Sorry Isn't Good Enough

by Jane Bailey

'The trouble is, we don't recognise every danger when we see it. And that's how Mr Man manages to creep into our lives.'

It is 1966, and things are changing in the close-knit Napier Road. Stephanie is 9 years old, and she has plans:

1. Get Jesus to heal her wonky foot
2. Escape her spiteful friend Dawn
3. Persuade her mum to love her

But everything changes when Stephanie strikes up a relationship with Mr Man, who always seems pleased to see her. When Dawn goes missing in the woods during the World Cup final, no one appears to know what happened to her - but more than one of them is lying.

May 1997, and Stephanie has spent her life trying to bury the events of that terrible summer. When a man starts following her on the train home from London, she realises the dark truth of what happened may have finally caught up with her.

Genres: Thriller, Suspense

368 pages, Hardcover

Published February 3, 2022

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review is on my website www.bookread2day.wordpress.com
I absolutely loved the prose of the style throughout this story Sorry Isn’t Good Enough. I did wonder why this book was given the title for this novel, well it all became quite clear early on while reading, Sorry Isn’t Good Enough.

My favourite character was Stephanie Townsend as my heart was completely touched the by the sad life she leads.

All because her father who is a preacher and a Bible class teacher didn’t believe in vaccinations it left poor Stephanie with a wonky walk caused by a disease. Stephanie wants to know why can’t Jesus make her foot better.

Life simply isn’t fair for Stephanie she didn’t have a television in her house as her parents believed all the television does is brain wash you.

The only friend Stephanie has is Dawn who is spiteful, smart, spoilt and prone to tantrums. Dawn blames Stephanie about loads of things, getting Stephanie into a lot of trouble all the time at home and at school. Really Stephanie should find a new friend.

Young school girl Stephanie thinks she loves Mr Man who she has a good relationship with. Dawn comes up with a plan that Stephanie must go along with but it leads to Dawn disappearing.

The trouble is, we don’t recognise every danger when we see it. And now that’s how Mr Man manages to creep into our lives.

I found sorry Isn’t Good Enough impossible to put down, where there was something on every page pulling me along sweeping me onto page after page.

I must say I need to recommend this book as this novel is very much unptdownable. It’s a real must buy, must read.

Author Jane Bailey is a brilliant writer who has weaved in so many expertise surprises that I found myself being drawn into, giving me the pleasure reading more from this author in the future.

[Jo_Scho_Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m really on a roll with excellent books. This is the third 5 star read in a row but the first of 2022 that’s moved me to tears.

It’s 1966 and 9yo Stephanie Townshend lives in Napier Road, with her lay preacher father and strict & overbearing mother. Stephanie’s foot is permanently damaged after catching polio as a result of her father’s refusal to vaccinate her so she can’t play like the other kids do. She still has friends though although Dawn is hard to describe as a friend; she’s vicious and mean, we’d call her toxic nowadays. But as Stephanie can never be one of the popular kids on the block as a result of her disability, she’s forced to take friendship where she finds it. And as summer hits and Dawn goes missing the finger of blame and suspicion is pointed at everyone & anyone.

I’ve just finished this book tonight and I can’t find the right words to say just how much I loved it, how much it broke my heart & how clever and profound it was. I went in thinking it was going to be a missing child mystery, which did play a part but it was way, way more than that. The theme running throughout this wonderful, incredible & intensely emotional book is essentially mothers; their bond, their love, their indifference. Stephanie’s relationship with her mother broke my heart. I hated her mam with a passion - but the skill of Jane Bailey’s writing turned me full circle with her. Mam was a character like no other; I wanted to shake her for behaving so badly then in my next breath I was chuckling at her diy skills. And then there’s a scene between mother and daughter towards the final section of the book which had me crying like a baby. I have a funny old relationship with my own mother so this really touched my heartstrings.

It’s a harrowing read, parts are certainly not easy to get through that’s for sure, but it’s also wonderfully nostalgic and evocative. I loved going back in time to the 60s and 70s and the carefree way folk lived back then. I felt like I was transported back in time such was the skill of the author. I loved Stephanie so much; her story was bleak but her attitude was strong. The mystery about the missing girl really enhanced the plot and gave it that extra something & provided the perfect backdrop to the fascinating yet mundane details of Stephanie’s childhood.

