The Truth About Melody Browne popped up on the bookshelf of a second-hand bookstore I visited. I went to school with a Melody Brown, and naturally, I could not resist picking up this book.

Not too many books have reduced me to tears, but by the time I reached the last page of this story I had tears rolling down my cheeks and my sleepy husband gave me a “what the…?” look when I finally closed the books.

Not my genre of choice, but I enjoyed the other Lisa Jewell books I have read (Then She Was Gone, I Found You, The Making of Us and Watching You) so coming across this oldy was a no brainer. It’s strange, but this book does not feature on Lisa Jewell’s website – I am not sure why.

The author carries the reader off into the world of Melody Browne, a young single mother who has no memory of her early childhood. One-night Melody attends a hypnotist show and slowly fragments of memories start returning to her. Melody, not sure if she is losing her mind, begins digging into her past, determined to discover the truth behind her missing years and find out once and for all if she is going crazy.

This heartfelt story reveals the saddest tale I have read in a long time, reducing me to tears, something that doesn’t happen to me often while reading…… maybe I am just getting emotional in my old age…..

Lisa Jewell did a brilliant job telling this story. I found myself lost in Melody’s world and my heartbreaking for her with every discovery she made. I wanted to reach into the book and hug little Melody. Lisa’s writing of this book was extremely emotional, it was so detailed, I would have believed it was a true story rather than a work of fiction.

Little Melody Browne, the girl of five and six, will remain with me forever. Despite everything that went wrong in this little girl’s world she remained brave and strong and undemanding. She was the perfect picture of just how resilient children are.  Lisa Jewell did a superb job creating this character.

This was a terrible story – it was sad and left me with tears rolling down my cheeks in the middle of the night – but it also had humour, that made it impossible not to smile. I loved this book and cannot recommend it highly enough.

If you have never read Lisa Jewell before, this title will have you hooked to this author. It is a gripping read that provides both smiles and tears and is guaranteed to leave you attached to Melody Browne.