Would you be happy inside- forever?

The thing I love most about being part of the book community is opening my mind and heart to reading almost anything.  As I read on Kindle, I don’t read back covers anymore, I simply dive in, ready to live in another world.  I always learn something and am most often entertained. Another thing I love is meeting authors.  As a member of the Romantic Novelists Association (RNA) I was lucky enough to attend (in a virtual sense) a seminar where Catherine Miller spoke about writing, and she mentioned a new book.  A book she described in two lines.  “She’s too afraid to leave her house. But is she brave enough to let someone in?” Well you can imagine, when I was invited to read an advance copy if The Girl Who Couldn’t Leave, I simply jumped at the chance!  I charged my Kindle, made a large mug of tea and settled down.

Agoraphobia is real

Fiona Dexter is such a relatable character.  She an agoraphobic and never leaves her home, and it feels ok.  She feels safe inside, and to be honest the eloquent way her world was described, made me feel safe too.  I totally understood her reluctance to engage in the outside world.  Circumstances force her to open her door, and in that open herself to options.  This is a beautifully written story, that wasn’t what I expected, and yet I felt drawn in, and really enjoyed sharing Fiona’s journey.  A journey that was at times funny, at others heartbreaking, but always emotive. Agoraphobia isn’t uncommon, and it was really beautiful to read how she overcame her fears, with a hefty dose of love.

Book Description

Fiona Dexter hasn’t gone outside in five years.

She knows she’ll never sit on a beach to watch the sunset,
or share a meal with her family at the friendly café around the corner,
or even fall in love.

Then one day, her neighbour, single mother Bethany, shows up on her doorstep holding two-year-old Evie.

Bethany needs help and soon Fiona starts to remember how it feels to be close to other people. Once she’s felt the warmth of Evie’s hugs and danced her socks off with Bethany, can Fiona face the secrets of her past and live again?

This hopeful and heart-warming read will remind you that life continues no matter where you are, and opening the door is the first step on the way back to happiness. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain will love this emotional and uplifting story.

Author Bio:

When Catherine Miller became a mum to twins, she decided her hands weren’t full enough so wrote a novel with every spare moment she managed to find. By the time the twins were two, Catherine had a two-book deal with Carina UK. Her debut novel, Waiting For You, came out in March 2016. Catherine was a NHS physiotherapist, but for health reasons she retired early from this career. As she loved her physiotherapy job, she decided if she couldn’t do that she would pursue her writing dream. It took a few years and a couple of babies, but in 2015 she won the Katie Fforde bursary, was a finalist in the London Book Fair Write Stuff Competition and highly commended in Woman magazine’s writing competition. Since then she’s had four novels published. (I am working my way through her books.) Find this book on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3gHr3gS Thank you for reading and please feel free to share your favourite reads with me. Kerry xx