This story will stay with me a long long time. I loved every single page and it made me laugh and it made me cry. Heartbreaking yet spectacular, read it and see what I mean.

Published 3rd March 2022. Thank you Orion Books & Compulsive Readers for my ARC.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 A psychological thriller/mystery full of twists and turns, with an ending I didn’t see coming at all! Well worth the read.

[Teneale Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness so many twists and turns throughout the novel and that ending! I highly recommend reading it. I could barely put it down

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book full of everything. Sadness, relationships, childhood angst, friendship and love. Very original and nice to read something unique and thought provoking with a bit of mystery thrown in. Loved the main character and was rooting for Stephanie all the way as we read her narration from a child to adult.

[izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful

[Paterson Loarn · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Sorry Isn’t Good Enough’ is a perceptive account of emotional suffering in childhood and how it can disrupt the lives of survivors. Jane Bailey uses intriguing narrative threads to link troubling events her protagonist experiences as a child in 1966 to her difficulties as an adult in 1997. Along the way she creates numerous twists and turns to build up suspense and keep the reader on edge.

‘The trouble is, we don’t recognise every danger when we see it. And that’s how Mr. Man manages to creep into our lives.’

We first meet Stephanie when she is nine years old. One of her legs has been deformed by a childhood illness for which she blames her parents. She has a chilly relationship with her mother, but her father is warm and affectionate towards her. Her best friend is a manipulative girl called Dawn who begins her cruel remarks with the words ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but….’ As a result of emotional neglect, Stephanie seeks friendship and understanding in inappropriate places.

'The Trouble with Goats and Sheep’ meets Good Me Bad Me: this is a coming-of-age mystery with a dark core.'

The setting is well drawn and the background (the run-up to England’s World Cup victory) is convincing. By the time Dawn becomes the trigger for and focus of the dreadful events of summer 1966, the reader is well and truly hooked. There is humour in Stephanie’s confused attempts to make sense of the language of the adult world. Bailey often refers to contemporary household brands and the fashions and music popular at the time. This reminds me of Kate Atkinson’s novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Stephanie and Dawn are obsessed with becoming teenagers and look forward to enjoying the delights of the Swinging Sixties.

In the section of the story set in 1997, Bailey describes the relationship problems Stephanie suffers in adult life. In this way she demonstrates the damage that can be done by an emotionally stunted childhood. Her family’s struggles with motherhood extend to a third generation when it looks as if her son threatens to walk out of her life. I found unravelling the mysteries of Stephanie’s childhood more intriguing than examining her adult relationships, but this is a personal response. Other readers will have a different opinion.

Many thanks to Orion Books for sending me an advance review copy of Sorry Isn’t Good Enough in return for an honest review.

[Kate Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, this was a slow burn, but I really enjoyed it.
It was unlike any thriller/mystery I have read before - which is something I always look for - something new within this genre.
Jane Bailey writes so atmospherically and I really felt like I was there. I think this book would make an excellent tv series!

I was left guessing right up until the end, and the twist in final couple of pages was great!
I also loved the mysterious Mr Man too. I felt like he was a bit of a 'Boo Radley' (To Kill A Mockingbird) character. So may similarities.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and will definitely read Jane Bailey again!

[Nicole Hughes-Chen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially I really enjoyed this book. The story is told by a young girl Stephanie of about 9yrs and it follows her through a difficult friendship with a girl Dawn who is a bully and becomes increasingly more violent - despite having a loving mother who calls her Poppet (although the Dad is angry and violent).

This bully ultimately meets her doom although we are not told definitively what happened to Dawn, although it is suggested that Stephanie knows. Whilst this story is being unravelled the author regularly flits back to the present day where grown up Stephanie is on a train and being followed by a strange man who she thinks also showed up at her work.

The story is grammatically sound, and it flows really well and is gripping, however I think from the point of Dawn's comeuppance onwards the story and writing quality really seem to be lacking. It is like Bailey didn't have a detailed plan to develop the story after this climatic moment.

