words are so heartfelt and moving the look we get into the family and their way of coping with life. I felt for them all in so many ways no one is perfect and life can throw some very hard balls at times. There are relationships to rebuild happiness to find and love to see this family through.

MS Appleyard has told this story beautifully, it is really moving and emotional, a story that I highly recommend, it is fabulous I loved it, the ending was so wonderful and left me smiling and yes I did shed a few tears as I got emotionally involved in this family and their story.

Grace Fairley, financial analyst at a large bank in Adelaide, South Australia, had been caring for her mother Sarah since her cancer diagnosis. With Sarah finally in remission, Sarah accepted the posting – and promotion – to the bank’s London office after her mother assured Grace she would be alright. Sarah’s mother was in a nursing home in the final stages of dementia and didn’t know her family any longer. And her father, brother Tim and sister Faith were all still in Miners Ridge, still estranged.

In London, Grace was inordinately busy from the start until the end of each day, with no time to allow for jet lag. She made sure she kept in contact with her mother, and on occasion she managed to speak with Tim. She’d met Tim’s good friend Aaron Halliday on a recent visit to Miners Ridge and found herself in contact with him as well. But when she heard that Sarah had headed back to Miners Ridge for the first time in eight years, Grace was shocked. Sarah’s family were there including her grandchildren. But was she putting herself up for more heartache? Or would matters take a turn for the better? And what would happen when a long-held secret came to light?

When Grace Went Away is another excellent tale by Aussie author Meredith Appleyard. A contemporary family drama, told in both Grace and Sarah's voices, with plenty to keep the reader involved, the family dynamics in this novel were explosive. A more dysfunctional family you’d be unlikely to find! I thoroughly enjoyed the story; found the characters (mostly) likeable and was satisfied with the outcome. A great read which I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

‘Everything had ended, and started, the day her youngest brother had died.’

Meet the Fairley family of Miners Ridge, a small farming community in South Australia. Once, Doug and Sarah Fairley had four children: Grace, Faith, Tim and Luke. The death of Luke fractured the family. Sarah left Doug, Tim works on the farm reluctantly, Faith hasn’t forgiven Sarah for leaving and Grace tries to keep them all in touch. But then Grace, a financial analyst, accepts a promotion to the London office of the firm she works for.

Sarah, estranged from her husband, has limited contact with Faith and Tim. She has grandchildren as well. In Grace’s absence, Sarah finds herself drawn back to Miners Ridge. Can she possible rebuild family relationships?

The story alternates between Grace and Sarah. We learn about the events of the past that have broken the family apart, we learn a secret, and we share hopes for a better and brighter future.

I enjoyed this novel. I like the way in which Ms Appleyard kept the story moving, balancing past and present, giving insights into most of the characters and their actions. I felt a range of emotions: anger, hope, sadness, and sorrow as the story unfolded.

‘Her leaving had certainly been a catalyst for change.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin HQ for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

She's gone ... will her family pull together, or fall further apart?

Delightful story of a family in turmoil — and how eldest daughter, Grace’s departure from Australia influences them to search deeper into the loss, regret and miscommunication that divides them. I hadn’t read Meredith Appleyard’s books before and was drawn to the themes of love, forgiveness, regret, grief—but more importantly, the multi-layering of family dynamics. It was a completely engaging story and based on my enjoyment level, I’d be happy to read another.

Told through the alternating voices of Grace, and her mother Sarah, this was such a joy to read — a dysfunctional family, torn apart by grief and the ripple effect that Grace’s youngest brother, Luke’s death has on all members of the family.

Grace is a financial analyst in merchant banking, returning home for the weekend to the small South Australian town of Miner’s Ridge, where the Fairley family have farmed the land for four generations. Grace is immediately reminded of the small town views and sentiments that endure when she arrives to tell the family of her planned move to London. But it’s the interplay of emotions and resurfacing of long-held resentments and family baggage that keeps this story moving seamlessly.

Sarah, Grace’s mother, left the family eight years ago following a breakdown in the aftermath of Luke’s death. Grace worries how the family will survive —with her in London, there is no one to link her mother to the family who have been closed to her for the past eight years. Typical family gripes and grudges soon re-emerge, as each try to navigate the rocky path of their life, carrying grief, past resentments and jealousy in varying degrees. However, this is a story of hope and resolution — the alternating voices avoid the story having too dark or sombre a mood overtake it.

Sarah is beautifully drawn on the page — her storyline, written in first person, truly defines the anguish of a mother torn apart by the grief of losing a son, and the snowball of events that lead her to become the outcast of the family. Husband, Doug, is closed, non-communicative and deeply resentful. But it is Appleyard’s beautiful linking of each member of the family’s stories that keep this story moving along.

The story really takes off when Grace meets her brother Tim’s friend, Aaron Halliday, and her ordered world begins to unravel as her feelings for him grow.
Grace is a strong and extremely likable character, used to order and organisation — the driving force of the family. As her long distance relationship progresses, Aaron points out that her family are all adults and capable of making their own decisions, without Grace’s interference — and Grace begins to look to her own needs.

Particularly pertinent at the time of reading, is that we are all in lockdown and have looked to technology as a way to further communicate with our loved ones. Grace and Aaron’s relationship begins with one weekend’s meeting — but continuing communication is necessitated via text messages, Facetime and phone calls, with Grace in London. Their burgeoning long-distance romance adds the spice to the story, offering hope and promise, albeit in a mostly non-physical sense.

Faith, pregnant and resentful, is the perfect spiky sister and opinionated daughter, while Tim is the lovable larrikin brother who begrudgingly works with his father on the farm following Luke’s death. Grace encourages him to stand up to their father, and to reach out to their mother.

The resolution of the family, while we are clearly led to the secret that Sarah unfolds, is the perfect conclusion. I really couldn’t put the book down — I just longed to continue turning the pages.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

#HQFiction #HarperCollinsAustralia #WhenGraceWentAway #MeredithAppleyard #NetGalley