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by Saskia Sarginson, Frédéric Grellier (Translator)

🎧Listening Length = 11 hours and 31 minutes

For fans of Maggie O'Farrell and Helen Dunmore, How It Ends is a sweeping and turbulent drama about the anxieties of postwar Britain, where one strong and inspirational young woman looks to find her place, no matter the cost....

1957: within a year of arriving at an American airbase in Suffolk, the loving, law-abiding Delaney family is destroyed. Did they know something they weren't allowed to know? Did they find something they weren't supposed to find? Hedy is the only one left standing, a rebellious girl cast adrift in a world of postwar anxiety - a girl who has the courage to question what really went on behind military closed doors.

Hedy's journey to the truth leads her to read a manuscript that her talented twin brother had started months before he died, a story inspired by an experience in the forest surrounding the airbase perimeter. Only through deciding to finish what her brother started does Hedy begin to piece together what happened to her family.

But would she have continued if she'd known then what she knows now?

Sometimes, it's safer not to finish what you've started....

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2018

About the author

Saskia grew up in Suffolk and now lives in London. She is the mother of four children, including identical twin girls. She has a B.A hons in English Literature from Cambridge and an M.A in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway. She's worked as a Health & Beauty Editor,freelance journalist, ghost-writer and script reader. As well as writing and reading, she loves tango dancing and dog walking,

Reviews

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the claustrophobic surroundings of s military base. 1957: within a year of arriving at an American airbase in Suffolk, the loving, law abiding Delaney family is destroyed. Did they know something they weren't allowed to know? Did they find something they weren't supposed to find?

Another book I can't say to much about as I don't want to spoil it for potential readers. What I will say is it's an emotional read. It's based on a true story. It covers mental illness, love and hate to name a few. I really enjoyed this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Little Brown Book Group UK and the author Saskia Sarginson for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

How It Ends by Saskia Sarginson is the story of the Delaney family. The father is an American AirForce Captain and has been given a new posting from their home in America to an American airbase in England. From the day they arrived things don't go well and a tragedy has now torn the family apart. Their twelve year old daughter Hedy is now filled with grief and guilt and must find out what happened to her family.
I was invited to read this book by the publishers and really enjoyed it. I was hooked on the story and read it in a couple of days. I will be looking out for more books from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book with a local setting, i really liked this, but in many ways a very sad story. Couldn't put it down, quite an emotional read. Amazed to find parts were based on truth.

[Melanie O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic book! At first I wasn't too sure about it but it was one of those that I just couldn't put down. I would highly recommend, and feel bereft wondering what to read next!

[BeccaJBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. I don't generally read books that are set in a different time. And I especially don't read books with a war/military setting as I find it too depressing.

I don't want to give away spoilers, so hopefully this is spoiler free!! :)

However, this book had love, hate and family at it's heart and it was a pleasure to read. An awesome twist toward the end kept it engaging until the last pages.

Set in the 50's, we meet Hedy. Her family has been ripped apart and she needs to find out more to put her mind to rest. But does she really want to uncover the truth when it may not be what she expects? Her mother Ruby is an interesting character, she starts taking drugs to cope with life and her father Todd is having trouble dealing with his military work.

We make our way through to a more recent time and eventually we see everything come together and be explained, and this is where we get that little satisfied tying-up-of-loose-ends feeling.

A good read, one I would recommend.

www.thebeautifulbookbreak.com

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I particularly enjoyed the claustaphobic atmosphere of the base,and the family when they first arrived in England.
I thought this was going to be a story of family,love,loss and all that.
Then gradually you suspect that Ruby is going into decline...
Before she properly does though,all hell breaks loose and half the family is dead.
For me,it wasn't quite so engaging for a while,the whole farm life thing.
Brilliantly pulled back though,with the reveal of exactly what happened and who was involved,and whilst I had suspected,I hadn't thought it was quite that underhand.
Very interesting to read it was based on a true story too.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be an amazing read, with the unexpected and unexplained becoming a reality. It's set in a US airforce base somewhere in the South East of England and the story starts in the 1950s when everyone is anxious about the threats from the Russians. A US pilot and war hero is sent from the US with his wife and children to work on a top-secret project which takes place in bunkers underneath the base. The family doesn't settle in too well and it soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems. I found it hard to put this book down, it's something a bit different and I absolutely loved it

