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With now her mother has passed away, she decides to find her brother, Noah Martineau who is a successful barrister, with a posh voice and a wife and daughter living in a big house. One of his psychologists had told him he should be grateful to Penni and Steve. The shrink didn’t understand that they didn’t adopt him for him, but for themselves. But what the guy really didn’t understand was that it was impossible for Jaden to feel grateful, for anything ever. It wasn’t personal to Penni and Steve. Jaden had a distaste for parents in general. And he knew he wasn’t alone. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of kids in America just like him—adopted when they were older, hating their new parents. He knew this because one of his psychologists or psychiatrists had said so. He couldn’t remember at the moment which doctor it was. So he pretty much was nothing special. I was almost in floods of tears for most of the last fifth of the book, and kept having to swallow the lump in my throat, purely as I didn't want people wondering why on earth I was crying poolside on holiday. I do need to warn readers that this is an intensely emotional book, although beautifully written and uplifting in parts, it does give cause to have tissues close by but I did enjoy it and I would definitely read more by this author again. A tug at the heartstrings but funny, endearing and uplifting and a story I won't forget. An absolute must read! Kerry Hayes is a single mother trying to earn a living house cleaning for people, because the job fits around her having a child at nursery school.
He has a wonderful way of lifting the reader up while tugging at our heart strings at the same time. A lovely story about what family really means... (Fionnuala Kearney)The incredibly moving and uplifting novel "Half a World Away" is an acute observation of human nature and is written by Mike Gayle, bestselling author of "The Man I Think I Know". These are people who matter, situations one can believe. Most readers will find themselves caring very much. A life-affirming read.‘ Vine Accomplished, sensitive and powerful novel...A truly beautiful story about the power of love and family, this is Mike Gayle's best book to date * Daily Express *
Trigger warnings: May contain spoilers. Select from here cancer, death, adoption to here to see list of trigger warnings. Kerry Hayes is a single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never hope to afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot ever forget her past. I defy you not to shed a tear at this beautiful story... a touching and life-affirming read. * Prima *
Anyway, here he was at twelve, and now his adoptive so-called parents were adopting another child, a baby boy from Kazakhstan. He figured he knew why they were adopting again: They weren’t satisfied with him. Whenever he thought that, he felt tears welling up. He didn’t know if he was upset for himself, because they weren’t satisfied with him, or for the baby, because if the baby was up for adoption, it meant the mother had abandoned him, and Jaden knew what that was like. I was born in Young, a small town in south western NSW in 1950. After a few years we moved to Glen Innes, on the northern tablelands and then when I was ten we moved out west to Dubbo. We moved because my father was a schoolteacher and each change meant a promotion for him. This is a beautiful, beautiful book. It’s about family, about class, about love, about choices and sacrifice. It’s about letting go and learning to hold on. It’s optimistic and heartbreaking and funny and emotional. It’s the kind of book that will stay with you, long after you finish it. Buy it, read it, love it – and hang on to those tissues, you’ll need them.’ Netgalley
When I started this book, it was clear from the beginning that I will not be rushing through it. I wanted to cling onto every single word and really take in the message Gayle put out into the world. It took me two weeks to digest this story and I really recommend taking your time when reading this book. I don’t think I’d survived nor appreciated this story half as much as did had I sped through it. This is a beautiful, beautiful book. It's about family, about class, about love, about choices and sacrifice. It's about letting go and learning to hold on. It's optimistic and heartbreaking and funny and emotional. It's the kind of book that will stay with you, long after you finish it. Buy it, read it, love it - and hang on to those tissues, you'll need them.' NetgalleyKerry Hayes knows exactly who she is: a single mum, a cleaner and Mariah Carey's biggest fan. Noah Martineau thinks he knows who he is: a successful barrister, with a wife, daughter and big house in Primrose Hill. Strangers with nothing in common. Strangers living worlds apart. But it wasn't always this way...and Noah and Kerry are about to discover just who they really are....." These are people who matter, situations one can believe. Most readers will find themselves caring very much. A life-affirming read.' Vine This is a wonderful book about family, unconditional love and hope. It is joyful, tearful, emotional, moving and heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measures. I made the mistake of listening to the book whilst shopping in Tesco’s and started sobbing in the pasta aisle!
What an involving, captivating, heart-rending story. Some books fade from the memory but I know I'm never going to forget these characters - they feel like my own family. -- Jill Mansell The differences between Noah and Kerry are stark. He is wealthy, has been privately educated, studied at University and dresses well. She left care at eighteen and went spectacularly off the rails and now cleans large houses owned by wealthy people to put food on the table for her and Kian. Rather than their differences pushing them further apart Mike Gayle uses them to bring Noah and Kerry together. It would have been easy to have Noah pity Kerry, to see her as a project or something he can fix, but in actual fact, he admires her tenacity and slowly, slowly, sees that they have similarities. I write picture books, novels for young kids and also novels for slightly older readers. I've done a book about writing and also a small amount of writing for television: Bananas in Pyjamas and Magic Mountain. On three occasions between kindergarten and sixth grade I had to temporarily attend out of state schools, and I did have friends who moved away too, so I was definitely able to empathize with Amy and Louie. I enjoyed this story and the escapism of it, it is a little repetitive and predictable in places but overall a nice cozy story. I listened to this one on audible and the narrators were excellent.I too” was exactly the kind of thing Steve said. “Perhaps” for “maybe,” “distressed” for “upset,” and so on. He was a word nerd. Now in her early 40’s Kerry is a single mum to a young son, living on a rough estate, she has her own small business cleaning the houses of the rich and entitled. Having been put into the care system at a young age and separated from her younger brother Jason when he was 18 months old, she has spent her life determined to provide for her own child and give him the stability and direction she never had. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Mike Gayle’s writing. I’ve been a huge fan ever since I read his first book in the late 1990s and have eagerly awaited every new release since. Half A World Away his latest book is a warm, beautiful and compelling read which I devoured in two sittings and it did not disappoint. Amy and Louis is told beautifully in two ways. There’s the rhythmical, repeating language which shows the reader the special friendship between the pair in a minimum of words. Then there’s the illustrations, which focus on red, blue and neutrals to create the magical world which the pair have created in their friendship. I particularly love how the illustrations show the difference between the suburban world in Australia and the frantic, busy world Amy moves to (which I assume is New York)
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