I have just spent about twenty four hours with Pip and Evelyn. Pip found Evelyn's diary, and discovered that even though there is thirty plus years between them, their lives almost mirror one another. They both escaped small town claustrophobia and experienced a sense of freedom, and both had to return home through tragedy and consequence. Through this unexpected friendship they learn that guilt can not be your anchor, and that life is for living..
A beautifully written tale about how easy it is to become victims of our circumstances. A book full of lively and sad characters who are looking for hope.

Reluctantly Home is a highly engaging story told from the point of view of two women.

Pip, a London lawyer, has returned to her childhood home as she recovers from a traumatic event. When she comes across the journal of Evelyn Mountcastle, Pip is intrigued by the woman and uncovers a bit of mystery, causing her to seek out Evelyn. Evelyn has become a recluse, due to her own tragic history, and resists the idea of engaging in conversation with Pip.

I absolutely adored the pairing of Pip and Evelyn. These two women come from very different backgrounds, yet find they have quite a bit in common. This unlikely pairing also finds that there is healing in finding someone who recognizes your pain and accepts you for who you are.
The book has endearing characters, intrigue and an insightful look at working through trauma. This was my first story by author Imogen Clark and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you to the Lake Union and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a delightful story about two women living in different times but so very alike who befriends each other later in life. It is a pretty good story & I recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

Reluctantly Home tells the story of two women who are trapped by life's events. It alternates between different time periods. The flashbacks to the 1970's and 1980's are from Evelyn's past. They explain a bit about how she ended up where she is. Pip stumbles across one of Evelyn's diaries when it's accidentally donated to the shop she works at. Within the pages, Pip finds solace at a time when her own world has come undone. Pip goes on a search to find out who Evelyn is and see if she still lives in town. When Pip goes to return the diary, the women discover they have a connection. It seems as if Pip wants to help Evelyn conquer the ghosts of her past so she can live in the present. However, Evelyn's friendship is just as healing for Pip.

This was a lovely story about an unlikely friendship that enables two women to see past their individual pain. They find a way to like themselves again and a desire to live their lives fully. They each find a way to move forward.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

A terrific job as a lawyer, lovely London home, caring and handsome lover. Pip Appleby has everything going for her and then she’s involved in a tragic accident that takes the life of a young boy. Broken and reeling from the accident she is no longer the cutting edge lawyer with nerves of steel, she cannot focus and she returns to her childhood home to hide in the small village where she grew up. She loses her job, her handsome but weak lover dumps her, her father drives to her apartment and returns with her belongings.
Then one day while volunteering at a local thrift store she comes across a diary of a once famous actress, Evelyn Mountcastle. As Pip slowly reads through the diary she quickly draws parallels between the life of the actress also besot with tragedy of her own. When Pip discovers that Evelyn still lives in the same small village, she sets out to meet her and together they set about helping each other reach beyond the tragedies they have suffered and help each other heal.
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my unsolicited comments.

I received a free electronic ARC of this excellent novel from Netgalley, Imogen Clark, and publisher Amazon UK - Lake Union Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Relectantly Home of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Imogen Clark always takes us on an emotional roller-coaster. I am pleased to recommend her works to friends and family.

Pip Appleby knows at a young age what she wanted to do with her life. She worked hard all through school, got scholarships that took her through college and legal schooling, and took herself straight to London with a high profile job in a prestigious law firm, a fancy apartment, an enviable fiance, and never really looked back to the small town of Southwold that she left behind. She even changed her name to her middle name of Rose. Pip didn't fit her new lifestyle.

But tragedy strikes her a hard blow just out of the blue. Pip finds herself suffering frequent frantic panic attacks, afraid to appear in public, not able to drive, and her only recourse is to put her London life on hold and go home to the small town and parents she so cavalierly left behind, and try to heal as best she can. There is no guarantee that she will ever be able to return to that fast-paced, stressful job in the London courts. The boyfriend also lets her down just a few weeks after her return to her family home to heal.