The story continues anyway and Stephanie grows up, has 2 children and both her parents dote on them, despite her Mum never being warm to Stephanie as a child. Her youngest child is then killed in an accident which is surprising but I don't think the reader has enough time to build up emotions for this event so it doesn't have the right impact on the reader. We're not given a lot of emotion from the main character either to feel the depth of her pain or to know how it affects the son. We also have Stephanie's parents dying and again that's a bit sad but there's no depth of feeling in play here. An explanation about Stephanie's Mum's coldnessis provided at the funeral but it doesn't really feel satisfying.

We then have the announcement that Stephanie's son is gay but again this doesn't really impact anything or really matter - what's the significant of this? Why include it in the book?

Then finally we get back to the train and current day where we find out the person who is following Stepahnie is actually one of her best friends from the past Gareth so why has he just been following her from train to train and why hasn't he approached during the hours that she sat on the train or the time that the train stopped while the sheep was on the railway? Why would he followed her all this time and not speek to her? Purely to try to build suspense. It was unrealistic and it didn't work.

We then have Stephenie's confession of what really happened to Dawn on that day. It's fine, not shocking and kind of expected. Then Gareth says he knew really happened that day which maybe should be shocking but again it's a bit blah and I didn't care at this point because it was so long ago (like twenty years). Then of course we have the last chapter where the main character actually says what happened... so why has she just confessed and said "I haven't told anyone what actually happened that day and now I've told you Gareth". And then she goes and says what actually happened which kind of makes her sound like a bit of a liar and a killer which goes against her whole life's behaviour and actions. Again I think it was purely added for shock factor but poorly executed and therefore disappointing.

I get that Gareth story is a twist and then the main character adds further twist at the end but I think they are too late, not impactful enough and by that time we don't really care what happened to Dawn because it was 20 years ago.

I think this if the story had stopped after Dawn's death I would have given this an easy four or five star rating.

I also note that I didn't really understand the significance of the main character having a bad leg. I don't think it had a significant enough impact in the story to make me feel like it was worth mentioning. It's good to represent people with disabilities but I just don't know what it added to this story. Also I'm not sure about the significance of the dad getting obsessed with badminton I don't really know what that added to the story and probably would have cut that out myself.

I did like the character of Mr Man. I thought it was really interesting how people who live on their own and are friendly to children and male are automatically assumed to be dodgy or perverts and they can get victimized by the public when a crime against a child occurs and people automatically assume that they must have done it. I thought that storyline was really interesting and I think that could have been played into a lot more. I think the story from Mr man's point of view would have actually been a lot more interesting.

Final point - I felt sometimes that the story read like an autobiography or a biography and I'm not sure why I don't know if it was the style of writing that the author chose but a couple of times I did look at it go this isn't a biography is it? Just putting that out there too!

[Sasha ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling story of a young woman's life in the 1960s, where she is grappling with growing up with a "gammy leg", unfeeling mother, bullying best friend and unsettling burgeoning friendship with a man on their street.

Jane Bailey has a strong voice with Stephanie, a sensitive young girl who is able to detect the troubled dynamics in her family, but remains blithely unaware of the subtle complexities of adult relationships. The author paints a vivid picture of the 1960s childhood experience, with Stephanie weathering the dissatisfactions of her mother, who gave up her college education to be nothing more than a housewife to her puritanical husband and raise his children. Then we have Stephanie's complex and toxic relationship with her "best friend" Dawn, who uses bullying and coercion to keep Stephanie as her loyal sidekick, but when Hilary moves in and takes a liking to Stephanie, Dawn's iron fist over the neighbourhood begins to slip.

This book never quite went in the direction I expected it to go, which made it overall a fairly engaging read - initially the blurb implies it's a story of a naïve couple of girls being slowly groomed and lured in by the neighbourhood pervert, but instead the book falls into a meditation about motherhood and generational trauma thereof, as well as the notion of unpunished deeds and the past coming back to haunt you, with Stephanie worrying about being a good mother to her son after the incident that plagued her childhood and her own rocky relationship with her mother. Her past teases some event resulting in a body, but we don't know what exactly happened until the end of the book, except a prank gone wrong and a lifetime of secrets.

