The Escape

The Escape

The Escape

 

‘Every woman must read this book’ Reader Review *****

Bel Carnegie’s life is not perfect.

Still recovering from her ex-husband’s betrayal she lives with her narcissistic father in the family flat in Earl’s Court.

Then one summer she decides to swap the sweltering city for beautiful Cornwall. While renting a little cottage she finds that the sea, sunshine and new friends help heal her damaged heart.

But Bel soon learns that you can’t run from the past and it isn’t long before it comes knocking once more . . .

 

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‘Love all Hilary Boyd books and this one did not disappoint. ‘ Reader Review *****

‘Loved this book from beginning to end. We ride the tide of emotions along with Bel.’ Reader Review *****

Praise for Hilary Boyd

‘Hilary Boyd nails family dynamics and misplaced loyalties with pin-sharp precision in an impressively well-written tale’ Daily Express

‘I was ripping through this book . . . addictive’ Evening Standard

‘Boyd is as canny as Joanna Trollope at observing family life’ Daily Mail

The Escape By Hilary Boyd
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The Affair

The Affair

The Affair

 

A summer she will remember forever. Because he won’t let her forget . . .

‘The ending is heart stopping’ Reader Review *****

Escape to the sun-drenched shores of Lake Como in the irresistible and gripping new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of Thursdays in the Park, The Anniversary and The Lie

Connie McCabe longs for the summer where she spends the days leading tours across Europe.

But it’s on the glamorous shores of Lake Como where she is truly swept away, when Jared, a much younger man, falls for her.

Despite resisting his advances Connie finds that he’s got under her skin.

And so begins a long, hot, intoxicating summer where Connie succumbs and breaks her marriage vows.

At the end of the season Connie returns home to her husband, wanting to put this affair behind her.

But Jared has other ideas . . .

 

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‘This left me on the edge of my seat’ Reader Review *****

‘I couldn’t put it down’ Reader Review *****

Praise for Hilary Boyd

‘Hilary Boyd nails family dynamics and misplaced loyalties with pin-sharp precision in an impressively well-written tale’ Daily Express

‘I was ripping through this book . . . addictive’ Evening Standard

‘Boyd is as canny as Joanna Trollope at observing family life’ Daily Mail

The Affair Hilary Boyd
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The Lie

The Lie

The Lie

 

Romy and Michael had it all. 30 years of marriage, two wonderful sons and a beautiful home.

Until a letter arrives containing a shocking accusation, and everything falls apart.

Fleeing to an idyllic countryside village to find time to think, Romy finds herself drawn to Finch, a handsome stranger with a tragic past. Is this a chance to start again.

 

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“Full of conflict with many twists and turns

A beautifully written and tense family drama

Totally engrossing

A brilliant page-turner

The Lie by Hilary Boyd
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The Anniversary

The Anniversary

The Anniversary

Stella once thought that if she never saw Jack again, it would be too soon.

But life has other plans for her and her stubborn, handsome ex-husband.

Looking after their daughter and grandson in a time of need, Stella finds herself unwillingly reunited with the man she shared the best years of her life with – followed by the worst.

Where tragedy once tore them apart, now Stella and Jack are being drawn back together. But each of them has a new partner and a new life.

Unresolved grief is like a permanent, painful presence in your gut. It affects the way you feel about everything. As a nation, in general, we are getting better at expressing our feelings. But we’ve come from a very repressed place and there is still a long way to go. 

“Being a child of the 50s and 60s, I was not expected to attend my father’s funeral… My life went on in exactly the same way after Daddy died – sleep, food, school, homework, exercise. And no one mentioned him again. Like he’d never existed…”

Appropriate death is one thing. When an aged parent or grandparent dies, it can be deeply upsetting, but it’s part of life. But when a younger person dies – who had their whole life ahead of them – it can be almost too painful to express how you’re feeling.

And it’s hard for friends and family to know the best way to treat a bereaved person.

  •   Do you say something? If so, what?
  •   Do they want to talk about it? Or will that just upset them?
  •   Do they want to be alone? Or want you around.

If you don’t know, you might be embarrassed and try to avoid the person, which is even more hurtful.

Neither Stella nor Jack could cope with their loss. But they reacted in different ways. Jack wanted to talk about it. Stella wanted to bury it so deep that she could pretend it never happened.

But there is always a day of reckoning, if you don’t deal with grief, when the loss refuses to be ignored any longer. For Stella, the only person who really understood was Jack. And it was he, in the end, who helped her to face her demons.

