Deception: The Sunday Times Bestseller 2022

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An interesting story told across time and generations. The conflict between what is known to be true and what Alice comes to discover is the gripping aspect of the story. I really enjoy a novel that makes me wonder what I would do in the same circumstances- and this is one of those books. Part historical, part contemporary; the writing is wonderful. Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know! I loathed Sally at the start of Deception, but as she transmogrified into her different personas and Alice found out more about her, I felt I had come to know a real woman. Her life choices may have been forced upon her, unwisely chosen or even criminal, but what Lesley Pearse does so well is to show the reader why Sally behaved as she did so that there’s a reality to her actions and an understanding In the reader. I have read all of Lesley Pearse’s books over the years and as a rule thoroughly enjoy them. However this is not one of my favourites. Thank you to @michaeljbooks and Lesley Pearse for this advanced copy of Deception in return for an honest review.

Belle is the first novel in the Belle series. It is 1910 in London, and a young girl has grown up in a brothel all her life without ever knowing it. Now that she is 15 years old, she has suddenly discovered that all is not as it seems in the Seven Dials. Even though she grew up there, Belle’s life is forever changed and her innocence gone forever when she sees one of the girls that lives there brutally murdered. After the funeral of her mother, Sally, Alice is approached by a man call Angus Tweedy. He claims to be her father and tells her that he served time in prison for marrying Sally bigamously. What does he expect to get from telling her this now, thirty years on? How can her adored dad Ralph not be her true father? And why did her mother betray her so badly? The book maintains a very good balance, offering just the right amount of intensity without overwhelming the reader. As the story reaches its conclusion, it does so in a satisfying yet somewhat anticipated manner. Nonetheless, the journey to that point is fulfilling and rich in emotional resonance.

She is married now to her sweet husband. His name is Jimmy and he supports her as she supports them both on the hat shop she finally opened– her dream for so long, ever since she was young. But they can’t see what’s coming as the first world war gathers on the horizon and it is certain that a storm is coming. Belle’s life is so crazy but it’s about to change more than she ever knew possible– is she ready for it? She had accepted Sally's many faults, and her reluctance to never speak of the past. But faced with this staggering deception, Alice knows she must uncover the whole truth about her mother. Her first novel was published in 1993 and is called Georgia. It was followed by the novels Tara, Charity, Ellie, and several more. She has also been published in the Great Escapes Collection. Lesley Pearse was brought up in South London in various orphanages from the age of three. She learned about the Soho club scene and the music business during the Sixties with the late John Pritchard. Her novels have sold over ten million copies worldwide. Lesley has three daughters and three grandchildren and lives in Bristol. Lesley is international writing royalty, with her thirtieth novel about to fly into the world she has always been a firm favourite in our home.

She had accepted Sally's many faults, and her reluctance to ever speak of the past. But faced with this staggering deception, Alice knows she must uncover the whole truth about her mother. Sally was very much a closed book but with her new found surprising information Alice is very much determined to open it up. Alice starts to dig into her mother’s past and she throws up some surprising facts that she perhaps wished she had left buried but at the same time a clearer picture of her heritage starts to form for her and along the way she does find some romance. The majority of the book centres around Sally and her deception of which there were many. It begs the question what happens when the person closest to you has led a life of lies and secrets and deceived so many?A gritty, gripping drama . . . A raw, truthful and moving account, building intrigue as Alice gradually uncovers her mother's life of deception, lies - and love * Woman's Weekly * Deception is a book that I didn't want to put down. I raced through it, finding it so easy to read but also gritty and gripping. I liked the social aspects of down-at-heel London, to Bristol and Devon, over the course of 40 or so years. Sally had quite a life and it made for fascinating reading. All across the USA, people are showing up dead. The deaths don't appear to be connected in any way until one particular death occurs and gets the Secretary of Defense's attention. He arranges for a task force to investigate. In this exciting and historical city, Belle gradually begins to come into her own. Now of age, she gradually learns how to operate skill fully within her life as a courtesan and even adapts to enjoy it. However, she is always thinking of the home she left behind. Even though she is the golden girl for right now of the prostitution world in this bustling southern city, she knows that she only has so long to dominate this cage before it turns into a prison once more that holds her forever. She is the author of the Belle series, which has three books in it. Belle was published in 2011, The Promise in 2012, and Survivor rounded out the trilogy in 2014. It was well received by readers, enough so that a 2016 collection of the Belle series came out called The Complete Belle Collection.

