The Best Days of Our Lives: the big-hearted and uplifting new novel from the bestselling author of Anything Could Happen

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Tony, their dad, who is divorced and remarried, is dealing with the feelings of becoming a father again. Despite the heavy subject matter which is sure to stir up your emotions, Lucy Diamond's lively and frequently humorous writing ensures you'll laugh as often as you cry * Sunday Express * The different imprints that the central incident has on all the main protagonists is thoroughly explored and differs widely but comes across as very real, giving the readers something that they can relate to, as I doubt they're will be a Lucy Diamond reader who won't have found themselves in this situation regardless of the part they played. The turmoil amid the changing of relationships was astutely unravelled and the somewhat predictable conclusion that you may expect from a 'family re-united' narrative actually ends up as something a lot more thought through, uplifting & satisfying. Somehow, this is the first of Lucy Diamond’s books I’ve read. I know of her and I’ve seen her books and often been interest in them, but for reasons unknown to me, I have never actually read one. But I was very eager to read this one. Set over the course of one life-changing year, The Best Days of Our Lives is a warm, big-hearted and poignant story, full of hope, heartache and love.

Another absolutely gorgeous book by the best selling author Lucy Diamond. Oh how I loved this precious book. I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Quercus and I am leaving this review voluntarily. She has the uncanny ability to look right into a person’s heart and convey the most hidden secrets and feelings they harbour, in ways that feel innovative and natural. The Best Days of Our Lives takes all those features and delivers an outstanding read that is simply fabulous.

Favourite things: beaches, holidays, chocolate, wine, reading, Green Wing, bubble baths, sunshine, hearing my children laugh, babysitters

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review. Tender, bittersweet and funny, Lucy Diamond is brilliant about love in all its guises’ Veronica Henry

Now with her 18th, The Best Days Of Our Lives, just out, and the last of her “babies” preparing to fly the nest for university in Edinburgh, Diamond recalls those good-old-bad-old days: “I decided to give the novel a go, but there was no safety net at all. We didn’t have a lot of money. That was in 2002. I gave myself six months.” I guarantee that anyone reading The Best Days of Our Lives will find it hugely relatable and take solace, pleasure and joy from it. Reading this one might just inspire you to try something new in your own life. Belinda is dealing with her grief in a different way and her partner Ray is extremely worried about her. Hours spent talking to Leni through a psychic hotline may be bringing Belinda comfort but deep down surely she must know that this is not real at all? She may be finding short term comfort but long-term acceptance seems very far away. As her ex-husband Tony seems to have had a revelation/wake up call when it comes to his own life situation Belinda starts to realise things from the past which she desperately wanted kept hidden could be about to break through the surface. Can a lid be kept on something she and someone else have been sitting on for years? Or will a new can of worms be opened up?

Given the subject matter of The Best Days of Our Lives, the new book by Lucy Diamond, you’d be forgiven for thinking this story would be all doom and gloom and extremely difficult to read. Especially as we all know dealing with the aftermath of losing a loved one can be a challenge and have such a long and devastating impact. But thankfully this story wasn’t all misery, anguish and sadness as it could have easily descended into this vein. Instead, the author provides the reader with a snapshot into the year of a family following the loss of their sister Leni and in doing so provides moments of hope and courage to all who read the book. I appreciated the honesty throughout and although the characters are each fractured and torn apart by their loss they have to learn to come to terms with the fate that has befallen them. Through many experiences and an extensive journey they learn lots about themselves and several secrets are also revealed too. A bittersweet ode to the highs, the lows, and all the shades of living in between, The Best Days of Our Lives is Lucy Diamond at her absolute best. Prepare to be charmed! * Laura Jane Williams * There are touches of mystery and romance woven into the story too so that it really is a mesmerising read. It keeps the reader guessing every bit as much as Alice as she tries to piece together Leni’s last few weeks. What follows are chapters from each family’s members viewpoint, her sister Alice, her brother Will, her mother Belinda and her father Tony. As there were so many characters to get to know I thought things might become quite confusing but it was easy to follow each of their individual storylines and I enjoyed seeing how at some point they were bound to come together. The absence of Leni is felt keenly by her family and by the reader too. You are desperate to get to know her and to read things from her perspective but you know this can’t occur but the further the story develops you do get a sense of who she was and how integral she was to the family and how loved she was.One thing I really liked was how everyone’s stories were interconnected. It’s unsurprising that the parent’s and children’s stories link as they’ve all lost the same person, but there are some secondary characters that pop up here and there that help tie it all together. It helps create this sense of community and the importance of friendship and love. Books about grief seem to have their moment right now and it's ok, though I think I'd rather read about cupcakes and bookshop in Cornwall. Whatever. This one was written by Lucy Diamond, so I had to give it a go. Last few books by this author didn't gel with me so much, but "The Best Days of Our Lives" turned out to be a poignant yet funny, touching story about a family dealing with the worst - with grief. This was a beautiful story that contained so much heart and lightness amongst its tragedy, such is the skill and warmth of Diamond’s writing. Its characters were written with depth and real humanity and as such their grief was raw and palpable and yet this is a novel that still manages to leave you uplifted by the end. The Nottingham-born writer took her first draft to the agent she’d worked with on her children’s books. “He told me not to give up the day job,” she reveals. “I tried another who was intimidatingly posh. She asked me, ‘darling how can I market you, are you poor?’ So, I went with someone else who signed me up with a publisher. It was a happy ending.”