For my hospital visit today I decided to take Freya North's Home Truth paperback with me to see me through the tedious day. It is the second book by Freya North I have read and I found it was as good as the first. An easy read that does not require enormous amounts of concentration which helps when you have machines buzzing in your ear!! This book introduces us to the McCabe family, sisters Fen, Pip, and Cat and their Uncle Django. Cat the youngest of the sisters is married to Ben who is a doctor, they live by the mountains in Boulder and are set to move back to be closer to their families whilst trying to make a family of their own. Fen the middle sister is married to Matt and has a baby girl Cosima. Since Cosima has come along Fen and Matt seem to be on the rocks and have tough choices and close encounters which put their marriage in perspective. Pip is the eldest of the sisters and her partner Zac has a son Tom who Pip loves to bits but would secretly like a baby of their own. Django is the Uncle who raised the girls from a young age. He wears vibrant clothes and tells many a tales from back in the day. Django is getting older now and is starting to feel the old age and problems with his water works. The three women where raised by their uncle after their mother left them and ran off with a cowboy from Denver and their dad died shortly after she left. The three sisters are brought together for Django's 75th Birthday party but old hidden secrets come out and turn all three of the sister's lives upside down when an unexpected guest arrives after the party. A twist and turn of highs and very lows follow. I enjoyed this book. It was slow in places and also it got a little confusing as to which girl was which, but after reading this book and coming home to write a review I have just looked and found that there are 3 books about the main characters, which I didn't realise, so I should think it best to read those books first of all to get to know the characters a little better before reading this book. The book is quite raunchy in many parts of the book, which I found with Pillow Talk as well! There are also many parts of this book which are emotional (not good when reading in hospital!!). The only thing I found disappointing about this book is the ending. I didn't feel like it was left very well there were still questions which needed answering, I feel as though I am still only half way through the book. I would recommend this for anyone who likes an easy, chick-lit read. I read this in just under 6 hours today.
Dit is het laatste deel in de serie met Cat, Fen en Pip. Hoewel ik me in het begin wat aan Fen ergerde vanwege haar houding en acties, vond ik dit boek beter dan Cat en Pip. In dit boek draait het wederom om de drie zussen. Ze zijn inmiddels ouder geworden, al kun je in sommige gevallen niet zeggen wijzer. In dit boek draait het om hun moeder, die hen toen ze klein waren heeft verlaten. Het boek is prettig leesbaar en het sluit de serie mooi af. Doordat je al drie boeken meegeleefd hebt met de drie zussen, voelt hun leven al heel vertrouwd. Net oude bekenden waar je over hoort hoe het met hen gaat. Voor mij was dat ook de belangrijkste reden om dit boek te lezen, omdat ik toch wilde weten hoe het af zou lopen. Toch had ik wel wat twijfels, omdat ik Cat en Pip wat minder vond. Gelukkig ben ik niet teleurgesteld. Het boek is ook los goed te lezen, maar als je van plan bent om de andere delen ook te gaan lezen, zou ik je wel aanraden om ze op volgorde te lezen, omdat je anders bepaalde dingen al weet. Ik heb er geen spijt van dat ik deze serie heb gelezen, maar zal het mensen ook niet meteen aanraden. Daarvoor vond ik met name Cat te langdradig. Als je Freya North niet kent, zou ik met een ander boek beginnen, zoals bijvoorbeeld Sally of Chloe. Die boeken lezen veel vlotter.
What do You think about Home Truths (2006)?
I really liked the way that this book tied together the other three books about the McCabe sisters but cleverly still left the way open for further books if Freya North ever decided to revisit the family. Her style can be irritating at times but in comparison to Cat, which occasionally made me want to scream, this is much better. I would recommend reading Fen, Pip and Cat first before this book as even though it is stand alone it contains 'spoilers' from the other books which would ruin some plot outcomes.
—Juliana Graham
Not a fan. The writing is not bad, but I recently said I don't have to like characters to enjoy a book. After reading this, I guess that isn't strictly true.The truth is more like - I don't have to like murderers in the some of the more gruesome books...This is about three rather unpleasant sisters, Cat is an immature baby, Pip is a doormat and Fen is a horrible, selfish individual, who has no time to make an effort for her husband and father of her child, but can make the effort to tramp around with complete strangers...The mother of the three girls left them for another man when they were babies, leaving them in the care of a slightly mad, but loving uncle. They have a decent childhood and upbringing and settle down with three guys, (who quite honestly seem to good for them). Lots of people come from less than idyllic beginnings and are not lucky enough to have an Uncle to step up, that doesn't mean they have to become revolting, self-obsessed adults...When some information comes out about the 'past' the three girls react in a frankly horrible, selfish way, each too involved in their own reaction to consider the bigger picture. They eventually manage to pull their collective heads out of their backsides when the man who raised them actually has a real problem...
—Jamie
I bought this from ASDA the other day for £1. ONE POUND!? F*cking supermarkets. Although I am clearly condoning this extreme discounting by buying the bloody book.
—Shauna