[Cora · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of how a tight knit military family unravels and falls apart after being stationed on an Air Force base in England. It is an historical fiction based loosely on events that were actually taking place in the 1950's (although not in England). I won't give away that part of the plot. The mystery of what is going on and why is an excellent piece of writing. Had the author just stuck to that, I would have rated this book four stars. But...she wrote it in 2018, and as such, I guess she felt like she needed to cater to the LGBT community in order to sell books and land her book in a variety of genres. While 12-year-old Christopher being gay sort of adds to the story line and his lynching, Hedy being a lesbian (also 12 or 13) added nothing. It was a distraction. As was her infatuation with her teacher (who luckily happened to be a lesbian too). While it's perfectly fine to implement LGBT characters in a book, I like to know ahead of time so I can make the decision to read the book or not. I thought I was going to read a book with mystery, a little sci-fi, and some historical fiction. I didn't sign up for a lesbian romance novel. Full disclosure...that's all I would like. For those who are into that sort of thing, you will love this book. It is an excellent mystery and reflects many of the attitudes and customs of that generation.

[Mani · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating 3.5 stars

This was an interesting read, it started off a little slow and took time to see where this book was going but by the end everything comes together nicely by the end.

The first part of the books sets the scene and gives us the backstory of the family. The second half concentrates more on the character Hedy and her life at her uncles farm. I actually preferred the second part better.

The writing was really good, it had great scene descriptions. Although I did pick up on a few inaccuracies in some descriptions, but nothing major that affected my reading experience.

I really enjoyed the characters. Hedy was definitely my favourite out of them all. She came across as caring and loving especially towards her twin brother. I thought most of the characters were well developed to. There were a few that I didn't really like.

All in all, an enjoyable read that will get you're emotions working. Also after finishing the book I discovered that this book is actually based on a true story. If you’re looking for a thought-provoking mystery then this book is for you.

I haven’t read anything from this author before, but I will definitely be looking out for more books by her in the future.

I would like to thank the publishers Piatkus and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of my eARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

[Tina J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The year is 1957 and Hedy and her family have left America and relocated to an American airbase in Suffolk due to her dad’s promotion.
They are a wonderful family unit, but her mother, Ruby, wanted to stay in America and is finding it difficult being back in England, her country of birth.

Hedy’s twin brother, Christopher spends most of his time writing science fiction stories.

Saskia very cleverly leads us into a beautiful story of family domesticity, Hedy’s mum Ruby loves staying at home looking after her and Christopher, who needs constant care due to having scoliosis, whilst her dad, Todd, goes off to the airbase every day. But underneath the rot is settling in. Why is Hedy’s dad coming home seemingly drunk every night, why is her brother obsessed with the forest next to the airbase, is he really hearing voices? Why is her mother becoming more nervous and anxious everyday?

This is a gripping and thought-provoking account of one lovely ordinary family being torn apart by events that took place during the post-war years and it is left to Hedy to piece everything together with the help of the Christopher’s manuscript.

I have not come across this author before, but I will definitely be on the lookout for her books in the future.

[Fiona Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is a story you can really fall into; a consuming and astonishing read - I absolutely loved it. When the Delaney family move to an American airbase in Suffolk, everything starts to fall apart. The Delaney’s children Hedy and Chris are extremely close, not just because they are twins, but because Chris suffers from scoliosis and has to wear a metal brace to straighten his twisted spine - his movement is restricted and he is in constant pain. Hedy is his champion, his protector. By night, she reads stories to him and by day, Chris writes his own stories.

But there is something lurking out there in the forest - among the pine trees and shadows and fallen leaves that lie beyond the wire fence surrounding the airbase. Whatever it is, it is about to destroy the gorgeous Delaney family.

This novel is so evocative that I felt as if I was right there in the forest beside Chris and Hedy. Not once did my attention stray while reading. Strong characters meet poetic writing that never gets in the way of this story which twists and turns and surprises. It is a real work of art and certainly one of the best books I have read this year.

