Blog tour: Other Parents

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Welcome to the blog tour for Other Parents by Sarah Stovell!

More about the book…

In a small town like West Burntridge, it should be impossible to keep a secret.

Rachel Saunders knows gossip is the price you pay for a rural lifestyle and outstanding schools. The latest town scandal is her divorce - and the fact that her new girlfriend has moved into the family home.

Laura Spence lives in a poky bedsit on the wrong side of town. She and her son, Max, don’t really belong, and his violent tantrums are threatening to expose the very thing she’s trying to hide.

When the local school introduces a new inclusive curriculum, Rachel and Laura find themselves on opposite sides of a fearsome debate.

But the problem with having your nose in everyone else’s business is that you often miss what is happening in your own home.

More about the author…

Sarah Stovell was born in 1977 and spent most of her life in the Home Counties before a season working in a remote North Yorkshire youth hostel made her realise she was a northerner at heart. She now lives in Northumberland with her partner and two children and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University. Her debut psychological thriller, Exquisite, set in the Lake District, was called ‘the book of the summer’ by Sunday Times, and her second, The Home, achieved widespread critical acclaim. Follow Sarah on Twitter: @sarahlovescrime

My impressions…

Was it a page-turner? I am a sucker for books with multiple points of view because they always make me want to read a good book even faster. And this is a good book! Motherhood is a leitmotiv throughout the novel and - at this point in my life - it made the novel resonate even more than it might have done at another time.

Did the book meet my expectations? When I read the synopsis, I thought Laura’s secret would be something different but I am 100% happy that I didn’t have everything figured out before I even started reading. This book surprised me and seriously tugged at my heartstrings. I would definitely recommend it.

Three words to describe it. Moving. Thought-provoking. Relevant.

Do I like the cover? It’s a nice enough cover but I’m not sure I would have picked it up for this book. Somehow, it seems too light-hearted.

Have I read any other books by the same author? No, but if they are all this good, I’m in!

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