August book club - The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

I would like to ask Sally if she is happy with the final book or would she change anything in particular if she could.

Hi, just a newbie to the group and wonder if someone would be able to advise me on how to get the books please? Many thanks

Thank you fro my copy of “The Mother-in-Law”. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it difficult to put down. It was well-written with good character and plot development. I will certainly be looking for more books by this author. It made me wonder what Sally’s relationship with her own mother-in-law is/was like?

Thank you, just downloaded to my Kindle!

I was put off-balance initially by the chapter ´jumping´ as I find it quite distracting but I did enjoy the book overall. I too read it in a concentrated session as I wanted to do a review but then had no idea where to post such a thing. Any way, it was lovely to be given a book very much removed from my normal reading matter, I did enjoy it. Thank you.

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Hi, I thought the story line was different, so well done on that! However I couldn’t ‘take’ to Diane, she seemed to be a split personality that to me didn’t ring true, too extreme in dealing with her own flesh and blood, given her origins. Did you base her on someone you now?

Sorry forgot to ask a question. Did you base Diana on anyone you know as her character is very complex and sometimes contradictory? Thank you.

Sorry, forgot to leave a question. I wondered how you decided what to describe in detail and why? Thanks

Hi Sally, do you base your characters on people you know ?
Thank you
Loved your book xx

Great story, would quite easily adapt to a TV production. Not my usual read but left me wanting more.

Thanks for sending me a copy of The Mother in Law by Sally Hepworth. I found it a really engaging book that I didn't want to put down. I could really relate to it. I didn't always get on with my own MIL and I found it quite thought provoking.

I'd love to know if the author had any personal revelations during the writing about relationships in her own life or if the character development was already totally set in her mind before putting pen to paper.

An interesting book to read , I will read the this book again in the future.

Thank you for the book. I enjoyed reading it and finished it quickly. It was clearly set out so I wasn't confused by it going backwards and forwards as I am with some novels. The character of Diana is quite complex and sometimes contradictory. Unsure about finances of the family- it wasn't really explained.

Thank you for my copy of the book. I had not read a book by Sally Hepworth before and thoroughly enjoyed this one, although as mentioned in previous comments there were a few little parts such as the timeline which should have been noticed and rectified before going to print.
Having said that I though I shall certainly be reading more of Sallys books, I liked the way she took time to explore Diana’s character thus giving me time to change my opinion of her and indeed see deep inside her.
A jolly good read!
Thanks again GN

I finished this book in two sittings as I really wanted to get to the conclusion. I enjoyed the exploring of Lucy’s feeling re losing her Mother and almost looking for a replacement. Not my normal type of novel but welcomed the opportunity to read something different so thank you.Have passed it on to my neighbour to enjoy.

Thank you for my copy of "The Mother-in-Law". I started reading it and wasn't particularly enamoured, persevered and enjoyed it to a certain extent. I felt some descriptions were unnecessary and where more detail would have been helpful there was a dearth of it. The reaction of Lucy to some of Diana's comments was really immature, still, there wouldn't have been a book without them. Not really my sort of thing but all reading is worthwhile, thank you again.

Bought this and am almost finished. Very good read indeed.

I finished this book in the day as I wanted to get to the conclusion,as seems to be a popular style at the moment this book jumps around the timeline giving the chapter up to each character at a time.It is quite thought provoking,how do others perceive us ?do we give people the true impression of ourselves and should we sometimes let the veneer slide and do things spontaneously? Life has so many twists that we sometimes do not realise what is happening until it's too late,I wonder if such a twist inspired the author to write this book and if she had come across a character such as Diana who was just too scared to let her true self through and as a consequence missed out on a lot of joy that she could have had! It will certainly make me think more about the way I act as a mother in law!

My question to the author is, “what inspired you to write this novel?”

I’ve just finished reading this and really enjoyed it. I liked the way it gave the perspectives of different characters, and that it went back and forth in time. It was very easy to read so was perfect as I read it on holiday. I will look out for the other novels written by Sally Hepworth. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this. ?

This struck me as a very Gransnet theme for a book. Given how many Gransnet threads relate to family issues and misunderstandings, you could be forgiven for concluding that there is possibly no relationship more prone to problems than that between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law

Set in Australia and told from the perspectives of the mother-in-law Diana and the daughter-in-law Lucy, the chapters alternate between past and present as the who-dunnit of Diana’s death is unravelled. The author handled this well, developing the key characters into more rounded individuals with strengths, weaknesses and mixed motives, people you could empathise with.

The scenes which were replayed by Lucy and Diana in turn were cleverly done too, highlighting how easy it is to misunderstand and misconstrue, and the lasting impact of what we mean to say but don’t. The story of the necklace lent to Lucy on her wedding day served too to symbolize how very hard it is to switch on to a better footing once something has become a matter of resentment.

As others have already mentioned, there were a few niggles around the time scale, stemming from the editorial blurb on the back cover. Also the lack of a back story for Tom and Diana’s wealth. That said, I found this an easy, enjoyable read.
Thanks to GN and Sally Hepworth

I’d like to ask the author whether there are any plans to adapt this for film/TV; also, does she have any preferred actors to portray the key characters?

Really enjoyed this book liked how it flitted from past to present giving history about each character . When I read what Diana had done with her will i thought what a nasty thing to do , then read the reason why she did it I thought very clever . I would like to ask Sally her opinion on assisted suicide ?

I've just bought the book through Amazon. Was it possible to buy it through Gransnet ?

Looking forward to starting it over the weekend.

I enjoyed this book although it is not the genre I would normally go for. I particularly liked the way the characters revealed themselves gradually through the story. I did feel that Patrick was a less fleshed out character than the others and I feel his back story and relationship with Nettie could have been explored further.