The Truth About Melody Browne: From the number one bestselling author of The Family Upstairs

Product Information

This is such a beautifully written novel with a whole array of characters. Each character seems to be quite flawed, some are an absolute joy to read about where as some others, I was cross with, yet my heart went out to them. Don’t try to talk,” he said. His voice was raw and gravelly, but full of tenderness. “We’re here. We’re here.” What is revealed is a network of rewardingly complex characters, a dramatic, suspense-filled explanation of how [Melody] ended up where she did, and a family tragedy that is profoundly moving.”— Telegraph Melody is randomly selected to participate on stage, and is mesmerized into behaving like a gassy five-year-old child. After giving the audience a good laugh, Melody faints, and wakes up with random recollections of her early years.

She opened her eyes! Did you see? Just for a second!” Another voice. The man with the bald head. Her father. But with every mystery she solves another one materialises, with every question she answers another appears. And Melody begins to wonder if she'll ever know the truth about her past . . . The most significant themes of the book are parent-child bonds and the importance of families - be they conventional or off the beaten path. In her latest mystery, bestselling author Lisa Jewell combines the cloistered charm of a small English village with the curiosity, paranoia and nosy fatalism of Rear Window. Then comes a dose of lust and lies and the sinister pursuit of Fatal Attraction. It’s a thrilling trifecta...With 16 novels to her credit and more twists up her sleeve than a master magician, Jewell is sure to keep you up at night." Minneapolis Star TribuneMelody felt safe there, inside her parents’ arms. She remembered a few moments ago, lying in her bed, a pair of strong arms pulling her, carrying her through the roasting house, toward the fresh air. And that was all she could remember. Her father saving her life. The moon staring down at her. The Spanish girl in the painting telling her that everything was going to be all right.

and that is when the book becomes truly interesting, as a switch of sorts gets turned on in Melody’s brain and she begins to have flashes of different people, tastes, and events that make no sense to her. Melody Browne opened her eyes and saw the moon, a perfect white circle, like a bullet hole shot through the sky. It was fully lit and beamed down upon her, as if she were the star of the show. I would've read it in time, yet fate must've wanted it read sooner. Fate is sometimes smarter than me. She won here... wow, this was a great book. I had some struggles connecting in the beginning, as the tale starts as erratically as Melody Browne's memory. There are a lot of characters and some strange moments where she stops investigating... and I was like... 'No, honey... Google that now, you'll have your answer.' But I decided to just let it go and enjoy the story as it unfolded. When I did that around 15 to 20% into the book, it became so much stronger.It’s truly impressive family drama with bunch of deeply layered, impeccably developed and memorable characters. I always enjoy the powerful writing style of the author so it was another hit for me to highly recommend. Melody Browne Is about to embark on a journey into her past. Is she prepared for where it will lead her? Melody is a single mom in her thirties, raising her seventeen year old son. At the age of nine Melody suffered a tragic event when her home burnt to the ground. It left her with no possessions and no memories of anything before this time. This “touching, insightful, and gripping story” (Sophie Kinsella, #1 New York Times bestselling author) from the instant New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone follows a young woman searching for answers about her unknown past and the mysterious fire that irrevocably changed her life.

Moving and dark' The Times'Full of heart and humour, this will move you to tears. An absolute must-read' Cosmopolitan____________ Once I got to the end, I sighed with satisfaction. The story comes full circle and Melody remembers and learns about her childhood--the good and the bad. It's both touching and meaningful as she finds her family--both the ones she is related to by blood and the ones that have become like family, and she is all the better for it in the end. Stacey went on to become a married mother of three but Melody - who fell out with her parents over having the baby - never felt the urge to expand her tiny family of two. My first book by Lisa Jewell was I Found You and I have loved every one published after that. I was a bit worried about whether I would like The Truth About Melody Browne because it's Lisa Jewell's older work, and she has developed more of a darker side to her stories and characters now. Well, I am happy to say even though I didn't enjoy this one as much as her latest books because I have also developed a darker side to me as a reader, her signature writing style won me over. She has grown more as a writer with layering those signature reveals, twists, and turns that come just at the right time to figure things out with her characters, and she has moved forward with developing her plots and characters as times change. When Melody Browne was 9 years old, her family's home burned down and it left her with no memories prior to the tragedy. She is now in her early 30s and a single mother living in London. While attending a hypnotist show, Melody faints onstage. And that jumpstarts her desire to learn more about her past. The story alternates between the present day and key moments in Melody's life when she was a child.A refreshing departure from the usual girl-in-search-of-boy template... Jewell has a convincing eye for detail, and throws in a roller-coaster-worth of attention-grabbing twists and turns.”— Guardian Londoner Melody Browne experienced a trauma at the age of nine, when a housefire destroyed the Browne family home and left Melody with almost no possessions and no memories of her childhood. She still seems pleased with her life even though Stacey- her best friend she’s met when she was also a teen mother like her moved on her life, married , with three kids. They were smiling at her, her mother and father, smiling with sooty faces and frazzled hair. Her mother put her hand to her hair and stroked it. “Oh thank God!” she cried breathlessly. “Thank God!” The general premise of the story is that Melody doesn't remember anything about her childhood prior to a house fire when she was seven years old. After getting pregnant at 15, she has been estranged from her parents, raising her now-almost-18-year-old son alone. She goes on a date with a nice guy and they attend a hypnotist show, while there Melody faints and then starts to remember bits and pieces of her past, which aren't exactly part of the childhood she remembers. As the weeks go by, she begins to put things together and learns a lot about herself and her family.

Now in her early thirties, Melody is a single mother, living in the middle of London with her teenaged son. She hasn’t seen her parents since she left home at fifteen, but Melody has no desire to reconnect until one night, while attending a hypnotist show with a date, she faints. When she comes around, she is suddenly overwhelmed with fragmented memories of her life before that fateful fire.Melody Browne suffers from traumatic experience: when she was nine, her family house was burned to the ground. No family belongings or any specific memory left behind. Jewell was born in London and educated at St. Michael's Catholic Grammar School in Finchley, north London, leaving school after one day in the sixth form to do an art foundation course at Barnet College followed by a diploma in fashion illustration at Epsom School of Art & Design.