Shay Bastable is the woman in the middle. She is part of the sandwich generation – caring for her parents and her children, supporting her husband Bruce, holding them all together and caring for them as best she can.
Then the arrival of a large orange skip on her mother’s estate sets in motion a cataclysmic series of events which leads to the collapse of Shay’s world. She is forced to put herself first for a change.
But in order to move forward with her present, Shay needs to make sense of her past. And so she returns to the little village she grew up in, to uncover the truth about what happened to her when she was younger. And in doing so, she discovers that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to find the only way is up.
Title: The Woman in the Middle
Author: Milly Johnson
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 14th October 2021
Links: UK: Amazon
As most of you know I have read and loved every single one of Milly Johnson's books and this one got me right in the feels just like the others. Each one has played a beautifully emotive tune on my heartstrings for one reason or another, especially the teashop on the corner which had me a blubbing wreck on my husband's fiftieth. But there was just something even more special about this one, the woman in the middle could be any one of us, it might not necessarily be being in the middle of parents and kids but being in the middle of something and being pulled in different directions felt very relatable. The thing with Shay was that she was just trying to do her best in the circumstances she found herself in and she was shat on from a great height. Wife, daughter, mother and friend, Shay has lost herself in all the roles she has to play in everybody else's lives and before she finds herself again she really finds out who is on her side.
I would say Shay is now one of my favourite characters in a book, Milly has a knack of showing us how extra-ordinary seemingly ordinary women are and Shay was certainly put through the mill. Ferociously protective of her mum and her children I could really empathise with her and shared her anger and grief at what she went through. The back story that unfolded was heart-breaking and the journey Shay goes on had me cheering her on throughout, sometimes out loud.
I really loved this story about a lovely lady who's had enough and fights back, giving it everything she's got.
Thoroughly recommended to snuggle up with on a cold winter's night as it will warm you up from the inside. Emotive, raw and uplifting. This book comes with a little piece of Milly's heart inside.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. She is the author of 18 published novels, 4 short story ebooks, a book of poetry and a Quick Reads Novella ('The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe') and was an erstwhile leading copywriter for the greetings card industry. She is also a poem and joke-writer, a newspaper columnist and a seasoned after dinner speaker.
She won the RoNA for Best Romantic Comedy Novel of 2014 and 2016, the Yorkshire Society award for Arts and Culture 2015 and the Romantic Novelist Association Outstanding Achievement award in 2020. See her popular acceptance speech here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxzeFTvHXDo&fbclid=IwAR27aZML4er_dZLgD2e-URQdBoOK3L9hM8mauFpn3aFvAws7y3VVtXsYTvI
She writes about love, life, friendships and the importance of community spirit. Her books champion women, their strength and resilience and celebrate her beloved Yorkshire.
Milly's website is www.millyjohnson.co.uk. She is on Twitter as @millyjohnson, Instagram as @themillyjohnson and has a Facebook page @MillyJohnsonAuthor. She also has a monthly newsletter www.millyjohnson.co.uk/newsletter with exclusive, news, offers and competitions.
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