This is the first book by Elizabeth Nobel I have read and I absolutely loved it!

Things I Want my Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble - I did make 2 attempts to read it. I hadn't read the back and I didn't realise it was going to be a sad one! I had to put it down the first time as it was round about the time my gran had just passed away with cancer, so too close to home. The opening chapter is a lovely poem which we later chose to read out at my Grans funeral. But don't worry there is also laughter in this book!!! Hope I haven't put you off.

The book is about letters and journals a mother leaves her four daughters after she has died of terminal cancer. I don't want to spoil it for those who have not read it but the story centres around four very different sisters - Lisa, Jennifer, Amanda and Hannah. You get to know the girls, how different they are and how they have been affected in different ways by it all. There is Lisa who is scared of commitment, Jennifer in a deeply unhappy marriage, Amanda the traveller who is never around and always runs away from her problems, then the youngest sister who is only 15, so is going through her teen tantrums and boy stage. In the middle of it all, is their step Dad Mark, (real dad to the youngest) whom they all turn to a different points during the story.

In the letters, the mother, Barbara says some of the things that she wishes she had been able to say to them before she dies, how much she loves and adores them, her worries for them and there is also a huge surprise for one of them in particularly that shakes her and the other sisters to the core. The book does not focus entirely around the letters; it also tells the story of the girls lives in the years following her death.

I was enthralled by all of the characters and their relationships. It was also nice that Mark stayed in their lives and proved a rock in all their lives.

There are so many subjects covered in this book - grief, guilt, love, forgiveness and more.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster but it's worth it. I cried lots of times but also laughed and in a strange way it made me feel good.
This book is perfect for curling up with in absolute privacy where you can let your emotions get the better of you!

I was sad when this book ended, I could have read on and on.