The only thing that involves her mind enough to get past her angst and fears is studying the diary, written in 1983 by a local girl who became a London actress named Evelyn Mountcastle. The diary came to the local thrift shop in a box of donated paperbacks, a recycle store where Pip is volunteering part-time to get out of the house. Evelyn was having a very bad year, back in 1983. A single mother, Evelyn found herself spending more time than she wants at the family home with her sister Joan and daughter Scarlett. Pip becomes intrigued with finding out what she can about Evelyn and her life, both in tony London and in tiny Southwold. A life, bearing a disquieting resemblance to that being contemplated by Pip. Maybe it's possible to have both, a prestigious career in the law and a quiet retreat to reset and renew. With compromise, she could perhaps have a real life. Or not.

Reluctantly Home is told in two timelines....1979 and 2019.
An emotional journey of two women meeting by chance. The story is both heartbreaking and uplifting.
It took a bit to get into the story as I couldn’t see where the author was going with it. I am so glad I continued reading on as it was such an endearing story.
I rather enjoyed Reluctantly Home and highly recommend it. Imogen Clark writes a beautiful story of loss and new beginnings.
Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Two tragedies a generation apart, result in two women’s decision to return home to the lives they had hoped to put behind them.
Pip Appleby comes across Evelyn Mountcastle’s diary and reads her story, which has similarities to her’s, the loss of a child, and fleeing back to their hometown.
This is a story of tragedy that changed two lives significantly, both struggling to adapt to their old environments and dependence on their families. It’s a story of repairing the results of broken lives secondary to tragic events.
This book had me hooked from page one. Imogene Clark is a skilled storyteller, with well developed and interesting characters.
My thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Lake Union Publishing for a wonderful read.

I enjoyed this story about two women, in two different time periods, whose lives have interesting parallels. At first I didn't really like either woman, but as the story unfolds I came to understand them and like them. They both endured tragedies that changed them, and left them disconnected from life. An unlikely meeting brings them together. They share their stories and help each other move on with their lives. It is told in alternating voices, which I always enjoy. I found it to be a poignant story about grief, forgiveness and new beginnings. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite by the author. I LOVED all of the author's previous books. I think it was because I didn't love the characters, mainly Pip. Pip acted more like a teenager than an adult, with the way she treated her parents. She had an air of superiority and acted like she was better than everyone in her hometown. She was definitely two different people. When she was Rose, she cared more about material things, living in the right part of London and being seen at the best restaurants. As Pip, she was more herself and didn't mind being seen in jeans, working at a charity shop or riding an old bike. I really enjoyed Evelyn's story. Her sister was definitely a piece of work. I hate to say it, but didn't feel bad for what happened to her. Pip and Evelyn were perfect friends for each other. They were able to help each other heal. The Jez and Pip "relationship" really wasn't needed. Suddenly Pip has feelings for someone she ignored for years and was jealous of his fiancé.

Definitely recommend the book. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Pip and Evelyn have something in common. They are trying to deal with the death of a child. Pip accidentally killed a young boy who ran out in front of her car. Pip has moved home to recover. Evelyn lost her little girl who drowned in a pond after wandering away from her home. Both women meet and try to help each other.

Change......... We all face it. But what if this change is not of our own doing and it's forced upon us in a blink of an eye? This is what happens to Pip Appleby, she's a human rights lawyer with a lavish London home. In an instant she's no longer the same person. A tragic accident resulting in a child's death takes it all away though it's ruled accidental her mind won't allow her to get on with life.
Replaying the accident daily she has nightmares about it and it stunts her growth as a person mentally. Unable to cope with this self imposed guilt she moves back home to the farm as life once was and is treated like the teen she was when she left.
While working at a charity thrift shop she finds a diary in the donation box and it changes her life after reading it.
She knows she shouldn't read such personal information but figures a little peek won't hurt.
Before she know's it she's done knowing she must find the author of the diary and return it she sets out to do so. Reading the diary not only changes her life but the author of the diary, an older woman but it also changes the author's life when they meet.
Heartbreaking and very realistic tells the story of how we can become a prisoner to our own mind when we make an assumption of how we perceive others of seeing us.
Absolutely excellent book! A quick read, I couldn't put it down!
#ReluctantlyHome #NetGalley
Pub Date 29 Apr 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

3.5 stars.

