It was a good story and I was compelled to read on but it lacked the depth of plot of some of her earlier novels, particularly those with a historical background. The plot moves along at a cracking pace and events have a disturbing ring of truth for so many women’s lives in them. This also means that's she has surpressed trust issues and can't fully commit to another romance in the future. I was a bit wary of reading this one as the previous few books I’ve read by Lesley Pearse I must admit to struggling with. Lesley now lives in Torquay, Devon where she loves to spend time walking on the beach with her grandchildren.

It is actually quite hard to say too much about themes as that would add spoilers for the reader, but obviously betrayal in many forms is present, the most important one perhaps being the way we dupe and betray ourselves – but I’ll leave you to read the book to discover more. Obviously a word of warning should be said as this book does contain some situations which might be a trigger for some, and if this is the case, you may want to avoid reading it.Her honest restructuring of a life and finding her self worth is reflected in how her two children grow into themselves away from Don, and I liked how her original training as a curtain maker reflected her circumstances. Every decision she makes is for the best life for her children and she have to admire her stern and tenacity in such terrible times. And everytime he hit her, she told herself that it would get better, he just had a bad day, it won't always be like this. I won't say I loved the topic, or the situations some of the characters found themselves in, but I loved how it was written and found myself unable to put it down.

A good yarn which gets you involved in the story, and you can’t put it down until you’ve finished it. Her father was away at sea and it was only when a neighbour saw Lesley and her brother playing outside without coats on that suspicion was aroused - their mother had been dead for some time. I only wish we would have had more of this much earlier on in the book instead of what I would term the lull that did occur.

Whether historical adventures such as Gypsy or Never Look Back or the passionately emotive Trust Me, Lesley is inspired by stories of courage and adversity and often gives voice to women lost in history. In this book, we see just how strong and resilient women can be even when things literally "beat" us down!