The Things We Wish Were True Kindle Edition

I liked the way the mystery unfolded. Sure, you knew there was going to be something w the missing girl, and pretty quickly figured out what it was, but the piles of secrets sort of floated just under the surface until they bubbled deliciously to the top. Fun.

I have to admit that for a while I found it difficult to become involved in this book because of the way the story was told. Every chapter is told by one of several different characters - NONE of whom you know at the beginning of the book. Having no idea who these people are or what they're background might be makes it extremely difficult to keep up with the story. (The reason for four stars instead of five.) From the beginning one has the feeling that the lives of many of these characters are intertwined, but you don't really understand how.In addition to this, some chapters are written in first person while some are written in third person. After a while you become better able to shift from one POV to the other, but it is very confusing in the beginning.HOWEVER, hang in there! This is an INCREDIBLE story (although the full truth of that will not become clear until the last part of the book). When you DO begin to understand how everyone's history / present is related, you will probably agree with me that it is definitely worth the read!As in the last story I read, there are a lot of secrets in this book. Seems like almost everyone has at least one. Then again, don't we all? However, by the end of this story almost everyone has grown tired of keeping their secrets: they want to bring things out in the open - at least to those whose lives are most closely related to the secret. That seldom happens in real life. Maybe SOME people share their secrets, but not everyone - especially not those who might stand to lose someone dear to them if the secret comes to light.The characters in this story come across as very believable. The friendships - new as well as old - could be similar to those in the lives of someone you know. The secrets could actually be kept by people in your own circle of acquaintances. In other words, you could actually see yourself (or someone you know) in these characters. And the negative elements of the story happen across this country every day.Normally when I write a review, I try to give an idea of the story. I don't like to give spoilers, but just a general idea of what to expect. Why? Because when I read a book, I want to know what it is about before I start. I don't want to be reading along only to discover the story is gory, violent, sexually explicit, filled with filthy language, etc. Nor do I want to read certain things: sex trafficking, corporate crime, Mafia or gang activity..... If the book is all about something that I really do not enjoy reading, then I want to know that up front so I won't waste my time by starting the book in the first place.Also, I want a general idea of what the story might be. I want to read what others thought about the story - not just what the description wants to tell me. If others REALLY don't like the book, I want to know why. If I agree with their reasons, I probably won't bother with it myself.To me, this is the purpose of a review: to give me enough information so I can decide whether or not the book might be interesting to me.HOWEVER, without retelling this story, I can't really figure out how to write my normal review. There are just too many characters whose lives will eventually be tied together. There are too many secrets that are not revealed (even to the readers) until the end of the book.For me to tell you how Jencey and Bryte and Everett are all connected and what secrets they had from each other wouldn't help at all. That wouldn't tell the story of Cailey or Zell or Debra or James or...... There are just too many to tie together, and it would be pointless for me to even try to do that because that is why you would read the book.On the other hand, I do not want you to get the impression this is too much of this and too much of that to be interesting. Or that it is too complicated to follow after the first few chapters. Nothing could be further from the truth.It is captivating to see just exactly how everyone and everything DOES come together. It is fun to see everyone pull together to do something nice for a neighbor as the story ends. It is good to see a neighborhood watch out for and care for one another.So you will just have to trust me when I say that you will not regret it if you read this one. In fact, you will be very glad you did. WELL worth the time!

This review also appears at http://words.blank-stare.comHave you ever read something that can only be described as being on the tracks when a slow-motion train wreck is about to happen? The constant feeling of "it's going to happen, I can't stop it, and it's going to be really bad" gripped me while I read The Things We Wish Were True, but in the best way. I was compelled to finish reading nearly as soon as I started, and I wasn't disappointed along the way.On its face, this is a story of a quiet southern town, Sycamore Glen, N.C., where families spend all year looking forward to afternoons spent together at the neighborhood pool. Everything has its place, and everyone knows what to expect. But this town is gilded, and its secrets bubble just below its surface. What is more enticing, however, is the intricate way in which each family's secrets are intertwined with the others.When Jencey finds herself and her two daughters on a reluctant extended vacation in her hometown, she wants to hide her family's truth as long as possible. She's in good company, though, with her "best friend" Bryte -- who is now married to Jencey's high school boyfriend -- and trying to keep her own secrets while she holds her husband's desire to have a second child at bay. Then there's Zell, who longs for a connection with someone, and finds herself the surrogate mother to her newly single next door neighbor's children - she is involved in more secrets than she's even aware. I would go on, but the truth is everyone in this sleepy town has secrets and struggle to keep them hidden. As Jencey reacquaints herself with the people of her former life, she finds that she really did not know her neighbors and friends like she thought she did. And while everyone has struggled to keep their secrets under wraps for years, the tide changes when the town's beloved pool becomes to the scene of a child's near-drowning. They're all pushed together in ways that finally make it nearly impossible to ignore one another or the pain they have unwittingly caused each other. Answers to the unresolved questions of their pasts tumble out of their closets one by one, making for a story that is suspenseful but not contrived.What stands out with this book is the author's ability to give care and attention to nearly every character. She accomplishes this by telling the story of Sycamore Glen through different POVs. There is a depth and sensitivity she shows to each character's story that remind you they are people - flawed and full of mistakes, but real. I actually found the most riveting character to be Cailey, a young girl who finds herself at a ground zero of sorts in how she is privvy to the inner workings of everyone in the neighborhood. I would argue that she is probably the most interesting character as well, given that she is the impetus for some of the most honest conversation and action in the book.I definitely recommend this novel. There is some subject matter this may be triggering for some readers, but I commend the author for not doing so cheaply. Everything that happens in this book is done with intention and fits into the larger narrative that turns a critical eye the lives we construct for ourselves and how we craft that image to the outside.

