Is That You, Beth Cherry?

by Lucy Dillon

Beth's life, like the unfinished screenplay on her laptop, is stuck between chapters.

Since her breakup with Fraser - which was not part of the script - she's retreated into a lonely WFH world of sweatpants, disordered hours and comfort eating. The one luminous constant in her life is her love for her rescue dog, Tomsk, and his for her.

When Beth's house share falls apart, she is thrown a lifeline by the least likely Fraser's mother Martine, who offers Beth and Tomsk a temporary space above her garage in which to start over. Returning to Longhampton, scene of her happiest memories with Fraser and his family, feels like a second might this be a sign that she and Fraser are meant to be?

But when Beth is recruited as a writer for a project called The Story of Your Life, she starts to gain more perspective on her own life. Run by the local retirement community, some of the stories she hears are heartwarming, some are heartbreaking. All of them, Beth notes, reveal a little more than the teller realises. And when she is sent an anonymous story of first love that threatens to destroy more than one family's identity, Beth has to is it sometimes better to keep a secret than reveal the truth?

Your favourite authors love Lucy

'Bittersweet, lovely and ultimately redemptive; the kind of book that makes you want to live your own life better' JOJO MOYES

'This vibrant and uplifting novel has not only entertained me hugely, but made me change the way I look at life' KATIE FFORDE

'I always find Lucy Dillon's books so overflowing with wit and wisdom' JENNY COLGAN

Genres: Roman, Womens Fiction

475 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 6, 2025

About the author

Lucy Dillon was born in Cumbria, worked for a while in publishing in London, and now lives in the Wye Valley with her husband and their Border terrier. She has written eight novels set in the fictional Midlands town of Longhampton, which looks a bit like Hereford, although the inhabitants tend to sound rather more Northern than that.

Reviews

[Elin Enberg]

4,5 ⭐️ Alldeles fantastisk i sann Lucy Dillon-anda🩷

[Hannaw Wiman]

En mysig feelgood bok om kärlek, vänskap, livsval och familjehemligheter. 3.5⭐️ Det är verkligen en slowburn och lite långsam emellanåt men en cozy read.

[Lindsay]

Honestly, this is the best book I've read this year. I loved Beth (I think I've got a lot of Beth traits) and just the whole book left me feeling joyful. 10/10 no notes

[Liz]

9781399719780 Paperback

A solid read though it took a long time for the couple to get together.
Continuing with my year of not reading so many thrillers, this was an ideal choice. I’ve become addicted to Longhampton books, especially since I’ve realised it's almost based on Hereford, quite near me. A friend has just moved into a care home too so it was interesting to read about the one in the book.
Fraser had a new girlfriend with children but he hadn’t told his family yet. Beth, Lewis, and Fraser’s mum save the care home and Beth and Lewis fall in love

[Sarah Argrave]

Excellent, as always

I think Lucy Dillon books are the ones I look forward to more than any other. Going through something difficult at the moment, I decided to distract myself. I shouldn't be surprised really by how healing and inspiring I found it - it's not the first time I have found myself in Lucy's books and inadvertently received some much needed therapy. A wonderfully warm, cosy, and inspiring read. I don't want to go back to real life but I do feel better able to face it now.

[Gem ~]

A cosy story full of great characters, mysteries and a gorgeous rescue dog!
I felt Beth grew as a character from being initially quite frustrating in her own outlook and obsession with her ex, to realising her own strengths.
It reminded me of Thursday Murder Club combined with Great Big Beautiful Life.

[Harriet]

Nobody does people rebuilding their lives better than Lucy Dillon, and this provided all the comfort and recognition and feelings I expect from her novels. Loved Beth and her adorable dog Tomsk, and the cast of characters from a nearby retirement home who helped her re-evaluate her life.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Annette]

Gorgeous feel-good read

I rarely read this type of novel in my line of work, and I absolutely LOVED it! A great cast of characters, a lovely story and several
will-he/won’t he scenarios. A thoroughly enjoyable read ❤️

[Jane Gregg]

She’s back! What a cracker from one of my faves.

[Adela]

Funny, relatable, but dealing with serious themes as well. Loved it!

[Anita]

I needed this right now 🥴😁

[Lucy Brown]

Another fabulous and uplifting book by Lucy Dillon. You would never imagine where you end up when you start this story

[Rachel Gilbey]

It took me a while to properly get into the story of this book, possibly my fault for not double checking the blurb before hand, so took me a while to work out exactly why Beth Cherry seemed unhappy and disconnected from a fuller life.

Once I was invested in the story though I loved it, and I thoroughly enjoyed Lewis and Rosemount Care Home. He is one of life's best people, and is attempting to turn around a care home in disarray, and is a many that really does care about his resident's happiness. He is also rather naive with regards to his heart, and seeing how his fledgling friendship with Beth develops is rather sweet.