After her mother's funeral, Alice Kent is approached by a man who insists he's her real father. Initially upset and disbelieving, Alice soon discovers that tugging at this loose thread unravels the expertly woven tapestry of lies which was her mother Sally's life. The majority of Sally’s, whose real name was Janet, decisions can be justified due to the events that we learn occurred in her childhood which in turn subsequently moulded how she was an adult but still Janet was a character who I never really liked and she wasn’t one bit endearing. She sets about changing her life but to be honest as I couldn’t warm to her at all I didn’t feel overwhelming hope for her that she would do well in life. I didn’t find myself overly rooting for a positive outcome for her because to be honest she just came across as someone mostly out for herself. She was deceitful, conniving, a schemer, treacherous and nasty and despite her childhood I questioned was there really any necessary reason for her to turn out in such a manner? Janet goes through an awful lot but I think thanks to her upbringing she knew no different in how to act and she should have known better. Janet is driven by a demon and manipulation, always wanting to be the top dog and used both men and women to get money and power. But will the road she trod upon turn out to have what she feels be a happy ending? Will Alice too be able to find some understanding from what she uncovers? Deception has a seemingly simple plot as Alice tries to find out about her mother’s past, but told through Alice’s modern 2015 perspective interspersed by her mother’s decades of life, there’s a gradual uncovering that draws in the reader and makes them experience the truth in the same way as Alice uncovers it in a very satisfying narrative.But, after one drunken rage too many, she has the courage to leave him. Eve is warned that it's a difficult path, yet she needs to give her children hope for the future. I personally love a dual timeline but so did not find that this flowed too week, it was quite disjointed. A true highlight for me was Sally, a very intriguing character, leading a very colourful life, I could have easily read a whole book on just her and what happened. As Alice journeys into the past she discovers her mother may never have been the woman she claimed to be . . . This is a heart-wrenching journey as dark secrets are exposed and we understand the decisions Sally was forced to make * Candis *

Belle is a simple courtesan, but she knows that the assets she has now will not last. She is going to have to find a way out of this world, whether finding something else to do or escaping completely. Belle has to get out and get away from the men who want her attention and this world entirely. But the road ahead will be full of dangers, even for someone as resourceful as she is. Lesley Pearse was told as a child that she had too much imagination for her own good. When she grew up she worked her way through a number of jobs, including nanny, bunny girl, dressmaker and full-time mother before, at the age of forty-nine, settling upon a career that would allow her gifts to blossom: she became a published writer. Lesley now lives just outside Bristol. She has three daughters and two grandchildren. Alice talks to Angus and discovers that her mother is not the woman that she thought she was and that her life was all a lie. Because of this she decides to find out the truth about her mother, visiting places of her mother’s past and her old friends to discover the truth. Her life is as interesting as the fiction that she writes, and perhaps even stranger. Lesley Pearse has had a very dramatic and eventful life. Her mother died when she was just three years old under circumstances that were tragic. Their father had been at work at sea and a neighbor spied Lesley and her brother outside without coats and that led to finding out that their mother had died.Faced with this staggering deception, Alice decides she must learn the whole, terrible truth about her mother. Lesley Pearse está a tornar-se uma das minhas autoras de conforto... Descobri que as suas personagens femininas fortes com uma vida repleta de drama fazem as minhas delicias de leitora. Written with Pearse's typically engaging and effortless style of storytelling, Deception is an intriguing book of highs, lows, struggles and perseverance' CULTUREFLY A raw, truthful and moving account, building intrigue as Alice gradually uncovers her mother's life of deception, lies - and love' WOMAN'S WEEKLY