When You're Gone by Brooke Harris

‘Oh my god… stunning… must be read by everyone… made me blub like a baby and I met my grocery delivery man with tears streaming down my face! Five stars.’ Cappuccino and Chocolate, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1958. Annie Fagan knows that her neighbours in the small town of Athenry talk about her family. And can she blame them? Her father’s slow surrender to drink to numb the pain of his back injury, matched by the new bruises appearing on her ma’s face, gives them plenty to gossip about. Annie struggles to bury her frustration and desperation. Then she meets Arthur ‘Sketch’ Talbot, who shows Annie how to find the stars in the darkness. But when Annie’s father discovers the young couple, will their love survive?

Now. Holly has never felt so lost and alone. Devastating news about her pregnancy has opened a rift between her and her fiancé. And the one person she would usually confide in, her beloved Nana, is fading before her eyes. When searching in the attic for forgotten sketches her Nana keeps mentioning, Holly finds a dusty pink memory box, and hidden inside is the handwritten love story about a man called Sketch Talbot. As Holly reads the story to Nana, her grandmother reveals her final wish. Can helping Nana give Holly the strength to face her uncertain future?

An absolutely unputdownable and gut-wrenching post-war novel. The perfect read for fans of Diane Chamberlain, Kathryn Hughes and Dani Atkins.

Readers love When You’re Gone…

‘Wow! I am still in awe by what I have just read… There are not enough stars to show just how much this book meant to me… Top read of the year!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘OMG, where to start? I loved this book so much… I couldn’t put it down and read it in one go through the night… I ended the book with tears streaming down my face and spent the next few hours thinking about them all still. You must read this book.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘WHAT A BOOK!!! Sorry for shouting, but it just feels right. It was a-ma-zing, fabulous, wonderful… added to my never-to-be-forgotten shelf… Heartbreaking, heartfelt, heartstopping.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Will put your heart through the ringer and leave you with a book hangover the next day. A story that will evoke every possible emotion you have… Characters that will stick with you long after the book has ended… All the feels… Absolutely recommend!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Heartbreaking… The love I felt for this book was unreal… At times I felt my emotions get the best of me… Such an amazing book.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A proper ugly tears kind of a book… My heart insisted on reading just one more chapter, and another, and another… I even ate a banana in bed on the last night, as there were no way I was putting it down during the last few chapters… I was crying so much, I could hardly see the words, and woke up the following morning with puffy eyes.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Be warned, even if you think you aren’t an emotional person, you will probably cry!!… I had no idea it would affect me quite so intensely and I actually sobbed at more than one point in this captivating but utterly heartbreaking narrative. By the end my tears were falling so heavily, I could hardly breathe!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Emotion ripping my heart into pieces and joining them back… So powerful, the last few pages saw me sobbing and breaking down completely. Brooke squeezed every last bit of my emotions out from my heart till I had nothing more left to give.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