Half a World Away: The heart-warming, heart-breaking Richard and Judy Book Club selection Paperback – 20 Feb. 2020

Oh my... I'm in a marathon of Mike Gayle books at the moment, having been lured in by the wonderful "All the Lonely People", which I also highly highly recommend.He has a knack of telling a story in a way that engages, draws you in and plays on your perceptions and emotions.They depict places, people and circumstances that are widely varied but have in common a focus on the human condition and the significance of human relationships and shared experiences, making it easy for the reader to relate to these elements.His characters are equally engaging: that is what brings all stories to life for the reader.This story of siblings, long separated by fostering and adoption, reconnecting is sympathetically told, emotional without being mawkish, and while it more than touches on the long-term impact of early life experiences it resists "preachiness" and negativity.The characters, especially Kerry and Noah/Jason, are wonderfully drawn, and you cannot help rooting for them, just like the characters in his other work.Have to admit to a few tears along the way, but the overall feel of the book is indeed "heartwarming" and positive, and it provokes some reflection on the impact of care, fostering and adoption.Loved it.

‘𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 – 𝙄’𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 – 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙨.’~I went into this one blind and even though I was warned, it still broke me!The first half was a really lovely read and I was enjoying it so much, then midway through the book a bomb was dropped - I was NOT expecting it! I knew something was coming, but this wasn’t even on my radar, maybe I’m just naive.The writing was beautiful, gave great insight to the characters - making them believable and real. Although once you get into the second half of the book, you kind of know where it’s going to end up, it’s still just as captivating and interesting as the rest.I am not overly emotional, usually I’m a pretty hard faced cow to be honest. But when I tell you this book made me ugly cry - I’m not even joking. All this aside, I definitely recommend this beautiful read - it really will hit you in the feels.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is my second Mike Gayle book, after "All the Lonely People" and I am more than hooked. The characters are real and the story well done!

So well writtenEmotional & heartbreakingLoved it!

Good development of characters and emotionally engaging. Felt rushed in the last few chapters

I read this for my book group and found it very readable - in fact I stayed up late reading it which I haven’t done for a long time.The thing I found so odd about this book is that I was absolutely convinced that it was about Grenfell. The dates seemed to be leading up to June, the focus on how much the character loved her flat, the specific location in West London, even the cover. So I was kind of bracing myself for it - and it didn’t happen.But even if the tower she was living in wasn’t Grenfell, and it wasn’t set in 2017 (book was published in June 2019), there is just no way that anyone living in a West London tower block wouldn’t have been aware of Grenfell and its anniversaries and these wouldn’t have been marked or noted. I have worked with communities in this area and it is so raw, so talked about.I know books create their own little world but this one draws so specifically on a real area, and real problems, that I don’t understand why the author hasn’t alluded to such a significant event.The characters are also quite badly drawn at times - the dialogue in particular is sometimes excruciating and it feels like Kerry has been written by someone who hasn’t met anyone living in the circumstances she does. That said, I wanted happiness for her and I did still feel drawn in, so I can not fault Gayle on that front. It was an interesting story, but it ended up feeling hollow and untrue.

I had seen so much love for this one , and read countless praise for Gayle as a writer so i was very excited to get myself a copy and get stuck in!, and i'm SO glad i did!, instantly in my top reads of the year. This is my first book by him but i am now very much looking forward to getting his other books too!.What an absolutely brilliant writer! , i was instantly drawn into the stories of the two central characters that he created, both feeling very real and just wonderful people. I was invested in their lives and following their journeys was both heartwarming and highly emotional (this is now also added to the collection of few books that made me have a little cry). I honestly cannot wait to read more by this author and discover more new favourites i'm sure.I liked how the story was split into different parts, letting the events build up and continue in seperate blocks, it added a great element to it i felt. Also how the narrative switched with the chapters so we got to hear from both Kerry and Noah, i really adored that.I would honestly recommend this to anybody! (and i pretty much have...) , a life affirming, uplifting and beautiful read, that will capture your heart and emotions along the way.

I’m a Mike Gayle fan and I think this is my favorite read of his so far. This story was so gripping and realistic for me that I couldn’t put it down. The emotions in this story were so real and raw and every characters reactions so honest that it felt like it could be a true story. There was love and loss and healing. Loving, kind and joyful parenting both to young children and adult children. Just a pure joy to read. I’d recommend this book to anyone!

Very entertaining and heartwarming. Had to smile and cry while reading.

Well that took an unexpected turn... So much happens so fast. I like the lesson the story wants to teach but as I was taught when studying journalism: show it, don't tell it. At times it's a bit too obvious. But definitely a good read that I couldn't wait to read more of to see what happens next.

great book!

Questo è il secondo libro dell'autore che ho letto e conferma tutto il mio piacere nel leggere i suoi romanzi.Una storia che emoziona, che ti pone molte domande sull'amore più semplice, ma più complicato, quello per la famiglia. Lo consiglio assolutamente