‘Being a child of the 50s and 60s, I was not expected to attend my father’s funeral,’ says Hilary. ‘In fact, I didn’t even know when it took place. My life went on in exactly the same way after Daddy died – sleep, food, school, homework, exercise. And no one mentioned him again. Like he’d never existed. I was young, I didn’t have the words, I suppose. My sister said she didn’t talk to Mum about it because she didn’t want to upset her. So, there I was, without a father, and without even a conversation about one.

I didn’t discover how Daddy had been buried and where until I was in my thirties. Very strange. It wouldn’t happen now.’ 

‘This was a very emotional book for me. I cried a lot while I was writing it. It wasn’t the same situation as the one Stella and Jack experienced, of course. I would never equate one person’s grief with another – everyone feels things differently. But loss is loss and it has to be confronted sooner or later.’

“Oh my goodness, I just loved this book. Right from the start you just wish for a happy ending and it sets you on a roller-coaster of emotions.

Jack and Stella, so happily married, decide to add to their family, having a little boy Jonny already. Disaster strikes one sunny afternoon when attending a garden party, resulting in Jonny dying in a freak accident, leaving pregnant Stella and Jack, broken beyond repair.

Decades later, when their daughter Eve is pregnant with her second child, Jack and Stella find their paths crossing after trying to avoid each other for over ten years. Can they settle their differences, or has too much water passed under the bridge?”

Adele Shea

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A Perfect Husband

A Perfect Husband

A Perfect Husband

 

To their friends, Lily and Freddy have a great marriage. He taught her to love again after the death of her first husband. But when Freddy becomes tense and distracted, a life-changing truth is revealed.

Freddy has built up massive gambling debts that threaten to destroy not only his life but Lily’s as well.

Her friends and family urge her to forget him and move on – easier said than done. Is her willingness to give him a second chance just down to loyalty? Or is the truth something altogether darker?

This book is about the terrible knock-on effects on family and friends of addiction.  Hilary refers to three types. The one you can see: the drug/alcohol addict. The one you can’t: the gambler. And the person who is addicted to believing in the addict – the co-dependant.

No one grows up with the life-plan of being an addict. And for many it takes a lifetime to admit that they are. Freddy has got away with his gambling addiction, sort of. He’s charming and persuasive enough in his dealings with people that no one suspects he has a problem. Because gambling compulsively doesn’t show. It’s not like drugs or alcohol. A compulsive gambler doesn’t slur his words or stumble about, get violent and pass out. It only shows in his or her bank account, and the bank accounts of those he or she is closest to.

But Lily is also an addict. She’s addicted to Freddy. Even after she’s faced with financial ruin from her husband’s losses, she still loves him and wants him in her life. He’ll give it up, she tells herself.

Which is what everyone who is not an addict believes, when faced with an addiction that is ruining someone’s life. Why would anyone keep doing something so destructive?

It’s what Lily’s sister believes about her son, Kit, when he promises never to touch heroin again.

‘You can’t be in a relationship with an addict. It just destroys you,’ Hilary says. ‘I found this a hard book to write. Freddy turned out so charming and I really felt for him. Like Lily, I wanted to trust him, to believe he could turn his life around. In the end, he does begin to. I hope it works out for him!’

When Lily’s first husband dies she is left with teenage twins and a massive hole in her life…….until she meets Freddy. Freddy is a flamboyant character, full of charm, owner of a successful recording studio and he sweeps Lily off her feet, life couldn’t be better she sells her house and moves into his penthouse flat and gives him the money to invest for her.

Then Freddy starts to get snappy and irritated all the time….the honeymoon period is definitely over……..he starts staying out all night claiming business meetings and she starts to think that he is having an affair but it is worse he is addicted to gambling and the house of cards is about to collapse – the flat is rented, he owes money to loan sharks and he has gambled away all of her money

When the collapse finally happens Freddy runs off to Malta leaving Lily on her own to face the consequences and with no money left and no home she has to go and live with her sister in Oxford, the sister that has always resented her and her charmed life, but can she really let go and forget Freddy or is she just waiting for him to come back?

A great story really exploring the problems of addictions – Lily’s nephew is a drug addict and so her sister and brother-in-law both suffer with this and their different approaches to dealing with it – and although on the face of it gambling is not in the same league it can still cause as much disruption to the lives of those dealing with it

Sally Coles

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