The Thing About Clare by Imogen Clark

☆☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 316 pages
Published December 1st 2018 by Lake Union Publishing
About the Book:
The four Bliss siblings have a loving but complicated bond, but when their mother, Dorothy, dies seemingly without a will, this relationship is put to the test. As the mourning siblings try to make sense of the situation, one of them is caught with a secret: before she died, Dorothy entrusted her favourite daughter with her will and a letter—and told her to destroy them both. Of course it was Anna their mother turned to for this mission. Miriam, the eldest, is far too sensible; Sebastian, the baby, too sensitive; and Clare, the middle child, has always been too rebellious to rely on, and long ago cut herself out of her siblings’ lives. But what Anna finds in the documents could change everything. Do the other siblings not deserve to know what it is about them that their mother was so desperate to hide? And if it is revealed, will the Bliss family ever be the same again?

Sometimes keeping secrets has unforeseen circumstances.
The Thing About Clare is an emotional rollercoaster with many ups and downs and some surprises along the way. It is a poignant story that is both moving and touching. This is another book I am adding to my keeper shelf and another addition to my top reads for the year. Ms. Clark is a fantastic author who will draw you right in and never let you go.

How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.
There are many main characters in this book, the four Bliss children and their mother. The pacing is nice and slow which gave me the opportunity to really get to know each of them, to grow to love them and sympathize with what they were going through. While I may not have always liked them, they do have their redeeming moments in little glimpses throughout the story. The build up is very intense and much of the secret is kept hidden for most of the book; which I found really helped in keeping me engaged with the story. I will say though that the book does deal with a few heartbreaking topics, but they are done with compassion and understanding. Imogen Clark really has a unique way of making us relate to her characters in a heart wrenching way.

The thing about Clare was that she just didn’t belong.
An amazing, poignant and heart-rending book. This author writes beautiful and from the heart. This is a story I could not put down and one that will stay with me for a very long time. A wonderful, thought provoking take from an author who's writing is beautiful. Very highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, Amazon Publishing UK and Imogen Clark for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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