"Entertaining and heartbreaking. . . Jamie Beck is an incredible storyteller!"
Truth of the Matter
By: Jamie Beck
Genres: Women's Fiction
Posted: October 1, 2020
Told from the perspective of three generations of women, this story is one that won't leave me for a while. Teenager Katy feels broken by her parents' divorce, moving to Potamic Point with her mother, and facing her anxiety and fears. Anne, Katy's mother, is facing moving to a new town, getting over her ex and his brand new life, plus raising her daughter mostly alone. Lastly, we meet Marie, the aging grandmother Anne always looked up to. Marie has many buried secrets and they all seem to come spilling out as she battles with dementia.
Getting to know these women was a highlight of TRUTH OF THE MATTER for me. They each brought an amazing story with them and were strong female characters. I saw myself in Anne as she struggled to help her daughter with anxiety that led to dangerous consequences. Anne was always the fixer leaving her artist career behind to be there for Katy. I also saw myself in Katy growing up feeling isolated and unpopular. I think many readers will relate to the hardships these characters go through.
I couldn't stand Katy's father and his mistress/girlfriend. They were both very selfish never considered the welfare of Katy and her feelings. It was so sad to see her father pick his new family several different times over his only daughter. Jamie Beck does an amazing job of showing the difficulty of divorce from a child's eye.
Watching Anne and Katy navigate their new life in Potamic Point was entertaining and heartbreaking at the same time. Their new friendships such as Thomas for Katy and Dan for Anne was so sweet and made me believe they would find the will to move on.
Jamie Beck is an incredible storyteller who captured the mother-daughter dynamic perfectly in TRUTH OF THE MATTER.
Book Summary
Starting over means looking back for a mother and daughter on the road to reinventing themselves in a moving novel about family secrets and second chances by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jamie Beck.
Seventeen years ago, two pink stripes on a pregnancy test changed Anne Sullivan’s life. She abandoned her artistic ambitions, married her college sweetheart before graduation, and—like the mother she lost in childhood—devoted herself to her family. To say she didn’t see the divorce coming is an understatement. Now, eager to distance herself from her ex and his lover, she moves with her troubled daughter, Katy, to the quaint bayside town of Potomac Point, where she spent her childhood summers.
But her fresh start stalls when the contractor renovating her grandparents’ old house discovers a vintage recipe box containing hints about her beloved grandmother’s hidden past. Despite the need to move forward, Anne is drawn into exploring the mysterious clues about the woman she’s always trusted. Gram’s dementia is making that harder, and the stakes intensify when Katy’s anxieties take an alarming turn. Amid the turmoil, uncovered secrets shatter past beliefs, forcing each woman to confront her deepest fears in order to save herself.
Read an Excerpt
by: Jamie Beck
Montlake Romance
October 1, 2020
On Sale: September 22, 2020
Featuring: Anne Sullivan
ISBN: 1542008735
EAN: 9781542008730
Kindle: B083DSW8W5
Paperback / e-Book