Especially since Beth is completely oblivious, and seems to be spending her time wishing she was still with Fraser, who she split with years before, but is suddenly back involved in his family's life at any rate.

It was though the storylines involving Rosemount and its residents that stole my heart. There is a life story project being set up and Beth is volunteered to help out with it and some of the stories are just so mesmerising.

I also enjoyed getting to know Martine, Fraser's mum who offers Beth a much needed lifeline, and I loved learning about her life too.

This is a story of rediscovery for Beth, as she finally starts to come back to life properly. I loved her feisty side and the book had a wonderful conclusion.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

[Saffy]

I’ve read and enjoyed many of Lucy Dillon’s novels and always look forward to a new release from her. Is That You, Beth Cherry is set in the fictional town of Longhampton where many of the author’s previous novels are also set. Beth’s life has changed dramatically since she split up with her partner Fraser, she has become distant and reclusive in her life and this is impacting her work and relationships. When she is forced to move into an annex in Fraser’s mother’s garden and there is a restructuring at work her life begins to change. She becomes involved with a project at a local care home and begins to reevaluate her life.
As with all of the author’s novels there is a sense of hope and joy here and it was a heartwarming read. Beth is a sympathetic character that I was rooting for. However it was also a disappointing read compared to the author’s previous novels as I found that the plot was lacking, most of the characters lacked sufficient depth and this prevented me from becoming completely immersed in the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

[Hannah Symonds]

I loved this book, it was an easy read and something about Lucy’s writing just makes it come alive like you are there. I loved the way each character had their own story to tell and that the setting was in an old people’s home. I think people reading this will be able to relate to Beth and hopefully find that they are not alone and have Beth’s determination. I liked hearing all of the residents stories of back in their days and also the warmth from the staff that work there. Full of warmth, kindness and a lovely family feel. I really enjoyed this story.

[Hanna]

På det hela taget är det här en väldigt mysig lättläst bok och jag gillade Beth som karaktär då jag tycker att man kan känna igen sig en del i hennes tankar.

Köpte dock inte riktigt relationen mellan henne och Lewis? Kände aldrig att den riktigt byggdes upp utan helt plötsligt bara var där?

Kan jag rekommendera boken? absolut 😄 Men är det den bästa boken i Dillons serie om invånarna i Longhampton?
Nej inte enligt mig men helt okej mysig bok att läsa ☺️

[Agi]

DID. NOT. FINISH.
It was impossible to finish. I kept reading and reading because, you know, Lucy Dillon, nobody can write people like Lucy Dillon, but after 50% I simply deleted this book from my kindle. I was struggling all the way and in the end this book was not worth my precious time. I just gave up on the dragging story - telling, the many characters being introduced, many stories being told, the totally uninteresting main characters and absolutely nothing happening.

[Emily West]

A decent book in the end but it took me quite a while to get into it. I persevered because I have read books by the author before and I really liked her writing style but I did struggle to begin with. I found it hard to like Beth as she was being too miserable but once the care home characters become more prominent the book massively improved.

[Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com)]

I reviewed Is That You Beth Cherry? for the Irish Examiner newspaper, a book I described as a heart-warming, relatable, and gentle story about self-discovery and finding one’s place in the world.

You can read my full review at:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifesty...

[Lena Akerblom]

Väldigt trevlig liksom övriga böcker i serien.

[Lotta Söderlund]

En ny fin berättelse av Lucy Dillon.
Här hoppas jag att hon spinner vidare på vissa personer.

[Linda]

Jag lyssnade på den här medan jag målade hönshuset. Mysig och fin historia om att gå vidare och om att allt inte är som man tror.

[Maria]

Trevlig och innehållsrik bok som jag tyckte om att läsa

[Stacey McKenzie]

I absolutely loved this book; great story, characters and some real, feel good moments to enjoy. Pure escapism ❤️

[Birgitta Mattisson]

Jag älskar berättelser. En del gör en glad och fnittrig. Plötsligt sitter man och ler i soffhörnet, åt någon tokighet som Lucy Dillon skruvat ihop.
Så har det varit i många år, det var länge sedan jag fastnade för hennes böcker, som är feelgood i sann bemärkelse.
Det är varmt och underhållande, även om just denna bok inte kommer hamna på min favorithylla. Men den är trevlig och det dräller av igenkänning.

[Kendra Jackson]

Beth hadn’t been having a good time for a while, clinging to the hope that she and her ex would miraculously get back together, that she and her flatmate would co-dependently co-exist until the end of time and that if she could be as much like an ostrich as possible, the problems with work would magically resolve themselves.

Most of us have found ourselves in one or two, if not all, of these circumstances which makes Beth relatable at the same time as wanting to watch from a distance in case her bad luck is catching!

In time-honoured tradition, Beth turns her life around, but the path isn’t straightforward. It is, however, very entertaining. Really enjoyed this.