Home Truths by Susan Lewis is a thought-provoking read and tells the story of Angie Watts and her husband, Steve, and their children, Liam, Grace and Zac. Steve is a well-known and respected painter and decorator and has a good relationship with many local business people, including his boss, Hari Shalik, who asked them to move to the coastal town of Kesterly so that he could put him in charge of all his development projects.
Nothing seems to go right for the family after Liam’s early descent into drugs when he falls into the wrong crowd at school and joins the biggest gang on the estate, and the subsequent death of Steve sends Angie’s life and her children’s lives spiralling out of control. Liam runs off in despair at his part in Steve’s death and Angie is left to try and pick up the pieces.
Poor Angie is foiled at every turn as she tries her hardest to support her family by taking on extra jobs to make ends meet but it’s never enough and she really struggles. She’s evicted from the lovely family home that Steve helped to build, and her debts continue to mount up. She also still hopes that they will be reunited with Liam but her attempts to find him fail.
Luckily, she has the amazing support of her sister, Emma, who she works alongside at Bridging the Gap, which provides housing and support for vulnerable adults. Emma is there to help her look after the children when times get tough, despite being a single mother of two children herself.
Meanwhile, Angie’s teenage daughter, Grace, is vulnerable and is targeted by an internet predator and in danger of getting tangled up in something which may have awful consequences, and Angie is totally unaware of what’s going on.
Angie has a torrid time and it sounds like she’s really struggling and everything is conspiring against her but she’s embarrassed by her situation and doesn’t like to let on how bad things are. She’s a strong character who fights for her children and, with a little help from her friends, she attempts to regain control of her life.
I really enjoyed this thought-provoking and emotional family drama, which was an interesting insight into current social issues including poverty, debt, homelessness, universal credit and the working poor and really made me thing about how difficult things can be for people, often through no fault of their own when their lives hit a bad patch.
It was a poignant and intense read and I really felt for Angie as she struggled to hold her family together and was hoping that things would work out for her in the end.
Surprisingly, this is the first book by Susan Lewis that I’ve read! Sounds like I’ve got a large backlist to work through now!
Nothing seems to go right for the family after Liam’s early descent into drugs when he falls into the wrong crowd at school and joins the biggest gang on the estate, and the subsequent death of Steve sends Angie’s life and her children’s lives spiralling out of control. Liam runs off in despair at his part in Steve’s death and Angie is left to try and pick up the pieces.
Poor Angie is foiled at every turn as she tries her hardest to support her family by taking on extra jobs to make ends meet but it’s never enough and she really struggles. She’s evicted from the lovely family home that Steve helped to build, and her debts continue to mount up. She also still hopes that they will be reunited with Liam but her attempts to find him fail.
Luckily, she has the amazing support of her sister, Emma, who she works alongside at Bridging the Gap, which provides housing and support for vulnerable adults. Emma is there to help her look after the children when times get tough, despite being a single mother of two children herself.
Meanwhile, Angie’s teenage daughter, Grace, is vulnerable and is targeted by an internet predator and in danger of getting tangled up in something which may have awful consequences, and Angie is totally unaware of what’s going on.
Angie has a torrid time and it sounds like she’s really struggling and everything is conspiring against her but she’s embarrassed by her situation and doesn’t like to let on how bad things are. She’s a strong character who fights for her children and, with a little help from her friends, she attempts to regain control of her life.
I really enjoyed this thought-provoking and emotional family drama, which was an interesting insight into current social issues including poverty, debt, homelessness, universal credit and the working poor and really made me thing about how difficult things can be for people, often through no fault of their own when their lives hit a bad patch.
It was a poignant and intense read and I really felt for Angie as she struggled to hold her family together and was hoping that things would work out for her in the end.
Surprisingly, this is the first book by Susan Lewis that I’ve read! Sounds like I’ve got a large backlist to work through now!