An interesting read about two women facing parallel traumas at different times, but their lives intersect because of mere chance. This ultimately leads to the women meeting in person and processing their traumas and grief with the other’s help. This book is predictable in that you will know where it will lead but it provides an in depth look at how trauma is not just about the physical pain but the mental and emotional aspects that linger.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Who doesn't dream about finding an unknown person's diary and learning about the diarist and yourself as your read through it?
The premise of the story is that a successful attorney has a life-changing accident and must move home to move on. Loved the contrast of the two main characters' lives during different decades and the way everything was tied together.
I am so grateful to NetGalley to have received a digital copy to read and review.

Pip Appleby was a successful barrister in London, but at the start of the book we witness a tragic accident when she hits and kills a little boy. Reeling from this incident she is unable to work and temporarily moves back to the farm her parents own. Working at a charity shop, she finds a diary from 1983 that sets up the entirety of this novel.

Evelyn is who wrote this diary and we know she was an actress, who ended up pregnant just after she receives her big break and decides instead to move back home with her sister and have the baby. Several years later tragedy ensues and Evelyn is more or less a recluse who has a bit of a hoarding issue.

Pip and Evelyn come together that is beautiful and healing to both of them. This is a very simple story this is just beautiful. The biggest takeaway is forgiveness, for yourself and each other. Told through diary entries and conversations Clark gives us lovely story that will stay with you awhile and maybe even make you reflect on some of your pasts. I recommend this one highly.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time getting into this book. It was very slow moving in the beginning. Rose Appleby is a human rights lawyer in London. One day while driving, she had a terrible car accident that she could not get over. She is left with nightmares and becomes unable to work as a result of her panic attacks. She is forced to go home and recoup at her parents home outside of London, the home she grew up waiting for the chance to escape.

Hating the rural farm life, she reinvented herself in London to become the posh person she thought she wanted to be. But in Suffolk she is known as Pip. After returning home, Pip volunteers at a charity shop. One day she discovers the diary from 1983 of Evelyn Montcastle. She becomes absorbed in her life, finding many similarities to her own. Feeling that the diary was given away by mistake, she goes about finding Evelyn and returning it.

The book’s pace picks up considerably in the second half and you find yourself wanting to continue to find out what happened in Evelyn’s life to make her hide away in her home for years. The women become friends and help each other heal from the terrible things that happened to them. It also brings into account the things that were expected of women in the 1980’s and that has now become the me too movement of today.

I thank Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book before it’s release and to give a review of it.

Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC of Reluctantly Home. I thoroughly enjoyed Reluctantly Home. The book opens with Pip, otherwise known as Rose to her friends in London, involved in a fatal accident. After suffering a nervous breakdown, she returns to a small town outside of London and her parent's farm to recover and heal. Her boyfriend of two years visits her at her parent's house and breaks up with her. She is at a very low point in her life. She works in a local second-hand store to keep herself occupied. While working there, she discovers a box of books that someone has donated, One of the books is someone's personal diary. Pip is intrigued because her life feels so chaotic so she begins to read the diary. She is struck by how her life seems similar to this other woman's life. A man shows up at the second hand store in desperation to find the diary. Pip realizes that the woman in the diary may still be alive and she proceeds to discover if she is. When the two women meet, an unexpected friendship emerges and helps both women to heal. I enjoyed the two storylines of the book and wanted to know what happened to both characters who have reluctantly returned to the same small town.

While the more modern character is fairly realistic and her motivations strong, the character of the past isn't nearly as interesting, and not worthy of what could have been a good plot.

One of my favorite things on Earth is the combination of two people, of different ages, with similar traumas/struggles. This combines two stories with eloquence and grace. The only negative would be that I thought it ended rather abruptly and I wished I had seen a bit more at the end (epilogue, perhaps). That's a very small quibble, though, and I greatly enjoyed Pip as a character, especially. I felt she had such an interesting character in Pip.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a gentle, unassuming read with a warm cast of characters and an interesting plot.

Pip Appleby finds herself back in her childhood home in the sleepy town of Southwold after a tragic accident. When she comes across a diary of an Evelyn Mountcastle, she can’t help but read it. This dual narrated story covers 3 timelines. Evelyn in London, Evelyn in the Diary and Pip in the present day. Of course, these worlds collide and the outcome is lovely.

I really liked the characters in this book, particularly Pip. I understand entirely how she felt and found her incredibly realistic as a woman damaged by grief.

I enjoyed the writing style and found the book nicely paced. I’ll definitely look for more works by this author! Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.