A Little Bird Told Me by Marianne Holmes

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 272 

Publisher: Agora Books 

Released: 13th of September 2018 

Besides, if you were one half evil, wouldn't you want to know about the other half? 

In the scorching summer of 1976, Robyn spends her days swimming at the Lido and tagging after her brother. It’s the perfect holiday – except for the crying women her mum keeps bringing home.

As the heatwave boils on, tensions in the town begin to simmer. Everyone is gossiping about her mum, a strange man is following her around, and worst of all, no one will tell Robyn the truth. But this town isn’t good at keeping secrets…

Twelve years later, Robyn returns home, to a house that has stood empty for years and a town that hasn’t moved on, forced to confront the mystery that haunted her that summer.

And atone for the part she played in it.

Trigger Warnings: Domestic abuse, some child abuse, animal death, stalking

What I Have to Say 

This book was pretty good if a bit predictable in a lot of ways. I think by the end there wasn't much that I actually hadn't guessed. But I really liked the characters and the plot was compelling. Sometimes I do find it nice to have a mystery story when I guess a lot of it. It makes me feel clever. Mostly though, this was just a nice relaxing read. It was a good story that I didn't have to work too hard to understand.

I liked Robyn a lot as a character. The changes between her sections when she's older and when she's younger are really well defined. It's easy within seconds of starting a chapter to know which ones are which. (They were also alternating so it's really not hard to keep track, but my concentration has been really bad this week and a couple of times I forgot and read a few sentences before I remembered). It's really great to see two different voices for the same person that have distinct differences but without any doubt that it's the same person. 

The other characters were good as well. The theme of hidden abuse running through the whole story was perfectly done. The way that it was all connected together worked really well and highlighted how bad spousal abuse can be for many women and children stuck in terrible circumstances. 

 3.5 stars

My thanks go to Netgalley and Agora books for providing me with this copy for review.