Three Little Truths: 'Liane Moriarty meets Maeve Binchy meets Marian Keyes.' Jo Spain, author of The Confession

Wow .. this is a read-and-a-half! With so much going on, I found myself immersed in a multi-genre novel with a serious side which also provided so much opportunity for laughter! Set in a cul-de-sac in the Dublin suburbs, this is the story of neighbours, the ups and downs of their families -- and oh, so much more! There are a good mix of people from all walks of life, most of whom are harbouring their own secrets but what they have in common is wanting to be the first to find out all about the new family who have come to live in their midst. Who are they, where have the come from and why have they chosen to move into the much sought after Pine Road? This is a novel with everything going for it! There is a bit of crime, a helping of mystery, a few solid friends and a wide sprinkling of people from across the board - some who think they are superior to others along with those just desperate to fit it. There is some very clever plotting at hand and more than a few surprises along the way. What seems to be, on the surface, a simple and straightforward read is a book full of revelations and surprises which had me giggling in the most unexpected places! This is one of those books that I want to shout about from the rooftops and make sure everyone reads! Skilfully crafted and fabulously entertaining so it'll be no surprises that I'm giving this one a full house of stars.

Flippin' heck, you would need to be careful with all these women, I don't think I'd trust any of them as far as I could throw them, they were all more interested in one-upmanship and knowing the gossip than actually being friends. I did find it a bit confusing to get all the names and people in order to start with, as there were quite a few characters, but as the book went on it did get easier and some were easier to get a handle on than others. I liked the way the beginning of each chapter had a snippet of a WhatsApp chat with the various characters before getting into the rest of the story. The main characters (all ladies) had a WhatsApp group for the cul-de-sac they lived in, Pine Road, some were leaders and some were followers. Bernie (bossy/writes a column for the local paper/self-important), Ellen (Bernie's side-kick/hanger on), Carmel (older/chatty) and her daughter Robin (I liked her!), Edie (always wants to belong and been seen as doing the right thing/married and wants a baby very badly/very insecure), Martha (just moved to the cul-de-sac with her family/moved to Dublin as was in a house raid and traumatised), Siobhan (one of Martha's daughter's/causes trouble in her new school), Trish (the head teacher of Siobhan's new school) and the lesser characters of Ruby, Madeleine, Fiona & Rita Ann, along with various family members. The whole story was about the goings on amongst all the characters and their families. Some with secrets to hide, some trying to find out those secrets, some trying to overthrow the (supposed) pecking order in the cul-de-sac! There were a few surprises later in the book, one I didn't see coming, and by the end of the book one of the houses was sold and the occupants moving out of Pine Road, but which ones, and why?! Very clever book about the lives of a group of women and their families, but I'm glad I don't live there, I don't think I could cope with the hidden agendas of everyone and I don't think any of them particularly liked or trusted each other. If they had half a chance to stick the knife in to someone they would! But it did make for a very entertaining read!

I found myself getting completely sucked in to the fictional world of Pine Road. It's not just the story of our three main protagonists, it's the story of the road itself. How the neighbours rub along together and the disparate range of personalities that live there. From the irascible Shay and his obsession with owning everything nine feet from the property to the controlling Bernie, this is a street populated by real characters; it could almost be your street (except your neighbours keep themselves to themselves). Ostensibly the story is about three women: Edie - Newly married, desperate for a child and struggling to fit in. She comes across as exceptionally needy on the page but once you have endured her visit to the in-laws you do find yourself empathising with her rather than writing her off as pathetic. Her obsession with making friends on the street and "fitting in" does grate but only because you find yourself wanting to shake her and tell her that she is valuable, that she is worthy. Robin - Living back at home with her "four and three waters" year old son after leaving her disaster of a partner she is struggling to find her feet. She is doing her best as a mother but after years with Eddy and his dodgy businesses finding a job is proving difficult and living with her mother and father has it's own challenges. When she gets the chance at a new romance her past comes back to haunt her in ways she never imagined. Martha - The newest resident of Pine Road and the one who seemingly has everything. Appearances really do deceive though and she is still suffering from the trauma of the break in at their Limerick home and she is struggling to move on from what happened and move away from blaming her husband. Couple this with the trials and tribulations of raising teenage daughters and life is somewhat of a powder keg. The stories of the three women flow around each other and take in the other women of the street. Make no mistake, this is a book about women. Regularly interspersed with extracts from one or other of the many Whats App Group message threads that give you a real feeling for the other characters that live in the street. My favourite has to be the oh-so-superior Bernie. She really is that one character you love to hate. So, the characters are strongly written and believable; what about the plot? The plot is quite sinuous and discretely threaded through so that everything that happens feels organic and realistic. The only problems I had with it was the use of coincidence and also the tendency the characters had to misconstrue events. I know this made for a little bit of tension and misdirection but it just felt forced in places - particularly the sections dealing with "the man with soulful eyes". On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent on Pine Road.