Mothers and Daughters: From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes the most captivating new family drama of 2022

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Her characterisation is excellent, the setting beautiful and the slow reveals are delicately and sensitively handled. Martha and Ellis both have their doubts about Rick, unfortunately it’s a case of history repeating itself, Naomi needs to protect Willow and she must tell her daughters the truth about their father and they will be shocked. Martha, whom we meet first is the elder of two siblings and is desperately trying for a baby with her husband Tom. Although the story is slow to begin with, it picks up and becomes a page turning family drama with a very satisfying ending.

Martha, on the other hand, has other ideas and wants her mother to sell her house and move closer to the daughters, which disrupts the natural flow of family life with them. Whilst the three women share a very close relationship, there are things that are kept hidden, especially by Naomi. One of those stories when you're sad to leave the characters as you immediately feel at ease with them and want to carry on watching over them as they come to terms with the loss in their lives, but begin to move on. But as the story unfolds, and the layers peel back, revealing secrets from deep in the family’s past, it becomes easier to empathise with Martha. Naomi loves her two girls, but when she meets an old friend it upsets the equilibrium and, although they think they know everything about their mother, Naomi, like most of us, has her secrets – and she’s not the only one.Willow, the youngest, was always more sunny and easy-going, yet drifted through life, much to her father’s frustration. Indeed, with Ellis by her side, they seem content to garden, appreciate their surroundings, and help out with village life. While Willow had always had great empathy, was a good listener and had no ambitions other than to enjoy life. She is a lot more relaxed and tends to have boyfriends who don’t last very long before she tires of them.

There are things Naomi has kept from her girls, like the fact that her marriage to their father wasn't quite what it seemed. Our three heroines lives are changing, but not always in the way they expect, and never independently of each other’s. I think this symbolises the different pace of life that the characters lead and reinforces Naomi’s more laid-back approach to decisions. I also enjoyed the evocative descriptions of the rather genteel seaside village of Tilsham and of the family home.

He’d moved into a cottage next door to Naomi to be nearer his mother who was in care and not expected to last much longer. I’ve been reading Erica James novels for over 20 years – hers were the first adult books I ever read, and her books are always fun and enjoyable. The characters, their lives and their conflicts were very realistic and immensely enjoyable – a perfect holiday read to sweep you away. Having decided the time is right for a baby, Martha is dismayed that after ten months of trying she still hasn’t conceived and it’s starting to feel like failure to a woman driven by perfectionism.

Relationships that appear to be wonderful on the outside can be very dark and damaging behind closed doors and keeping up cheery appearances when the one thing you long for isn’t happening can be exhausting. Having rebuilt her life and reconnected by random chance with Ellis, a friend from university, Naomi is ready to start afresh but worried about both her daughter’s reaction to a new man, especially that of Martha who idolised her father. Generational stories are always a winner for me – I love the exploration of family dynamics, and the focus it puts on characters, especially when I can fully empathise with them. Naomi’s daughters are very different: Martha is determined and driven like her father, while Willow is a free spirit. She soon realises that their friendship is growing into other emotions; she is in love with Ellis and he has the same feelings for her.It’s kind of an observational study of a multigenerational family, managing life to the best of their ability at the time, reflecting back and forward as to how these strategies have and continue to affect their thought and decisions.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we can’t think of a better book to get stuck into … a captivating read’ OK! Willow, the youngest, was always more sunny and easy-going, yet drifted through life, much to her father's frustration. On reflection, I think it is quite interesting that an older character in the story connected with me the most. Really this is an awesome story one that I would highly recommend I can’t praise it enough, it is the first book from Erica James that I have read but it won’t be the last.

By contrast for the first time Willow has a boyfriend in Rick, who her family approve of as charming, steady and dependable. However, the story then gets a little contrived with a rather irritatingly simple solution that feels too easy. Partially set in the summer of 1981 when Prince Charles and Lady Diana are about to marry, Libby discovers her fiancé has been cheating on her. Martha is a very strong character who likes to take control of every aspect, and she thinks it would be best for her mum to sell up and move nearer them.