Things We Knew Were True

The author is half of Nicci French, the best-selling crime novel collaboration formed with husband Sean French. This first novel on her own is entirely different, a poignant account of a self-conscious schoolgirl who loses her virginity to a local council house lad and feels embarrassed because her father catches them in a mildly compromising state. When her father loses his job and the will to live, committing suicide, she puts teenage romance behind her. Two decades later, her mother's death revives unresolved memories. Gerrard touches the pulse of family life and adolescence changed in a stroke. She gently sheds light on dark family corners, mistakes that were made and perspectives that have changed. Not a novel to shout about but quietly recommend as middle-of-the-road women's fiction.