[Book Jester · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book far more than I was expecting to – I don’t even remember where I got this book from but it really didn’t look like the sort of thing I was going to enjoy. But I did like the fact that it was set in quite a big time frame (beginning in 1957 and ending in 1981) and the main setting itself (an American military air base in Suffolk) was interesting.

It turned out that the blurb was a bit annoying though – it gave a major spoiler (the death of one of the main characters) which didn’t actually happen until just past the half-way mark so I would’ve preferred not to have known that beforehand. Thankfully the blurb didn’t spoil one of the crucial themes of the story which didn’t reveal itself until near the end (top secret LSD testing on civilians and military staff in the search for a ‘truth drug’ during the Cold War).

The story was a bit slow in parts (and quite depressing overall) but I would probably read other books by this author.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super, fast-moving story with plenty to keep me entertained and wanting to read on. There were many issues in this book, which as a twenty-first-century reader were quite shocking, but Saskia Sarginson, through her enviable talent, interwove them into a hugely compelling and enjoyable narrative. How It Ends looked at how we justify extremes of behaviour and of deception at multiple levels and combined them into a complex, multi-threaded, fascinating plot.

The author's engaging and memorable characters made this novel an absolute pleasure to read and her descriptive powers were very evident here. This is a book not to be missed.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Little, Brown Book Group UK via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

[Linda Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Beginning in 1957, it is the story of the Delaney family. Todd is an American serviceman who was posted in Norfolk flying bombers in the war. He met and married local girl Ruby, and they returned to the US after the war. Now with 13 year old twins, Hedy and Christopher, they are returning to England where Todd will be working on an American base with his old friend Hank. But things begin to unravel for them. Ruby is taking too many tranquillisers, and Todd is finding the 'classified' work he is engaged in difficult to cope with. It's hard not to give away the story, but suffice it to say that this is an excellent read which I thoroughly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.

[Jennyh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This unusual novel takes the reader through the maze of the Cold War, the time of uncertainty under the threat of spies and the race for supremacy.

The Delaney family are posted from the USA to rural England, not far from where mum, Ruby, was born. Dad, Todd, a WWII hero is in England at the request of his ex-fighter plane buddy, Hank, who has earned several promotions. Twins Chris and Hedy complete the family. Whilst at the base the family changes, tragedy strikes and lives are altered forever.

I enjoyed the writing and characters and the way nothing was straight forward. At times it was difficult to know the direction the novel was taking, but that encouraged me to read on.

Part family drama, part mystery, partly based on fact, a good read which covers several genres.

[jaine justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

I read this book whilst in hospital, and I couldn't have picked a better one to take me away from my world for a while. I actually cried when I finished it this may be due to my weakened immune system, but I really don't think so.
I was drawn in immediately, the descriptions of everything from feelings to the way sand feels when the waves recede to the feel of sand in a grazed knee, the way Milton pills make you feel, everything was written in technicolor!
I loved The way the characters were explained, their personalities liked out as chapters unfolded.
I I'll read this book again and again and recommend it to anyone who will listen.
It would make a brilliant film, if treated with the respect it deserves. A classic already.

[Hells · Rating 4 out of 5]

'How It Ends' is a beautifully written story. Based on true events, it is thought-provoking, horrifying and deeply sad in equal parts. The only thing I don't like is the blurb that accompanies the book, which relates to only a few pages. Instead, this is a story of love and loss, truth and lies, patriotism and betrayal, and much more. I love how the heartbreaking story is set against the sweeping backdrop of history, grounding the characters' actions firmly in the world they were living in. It's hard to see that the world was so different in thoughts, morals and actions such a relatively short time ago. A book that will stay with me for a while.

[Myreadbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the twins and Without you comment ne pas aimé ce livre là, I am a big fan of this author who has a beautiful pen so addictive.

The story takes place in 1957 when the family arrives at the military air base in Sufolk. Did this family know anything when they walked through those doors, did they find something they weren't supposed to find? Hedy wonders what happened, she will come across a notebook that her twin brother had started writing before she died.

