WHY SHE LEFT by Leah Mercer

Why She Left

Leah Mercer 

Out 13^th December 2022 

When I open the door and see her, my mind starts churning. Why are they here? What do they want? And why did my daughter leave in the first place? Am I finally, after all of these years, going to find out? I take a deep breath and usher them in…

Ruth has spent every day of the last fifteen years wondering why her daughter Isobel left. Walking around the school to which she has given her life, every child she sees reminds her of her family’s bright future which vanished in an instant.

So when Ruth opens the door to find Isobel and a teenage grandson she never knew existed, she feels a rush of relief. Despite the years of hurt she never stopped loving Isobel and wants to help rebuild her life. Enrolling her grandson at the school, Ruth wants to make sure they stay for good.

Isobel has spent her life running from a painful secret. A secret which could have destroyed her family. Now, as she flees a bad relationship, she knows that her childhood home is the only place where she can be safe.

But as Isobel looks at her son in his crisp new uniform, she is taken straight back to the reason she ran all those years ago. Soon it becomes clear that she is not the only one tormented by the past. Someone is prepared to destroy everything Ruth and Isobel hold dear. Can Isobel confront her darkest secret before it is too late?

From the bestselling author of Who We Were Before comes a powerful and emotional page-turner about devastating family secrets. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Emily Bleeker and Imogen Clark.

About Leah Mercer

Leah Mercer was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. Her first ambition was to be a journalist, but after completing a master’s in journalism, she soon realised she preferred anything other than reporting the news. After trying her hand at public relations, teaching and recruitment in various countries around the world, she finally settled in London and returned to writing… fiction, this time. Her first two novels, Who We Were Before and The Man I Thought You Were, were shortlisted at the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association Awards. Leah loves books, running and visiting historic houses with her husband and their son.

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeahMercerBooks @leahmercerbooks 

MY THOUGHTS

I did enjoy this book a lot. The one thing I didn't like, actually two things, was the mothers. Both mothers. Ruth is Isobel's mother and Isobel is Isaac's mother. Ruth is a very cold and selfish woman in my opinion. Even at the end she did not grow on me at all. She was just not at all likable. Nothing came before her precious school. Not even her own flesh and blood. Nothing. Isobel talked about how close her and Isaac were yet it seemed to me she didn't know her son at all. Not at all. I know that some things happen and parents do not know but this was a bit ridiculous. If what she said about them being so close was true she would have known where her son was and what he was doing. At least part of the time. As for Isaac I'm afraid that he was fairly dumb in ways. He knew what they was running from yet he did something that left absolutely no doubt as to where they were? He was suppose to be a very smart young man. Really just a kid but he would have known better. He just would have. But still it was a good story. It was a good book. I did enjoy reading this one. I just didn't like any of the characters. It happens.

This book is not really a thriller. It's a bit of a family drama. A whole lot of family drama. Isobel is running away from an abusive man. She goes back to her childhood home to a mother she left years ago while she was still just a child. Her mother lets her and Isaac in and seems like she wants them there but she is not excited or happy. When Isobel was a child they were so close yet now her mother closed her heart to her youngest daughter without knowing why she left in the first place. I just didn't understand that. It's her personality though. She loves the school more than anything. As did her dad. 

Then we have Cecily. I wanted to like her and in so many ways I did. She gave up her life for her mother and this school. She did all the things that Isobel would have done if she had not of left. Yet Cecily is not exactly done right by her mother. But then again Cecily was a bit selfish too. She was pretty cold and calculating in the things she did. I liked her in that she gave up her life to help her mother. In that she was a daughter that Ruth should have been very proud of. 

This book will keep you turning the pages. You will want to know who did what and why. You will want Isaac and Isobel to smooth things over. You may even want her and Ruth to smooth things over. It's possible I suppose. I just didn't like them and the ways they wanted us to think they were. I did think that both mothers loved their child in a way. In their own way. But in selfish ways too. Maybe Isobel was not exactly selfish. I'm not sure how to explain her. I guess you have to read and figure that out for yourself. 

I liked Alex. He had the right idea. He was the one that I rooted for.

Thank you #NetGalley, #LeahMercer, #bookouture for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

4/5 stars for me. It's a good story just filled with some people you may not like. Or you may.