The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell

I bought The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell for £5 from Sainsbury’s recently. It was originally published in 2009, then re-released at the end of 2024. For me, Lisa Jewell is an absolute must-read author, so I was very pleased to pick up Melody Browne, as I hadn’t bought her 2024 novel because it was a Marvel tie-in and I absolutely don’t do Marvel!

When Melody Browne was nine, her house burnt down. Her earliest memory is sitting on the pavement outside her parents’ house. At 15, she got pregnant. Her parents refused to support her, so she left home and never contacted them again. From then on, Melody’s life was just her, her son, her job as a dinner lady and her best friend and her little family.

As her son’s 18th birthday approaches, Melody goes on a rare date. They go to see a hypnotist and Melody starts picturing strange things, which seem to be from an earlier life. The memories aren’t of her mum and dad or the Canterbury house she grew up in. There are different houses, different adults and different children – none of which she has any recollection of. Can Melody piece together these memories and find out the truth about her past?

I absolutely loved The Truth About Melody Browne, which I binged in three days. It is a lovely story, easy to read and a real page turner, but also an emotional read, which made me cry more than once. Lisa Jewell has a great skill for writing believable, likeable characters and locations that feel real. And The Truth About Melody Browne is no exception to that.

If you enjoy books about families, which are emotional, but not too dark, you will love The Truth About Melody Browne. Having loved so many of Lisa Jewell’s previous books, like None of This is True and The Night She Disappeared, I’m looking forward to her 2025 publication  in the summer.