I thought I would share a new family drama with you called Just Say It by Tessa Barrie (Author) that I received A PDF Copy of from the Author and Voracious Readers in exchange for this review. Inside this post is my affiliate links. If you click on the links and make a purchase I will make a small percentage from the items you purchase.
Just Say It: A bittersweet family drama about what it means to love unconditionally and grow from the past is the story of a women and her narcissistic mother and trying to figure out why her dad left. My parents by no, means was perfect but after reading this book I found myself thanking the LORD for the parents he gave me because this mom is a tool and I don’t know how Lisa dealt with her.
Be prepared to do some traveling as the author takes us various locations, including Gloucestershire, London, and Portugal, and even different time periods. As times Lisa could be a boor but don’t let that deter you from checking out the book. Elizabeth was a pain throughout the story until the ending.
he most aggravating part of the story was how long it took Lisa to “wake up”. I like how the Author had humor mixed in with drama, and dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships, with lots of forgiveness thrown in. There is self-discovery, family secrets and everything in-between to keep you asking what next.
In the book we meet Lisa, a woman who used to work as a columnist for a leading magazine in the United Kingdom. Lisa has just turned forty and it seems that a midlife crisis is just about to knock on her door. Fearful of what this new age milestone might bring, Lisa makes an important decision It’s time to discover why she suffers from “emotional impotence” and what happened with her father. Lisa’s journey brings her, discovering more about her mother, who is equally narcissistic and controlling.
About the book:
Turning forty, Lisa Grant is broke, alone and living in rural Gloucestershire, hurtling towards an inevitable midlife crisis.
Romantically, she pushes people away. She cannot say, “I love you.” Jack, the only love of her life, put the Atlantic Ocean between them after they fell out the last time and now lives in New York.
Fearing for her sanity, she addresses the problem she has carried with her for the past forty years – her narcissistic mother, Elizabeth.
When Lisa was six years old, her father disappeared, and her mother kept the truth about why he left the family home hidden. When starting her journalistic career, Lisa reconnects with her father and discovers grim truths about her controlling mother.
After four decades of sparring with her impossible mother, Lisa cultivates a more rational and sympathetic approach to discovering why her mother lacks empathy. Believing childhood trauma may be responsible, Lisa harnesses her journalistic skills to investigate her mother’s past and is shocked by what she finds.
essa Barrie
Tessa Barrie was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire but, despite living on the British Channel Island of Jersey since 1981, she remains fiercely proud of her Yorkshire heritage.
Incorporating humour in her writing is very important to her. “I try to capture the fragility of human emotion and coat it with a little humour. It doesn’t take away the anguish but makes it more bearable.”
She self-published her debut novel, Just Say It, a bittersweet family saga, in June 2021. Her second novel, The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook, a quirky murder mystery, will hit the bookshelves in 2024. Her third novel, Unbroken, is underway.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