A book read almost in one go so much I hooked on the story so addictive, captivating, full of suspense and twists and turns and with endearing characters.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful but unbearably sad book. It was a bit slow at the beginning but it picked up, It's very character driven and very well-written, my heart just ached for the Delaney family, the main protagonists in the story.
The story is set during the Cold War era and the idea for the story was actually inspired by certain events that took place in the 50s and 60s, something I didn't know about , so that was an added bonus.
I'd never read anything by this author but this will certainly not be the last book of hers that I'll be reading and I will certainly be recommending it to others.
4.5 stars

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It does start off a little slow and I wasn't sure where it was going to go and I enjoyed the second half much more than the first.
Hedy and Chris are twins who with their mother and father, move from midwest USA to Suffolk to the US base where their father will work on a secret project. It's about a seemingly perfect family falling apart after this big change, but the cracks were always there. It's also very much about our perceptions of people and what we do when these don't match up with the truth. It's also a sad story but full of hope. It's beautifully written. I recommend it.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

How It Ends is a totally different genre to the books I usually read. It starts in 1957 with the Delaney family moving to an American air base in Norfolk. What follows is a family torn apart and one girl’s determination to find out the truth and piece together what really happened. Beautifully written, this book will draw you in with characters that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group and the author for the chance to review.

[Chrissie · Rating 5 out of 5]

How it Ends is the story of the Delaney Family who are sent to the American Air force Base in Suffolk and within a year everything has changed and tragedy tears them apart.Twelve year old Hedy is on a mission to find out what happened to her Family.This is a very sad story but one which is difficult to put down ,beautifully written with excellent believable characters,I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and please make sure to read what the Author has written at the end ...Heartbreaking.Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for this ARC! Loved the book. Military family's journey through the cold War, they move from iowa to a US airbase in Suffolk. Ruby her husband Todd and their twins Hedy and Chris have to adapt to being in England, Ruby is originally from England but left with Todd to start a new life with him in the states.
Things start going wrong and Hedy ends up living on the farm her mum grew up on with her uncle who she's never met before.
What a roller-coaster of emotions and lies and deception from an unexpected person.

[Siobhán Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a disturbing book and so tragic even more so when I read that although this is a book of fiction, without adding spoilers, some elements are based on fact which umakes this even more horrific

An American family are posted to an airbase in the UK in the 50’s and so begins their nightmare. The story continues right up to the 80’s where all the strands are woven together

Read it and weep and then read what the author has written at the end and cry some more

A terrific read

[Christine Busuttil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a novel with a very different storyline very well written getting under the skin of the characters and how they interacted within it.
I throughly enjoyed being immersed in the different environments Saskia used over the course of the story and found the end quite the eye opener!
I am not going to say anymore as I do not wish to spoil things for anyone else deciding to also read this book
Thankyou Saskia for a lockdown gem.

[Elaine Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compulsive reading

This is a book which will keep you gripped from start to finish. It immerses you in experiences of love, hate, childhood,young adulthood, mental illness, old age and disability. It is such a whirlwind read from start to finish I couldn’t put it down. Beautiful writing and unusual themes, a joy to read.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, the sideline story being something of great interest to me. I loved how nobody in particular was the main character, yet it felt like all of the characters were important and well developed. This kept me interested throughout. Exceptionally high quality writing from this author.

[s mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful atmospheric writing especially about the forest. Very engaging, the disintegration of the Delaney family was so very real. I was totally engrossed. I used to go to the Air Shows at the base the book was based on and walk in the local forests. Not 100% sure about the ending but I can forgive this!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The value of this novel lies in how it exposes some of the horrible experiments conducted by the U.S. military after World War II. It also illustrates the oppressiveness of rural farming in England, the unique bond between twins, and the extreme lengths that were taken to cure scoliosis with painful harnesses and braces that severely curbed what the wearer could do and see.

[Elizabeth St Clair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patiently waiting for your latest novel and was not disappointed great characters believable story line could notputitdown

and always happy ending cannot wait for next novel hope it will notebook long like the fact that it has very topics subject matter