Home Truths by Susan Lewis

The gripping new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author

Angie Watts used to have everything. A new home. A beloved husband. Three adored children.
 
But Angie’s happy life is shattered when her son Liam falls in with the wrong crowd. And after her son’s bad choices lead to the murder of her husband, it’s up to Angie to hold what’s left of her family together.
 
Her son is missing. Her daughter is looking for help in dangerous places. And Angie is fighting just to keep a roof over their heads.
 
But Angie is a mother. And a mother does anything to protect her children – even when the world is falling apart…

If home is where the heart is, what happens when it breaks?

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For a book that started out with such a brutal murder, I found myself absolutely loving this story and found it quite a cosy read – honestly, I couldn’t put it down. I adored Angie, the relationship with her sister was really endearing and had such an amusing chemistry. There are so many likeable and relatable characters. 
Home Truths tackles some incredibly serious issues such as gangs, eviction, homelessness and online grooming, which could have easily have amounted to a really depressing read and understandably so, but the sense of community and kindness really shines through in this book and it felt really uplifting to me. 
There’s a pretty big theme of ‘knight in shining armour’ which might not be for everybody, but I loved it, it’s a nice reminder that kind people exist and that it’s good to have hope. 
A big thing for me is that the book was such an eye opener about homelessness and how people are treated by the authorities that should be helping them, the toll Universal Credit can take on people and I was stunned to learn about the way children are taken into care because there simply aren’t houses available for families. I’ve always donated to food banks, but after reading this book I will do so more often.

Thank you very much to Readers First, Harper Collins, Netgalley and Susan Lewis for Home Truths.