Audio Review: The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell

Melody Browne can remember nothing before her ninth birthday. Now in her early thirties, Melody lives in the middle of London with her seventeen-year-old son. She hasn’t seen her parents since she left home at fifteen, but Melody doesn't mind. She’s better off on her own.

And then fragments of her past start to come back. At first her memories mean nothing to her but slowly, day by day, she begins to piece together the real story of her childhood.

But with every mystery she solves another one materialises, with every question she answers another appears. And Melody begins to wonder if she'll ever know the truth about her past ... 

Paperback, 377 pages

Published January 7th 2010

 by Arrow Books

3/5 stars

I have been a fan of Lisa Jewell for a number of years, she is a go-to author and now I am slowly making my way through her back list. Originally published in 2009 this book was re-released last month. I grabbed the audio from Chirp and did a combo read/listen.

The blurb above paints an interesting story with great potential.  Melody Brown is a book about a dysfunctional family that at times reminding me of The Family Upstairs.  Present day Melody is 33 years old with a 17 year old son, I liked the relationship, especially giving birth so young.  The story alternates between the past, though at times I was confused as to whether this was the past or Melody's memories resurfacing - that sounds similar but it does make a difference here.

For me this book was a bit of a struggle and I don't think it mattered the format.  It was hard to connect to the characters and just felt a little too choppy. Some parts were predictable and the ending was okay, but a little too neat and tidy.

This might not be one of my favourite Jewell books, it won't swayed me from continuing  my quest to read her previous books.

This book was part of my 2021 Reading off My Shelf Challenge.