The neighbourhood pool in small-town Sycamore Glen, North Carolina brings the locals together, but only ever for the summer. It might sound perfect but behind their closed doors individuals and families are weighed down by their past, circumstances and long-held secrets with their own reasons for keeping withdrawn from their neighbours and becoming part of the community.When charitable and rather lonely Zell Boyette, a mother whose adult children have fled the nest, takes pity on Lance, the father next door whose wife has left him and his two children, Lilah and Alec, it sets in motion a daily routine of taking his children to the neighbourhood pool. There she meets Bryte, who grew up in Sycamore Glen and blossomed into a beautiful woman and mother of a three year old son and wife to Everett. With pressure to have a second child and the nagging doubt that she was second best to Everett’s childhood sweetheart, Bryte is constantly anxious and loathe to relax. When Everett’s first love, Jencey, arrives back in town after two decades away Bryte fears the worst, but Jencey has troubles of her own and memories of her hasty exit as a teenager to confront..With eleven-year-old Cailey left in charge of her six-year-old brother, Cutter, whilst their single mum works, they decide to venture to the pool with near tragic results. Single dad, Lance, saves Cutter from downing and the women all bear witness to the event as they come together to support Cailey and her family despite being near strangers and a family of outsiders in a small town.As Cutter’s life hangs in the balance and Cailey is taken in by maternal Zell, the underlying tensions, fears and secrets are wrinkled out with every character taken on a journey and lives changed forever. The lives of all involved are far more complex that at first glance and their stories are unpicked whilst the community cares for Cailey who demonstrates wisdom beyond her years.Cailey is the only narrative strand written in the first-person, with the others told in the third-person but there is an even-handedness and honesty as their flaws and past actions are laid bare. The novel is highly readable and despite every chapter alternating between the principal characters there is a real fluency to the story. The pace feels natural and keeps tempo with the daily unfolding of the characters lives as the neighbourhood pool acts as a convenient focus to bring them together.An involving and a heartfelt story that resisted the pull of melodrama. Whilst Marybeth Mayhew Whalen could have opted for a trite conclusion The Things We Wish Were True steers clear and instead proves thought-provoking and reflective. An author whose work I am keen to read more of and a book to make you feel good about the world.

This is no doubt well-written and assured modern fiction. I nearly liked it a lot.I guess what held me back is that it is set in a world that is completely alien to me. Small-town America, where apparently only single mothers work, where families gather around the local swimming pool apparently all day long for an entire summer, and everyone seems to know - and socialise with - everyone.I found it hard to believe that one character had left home at age 18 and never returned for over ten years. Even though she apparently was close to her family and seemed to have plenty of money. In this age of people flying anywhere all the time, I didn't buy that.It's very readable, but rather saccharine with a touch of Stepford wives. I liked many of the characters and I wanted to really like this book, but it just felt a bit contrived and too much fuss about nothing.Also, there's a side story about a missing child that doesn't fit well in the rest of the book and feels like an add-on.

An interesting story about the lives of different individuals in one neighbourhood and how the different threads of their lives weave together to form a new tapestry. The author manages to introduce each different character gradually leaving you wanting to find out more, yet still intrigued by the next set of events. Skilfully written with nice pacing, a great little read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In Sycamore Glen, a small-town neighbourhood in North Carolina, the residents spend their summers idling away the days by the community pool, socialising with friends and neighbours. But when an accident at the pool upsets the calm, some are drawn into unlikely friendships where lies begin to unravel long-kept secrets are revealed. This is a story about real problems, the importance of friendship and forgiveness.The Things We Wish Were True is intriguing and complex. We follow the lives of a number of the neighbourhood’s inhabitants (both adults and children) in alternating chapters. This style means that each character is fully developed; their stories quite detailed. They’re so likeable and real, even the ones who have done bad things. I really found myself hoping everything was going to work out, rooting for each character in their individual struggles. And struggles there are: there is so much going on, from old and new romances, stalking, cheating, illegitimate children, an almost-drowning and a missing girl.Marybeth’s writing style is wonderful. It’s descriptive without being over the top, well-observed and very easy to read. I really loved the intricacy and realness of the story. Every storyline was important, and they all linked together, no part any less important than others. The result was effective, the story very moving, and I really enjoyed it.

The Things We Wish Were True is about Sycamore Glen, a small town in America, and some of its residents. The story takes place during the summer of 2014 and a fair amount of it focuses around the community swimming-pool where many of the locals congregate with their children each afternoon.Each chapter is narrated by a different character’s from a third person point of view, except for 11 year-old Cailey, whose chapters are told in the first person. This could be as she is the linchpin of the book around whom the other characters and storylines loosely revolve.Each of the families involved is harbouring their own secrets, some darker than others, which slowly come to light over the long hot summer days and nights that follow.I felt that the parts involving the neighbour, James Doyle, could have been focussed upon more. I was very unsettled by this man and felt that the author could have expanded his storyline to elicit tension and fear in the reader.Over all, I enjoyed this book as it was well written and it kept my interest although the ending seemed a little hurried and everything tied together a little too neatly.Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.