The Thing About Clare by Imogen Clark @imogenclark @AmazonPub @ed_pr #TheThingAboutClare

A dying wish. A devastating secret. Should the truth really stay buried?

The four Bliss siblings have a loving but complicated bond, but when their mother, Dorothy, dies seemingly without a will, this relationship is put to the test. As the mourning siblings try to make sense of the situation, one of them is caught with a secret: before she died, Dorothy entrusted her favourite daughter with her will and a letter—and told her to destroy them both.

Of course it was Anna their mother turned to for this mission. Miriam, the eldest, is far too sensible; Sebastian, the baby, too sensitive; and Clare, the middle child, has always been too rebellious to rely on, and long ago cut herself out of her siblings’ lives.

But what Anna finds in the documents could change everything. Do the other siblings not deserve to know what it is about them that their mother was so desperate to hide? And if it is revealed, will the Bliss family ever be the same again?

The Thing About Clare by Imogen Clark was published in paperback on 1 November by Lake Union / Amazon Publishing. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

I do love a story about families and Imogen Clare has written an extremely readable and enjoyable novel in The Thing About Clare; concentrating on four siblings and their parents.

The story begins in 2015, at the funeral of Dorothy, the mother of Anna, Miriam, Clare and Sebastian. Anna has always been the most favoured child; the youngest daughter, the one who was sent out to play rather than be expected to pull her weight with chores. However, Anna now has a heavy burden to bear. Before she died, Dorothy told her to take her Will and a letter addressed to Clare and destroy them, and to tell nobody else.

Of course, like most of us, Anna felt unable to do this and is now privy to long kept secrets that could tear the whole family apart. What should she do?

Imogen Clark takes her readers back to the 1960s when Dorothy is a new mother, coping almost single-handedly with fractious baby Miriam as her husband Frank goes out to work. I especially loved these glimpses back in time where we were able to watch the family grow with each new birth, and see how Dorothy changed as a woman, and a mother.

The author cleverly and carefully moves back and forth to the present day, with viewpoints from each family member, enabling the reader to learn so much more about each character.

The Thing About Clare is a beautifully constructed, intelligently written story of family and secrets. I especially loved the 1970s setting; with memories of punk rock and the Silver Jubilee wonderfully portrayed.

An excellent story about families and how they make us what we are and what we will become.

Written with precision and skill, The Thing About Clare is a novel that I found difficult to put down and would recommend highly.

Bestselling author Imogen Clark writes contemporary women’s fiction about the secrets that hide at the heart of the families that she creates. She lives in Yorkshire with her husband and children (who hopefully have no such secrets to tell!)

Imogen’s first book POSTCARDS FROM A STRANGER reached the top of the Amazon Kindle Charts in both the UK and Australia. H

Imogen initially qualified as a lawyer but after leaving her legal career behind to care for her four children, she returned to her first love - books. She went back to University, studying part-time whilst the children were at school and graduated with a BA in English Literature with First Class Honours.

Imogen’s great love is travel and she is always planning her next adventure. If you’d like to connect then please visit her website at www.imogenclark.com where you can also download a FREE heartwarming short story, The Bucket List, when you subscribe to her email list. 

Imogen can also be found on Facebook and Twitter @imogenclark