After five long years of waiting for a new novel, comedian Dawn French has released Because of You. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely!
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock… midnight.
The old millennium turns into the new.
In the same hospital, two very different women give birth to two very similar daughters.
Hope leaves with a beautiful baby girl.
Anna leaves with empty arms.
Seventeen years later, the gods who keep watch over broken-hearted mothers wreak mighty revenge, and the truth starts rolling, terrible and deep, toward them all.
The power of mother-love will be tested to its limits.
Perhaps beyond…
Following up her bestselling novels, A Tiny Bit Marvellous, Oh Dear Silvia and According to Yes, Dawn’s millions of fans will fall in love with this tantalising story of motherhood, mothers and daughters, love and loss, mistakes and regret.
I was completely transported into the fabulous story – I laughed, I cried, I became incredibly attached to these compelling characters. I can’t talk too much about them without giving away a major twist, but Anna, Hope and Hope’s daughter Minnie are all perfectly drawn, with all the complex layers of heartbreak and joy that their individual stories deliver.
Jamaican Hope is a colourful and devoted mother, and her relationship with her daughter is perfectly drawn. Minnie’s loyalty to her mother (and her lovely father Isaac) is one of the key elements of the story.
Anna’s storyline is more heartbreaking, but her pompous husband, Tory MP Julius, brings some laughs to her chapters. In the latter part of the book, when the character’s lives become interwoven, Dawn has made interesting, intelligent character choices for Anna, and she becomes my favourite character in the novel.
Told with her signature humour, warmth and so much love, Because of You is life-affirming and heart-warming. It’s a book about nature and nurture. About kindness, forgiveness and how life isn’t black and white but many shades of grey. Ultimately, it’s a book about what makes us who we are – it is a story for all of us.
Combining warmth, wit and poignant care, this thought-provoking story will linger well after the final page. And keep the tissues handy – there’s a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming, and with all the books I’ve read now, it’s hard to surprise me.
Dawn French has done it again. Because of You is fabulous.
Because of you is a very well wrote book had me in tears at the end was really heart felt well done Dawn
I read Because of You after having my second mastectomy during the second lock down my husband bought it for me because a donation was being made to Breast Cancer charity.
It made me laugh cry but I was not expecting the shock at the end. I still think about it now what a fabulous writer Dawn is. I will certainly be reading the others I am going to read Dear Fatty next. Love your work Dawn especially The Vicar of Dibley. Thank you
Just finished reading Because of You. Without doubt, it is the most poignant book I’ve read in my life. Full of unrequited love. One huge, (possibly) mistake, yet so much love and forgiveness. I couldn’t stop crying, at the end. Everyone should read this book.