Book Review: Becoming Beth by Meredith Appleyard

 Becoming Beth

by

Meredith Appleyard

 

She's remembered the truth about her own life... what happens now?

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

 

Publication date: 7th September 2022

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 418

 

RRP: $32.99AUD Paperback

 

Source: Beauty & Lace Book Club

 

My review of Becoming Beth

 

This review first appeared on the Beauty & Lace Book Club 

 

Becoming Beth is a story about finding yourself after major life upheavals and moving on.

 

Beth is in her 50's and back at her childhood home after an unexpected marriage breakdown. She has left her job and needs time to mourn not only her marriage but also decades of old hurt and the loss of her mother after a severe stroke.

 

I loved that Meredith has given her readers an older character having to start over in life. Beth is living with her elderly father however he is not frail and is quite able to care for himself and Meredith Appleyard touches on the stigma of mature children living at home with their parents unless they are a carer.

 

Becoming Beth is set during the pandemic with mentions of lockdowns, social distancing and disinfectant spray. These were all a part of our lives for so long and I liked that it was included in the novel rather than setting it during a previous year. I think I am now ready to read books with covid restrictions affecting families with parents dying, no visitors, no funeral. I couldn't have done that a year ago.

In Becoming Beth Meredith Appleyard highlights problems faced by small country towns with fundraising to maintain community halls. I loved how the townsfolk all worked together and helped each other. The whole book had a lovely community feel with people of all ages working together for the good of the community. 

 

Meredith Appleyard portrays the heat of an Australian summer with ease. I breezed through this book, it was such an immersive story with just the right amount of drama and a couple of mysteries running through it.

The only thing I would have liked a bit more of was the romance element.

 

My rating 4 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

About the author

 

Meredith Appleyard lives in the Clare Valley wine-growing region of South Australia, two hours north of Adelaide. As a registered nurse and midwife, she has worked in a wide range of country health practice settings, including the Royal Flying Doctor Service. She has done agency nursing in London and volunteer work in Vietnam. After her first manuscript was rejected, she joined a writers' group, attended workshops and successfully completed an Advanced Diploma of Arts in Professional Writing with the Adelaide College of the Arts. And she kept working. When she isn't writing, Meredith is reading, helping organise the annual Clare Writers' Festival, or at home with her husband and her border collie, Daisy