Unfortunately I felt like Adult!Stephanie's sections start to get kind of boring after a while. I don't really care about her relationship with her son or her daughter who died or whatnot. I just wanted to find out who killed Dawn, but the author had a lot to say about generational trauma and sexism in the 1960s and stuff so she crammed it in wherever she could a lot. Not to say those things aren't important to talk about, I just found the book was already overstuffed with themes at this point - neglectful parents, favouritism, stranger danger, racism, illegitimate children, slut-shaming, ableism, even some anti-vaccine criticism, etc, that I felt like the book began to lose focus about what it actually wanted to say. I think the author should have saved some of it for a different novel because honestly you could have cut a lot of Adult!Stephanie's sections out of the book and it would have been a stronger story for it. Also Stephanie's synthesethia was poorly explored, it only comes up a handful of times throughout the novel and gets dropped again, so I don't understand the point of bringing it up at all.

The way the author depicts Stephanie's mother Ruth and her relationship with her also felt confusing - Ruth is pretty abusive towards her daughter initially, with one of Stephanie's "goals" at nine being to get her mother to love her, and she gives her daughter such a complex about being "dirty" that Stephanie develops an obsession with germs at six years old, not to mention being aware of the blatant preference for her brother. But as the book goes on, Ruth gets a lot of (in my opinion) unwarranted sympathy from Stephanie, who talks a lot about the hardships of women in the generations between World War Two and the Sixties, which felt more like a commentary from the author than the character. It's true Ruth does show Stephanie some kindnesses, like defending her from the father of her missing friend or letting her keep a kitten after giving it away without telling her, but I felt like Stephanie outright calling her a "kind, decent woman" felt like overkill considering that Ruth outright screams at and slutshames her prepubescent daughter, and because she never stood up to her religious zealot husband, didn't vaccinate her and left Stephanie with a completely preventable limp. I don't know, I couldn't buy into this redemption of Ruth when she'd been so cruel to her own child for no reason.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

[Trina Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dual timeline novel told from Stephanie's perspective. Telling the story of her childhood and growing up in the 60's. Her father was religious and her mother never showed her any affection and always did what her husband said. She had a best friend called Dawn who really wasn't much of a friend as she always put her down. And she devoted the company of Mr Nan and his dog Goldie. On the day of the World Cup final Dawn goes missing and life changes forever for Stephanie.
In 1997 after a works conference she fears she's being followed and the past is going to catchup with her.
I enjoyed reading the early part of the book, the dialogue between Stephanie and Dawn was quite amusing, the way children misinterpret what they hear adults say.
A solid read, portraying the effects childhood can have and how it's taken jnto adulthood. Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the opportunity to read this advanced copy my opinions are my own and I was under no obligation to leave my honest review

[Debra Gape · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books i have ever read.
Its 1966 and Stephanie is 9 years old, her home life is difficult as is her life with her peers.
This story had everything for me, nostalgic, tense and edgy, humorous, and very sad.
I found myself laughing out loud and young Stephanie's descriptions of her young thoughts and then into her adult life i cried with her tragedy and pain.
I had my own thoughts about what had happened during her childhood but boy was i wrong.

I could have quite easily sat and read this in one sitting but i forced myself to last a day or two i knew it was going to be a really enjoyable read for me.
An easy 5 stars.
More like this please JANE BAILEY.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for leaving my honest review.
Was a real pleasure!

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book.
The blurb had me hooked. The storyline was interesting and I wanted to know more.

The story itself, switches between the present and the past tense. It is mainly set in the past.

You have the build up to the main event so this is mainly in the past tense but when the event happens, there is still a lot based in the past tense.

I found a lot of this book was about the main character's relationship with her mother and how it affects her.
The disappearance seems to be a secondary in this book rather than the primary. So I feel the blurb was misleading.

Overall it was easy to read, you had character development and you find the answer to the great mystery.

[Robin Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit I have mixed feelings on this one. While the writing itself is sound and flows, and the answer to the "whodunnit" question is just the right amount of ambiguously thought-provoking, I somewhat felt that the ending was a bit "rushed" and skeletal. The first part of the book does a great job of building characters and attachments and is wonderfully atmospheric. The last quarter of the book, though, glibly covers years and events without giving the reader time to build any sort of bond. The characters in the latter part of the book (Steph's son, her parents, Gareth, etc.) are only briefly sketched. In the end, though, I think the pros outweigh the cons on this one and would certainly recommend.

