How It Was

'IMMERSIVE, AMAZING, REMARKABLE' MARIAN KEYES'JANET ELLIS WRITES WITH TENDERNESS AND WISDOM' ERIN KELLY'AN ATMOSPHERIC, CLEVER NOVEL THAT WILL GET UNDER YOUR SKIN' REDMarion Deacon sits by the hospital bed of her dying husband, Michael. Outwardly she is, as she says, an unremarkable old woman. She has long concealed her history - and her feelings - from the casual observer. But as she sits by Michael's bed, she's haunted by memories from almost forty years ago . . . Marion Deacon is a wife and mother, and not particularly good at being either. It's the 1970s and in her small village the Swinging 60s, the wave of feminism, the prospect of an exciting life, have all swerved past her. Reading her teenage daughter's diary, it seems that Sarah is on the threshold of getting everything her mother Marion was denied, and Marion cannot bear it - what she does next has terrible and heart-breaking consequences for the whole family.Janet Ellis writes of the exquisite pain of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the complexity of family and a mother-daughter relationship that is as memorable as it is utterly believable.'ELLIS WRITES BEAUTIFULLY' DAILY MAIL'AN EMOTIONAL EPIC' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING'AFFECTING, ENGAGING AND READABLE' OBSERVER'A TALE OF SILENCES, SECRETS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS' MAIL ON SUNDAY'IMMERSIVE, AMAZING, REMARKABLE' MARIAN KEYES'JANET ELLIS WRITES WITH TENDERNESS AND WISDOM' ERIN KELLY'AN ATMOSPHERIC, CLEVER NOVEL THAT WILL GET UNDER YOUR SKIN' REDMarion Deacon sits by the hospital bed of her dying husband, Michael. Outwardly she is, as she says, an unremarkable old woman. She has long concealed her history - and her feelings - from the casual observer. But as she sits by Michael's bed, she's haunted by memories from almost forty years ago . . . Marion Deacon is a wife and mother, and not particularly good at being either. It's the 1970s and in her small village the Swinging 60s, the wave of feminism, the prospect of an exciting life, have all swerved past her. Reading her teenage daughter's diary, it seems that Sarah is on the threshold of getting everything her mother Marion was denied, and Marion cannot bear it - what she does next has terrible and heart-breaking consequences for the whole family.Janet Ellis writes of the exquisite pain of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the complexity of family and a mother-daughter relationship that is as memorable as it is utterly believable.'ELLIS WRITES BEAUTIFULLY' DAILY MAIL'AN EMOTIONAL EPIC' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING'AFFECTING, ENGAGING AND READABLE' OBSERVER'A TALE OF SILENCES, SECRETS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS' MAIL ON SUNDAY'ENGROSSING' MIRROR

You will love this - immersive, amazing, remarkable, I could barely breathe. I cried - and I never cry., Ellis has a knack for depicting the way in which families struggle to communicate . . . engaging and readable, Ellis writes beautifully, with a great eye for detail. She has a wry comic touch and all the emotions are spot on., An atmospheric, clever novel, which will get under your skin, A tale of silences, secrets and misunderstandings, of marital infidelities and of paths not taken . . . A fluent, convincing depiction of the poignant intricacies of family life

Actress, presenter and author Janet Ellis trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Best known for presenting Blue Peter, she stars in numerous radio and TV programmes and in 2018 appeared at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2016 Janet was awarded an MBE for services to charities and theatre.A graduate of the Curtis Brown creative writing course, her debut novel, The Butcher's Hook, was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize.janetellis.comtwitter.com/missjanetellisinstagram.com/missjanetellis