[Claire (c.isfor.claire_reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is told from the POV of 9 year old Stephanie, and Stephanie as an adult.

This was a wonderfully written story of Stephanie Townsend, growing up , wanting to please and overall be loved, especially by her mother.
Her father is extremely religious and her mother devoid of being able to show Stephanie much affection. Life in the Townsend household is not like those of Stephanie's acquaintances. I really felt for her at times. Her only friend, Dawn is manipulative and spoilt.

The story was dark at times, interspersed with childhood innocence, and alot of sadness for Stephanie, not just in her childhood.

A highly enjoyable read.

[Hannah Julian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited for this book after reading the blurb and the first few chapters and then it just went downhill. The storyline started off strong and then started to fray and weaken as you read on. Chapters start to become more waffle / unnecessary description and information making it confusing to follow. As a result of the waffling it took longer to finish and by the ending I lost interest in the conclusion of the storyline.

I really wanted to enjoy this book as it included some really important topics as well as capturing real-life experiences of life in 1966, abuse, sexism/misogyny and bullying.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephanie is a child of the 60s with a background of religion spliced with a disapproving mother. Stephanie along with her friend Dawn make friends with a neighbour who they name Mr Man.

One day when Dawn and Stephanie had arranged to meet, Dawn disappears.

Years later following a chance meeting Stephanie revisits her memories from that time in an attempt to find the truth of what actually happened.

The story was engaging but the reasoning behind what happened didn't wholly convince this listener.

[Nigel Martin]

On Friday 28th October 2022 we had the pleasure of meeting you at Glebefields Library, Tipton as part of their Literacy Festival. It was very enjoyable afternoon and I purchased SORRY Isn't Good Enough from you. Yesterday I finished reading it ( only took me 3 days in every spare minute ). I do not usually read fiction so it was something new to me. An extremely , keep you guessing read and I shall eagerly await your next book. Mean while catching up on your previous ones.

Best wishes and more success in the future .

Jacqueline.

[haze_books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea for this book but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. sadly its told in multiple time lines and it felt jumbled and confusing at times. There were a few twists but I didn't find them exciting or well done. I found the main character to be boring and just the whole story felt a bit flat.

[Jane loves to read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an utterly compelling and disturbing read. I found myself constantly changing my views on certain characters yet continuity to have strong dislike towards others. As I read further into the book I constantly felt on edge waiting for something bad to happen. I’ve never felt so much emotion in one book! Fantastic writing!

[Donna Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant ! Borrowed from the Library wasn’t too sure but I was hooked. Set in the late 60s and I was born in 71 so could relate the setting etc. Very descriptive , uncovers so many different characteristics and emotions in people. Every page was gripping. I learnt a few things to do with nature too. Really enjoyed it. Thanks Jane 💫

[Brigitta Bijloos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very deeply enjoyed this book - it was hard to say goodbye to the main character after the last page. A lot of indepth emotion, I fully empathized with her. It was definitely a thriller with a lot of unease and a slight touch of horror. A very nice depiction of the time spirit of the time it's set in.

[Aria Harlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gripped me right from the start and didnt let me go, it was fast paced, tense, mysterious and unpredictable with a great storyline and engaging and well developed cgaracters. I really enjoyed reading this.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was immediately gripped by this book and read it in a few hours. There’s a lot of tension, twists and also a real sadness to this story. But at the same time it’s beautiful.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

[Victoria Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorry Isn't Good Enough is absolutely gripping. It had me hooked immediately with all its twists and turns. I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for my ARC.

[Tessa Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this brooding, suspenseful story. The author paints a brilliantly tense and evocative picture of a sexually-repressed side of Britain often overlooked in the 'swinging sixties.' Well-drawn characters and flowing prose made for an unputdownable read.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. I get for Stephanie, even if she infuriated me at times....it was a reasonably paced book, although it did slow down in the latter chapters......but it did have a satisfying ending.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult read, showing how things that happen in childhood affect you all your life. The author is brilliant at depicting snapshots of childhood moments. As someone who was at school in the 1960s and 70s, I could definitely relate.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book from my book club's trolley.

It was quite a heartfelt book. The protagonist, Stephanie, reflects on many experiences throughout her life, and in some ways I was able to sympathise and relate to her.