Where do I begin with this review? Well firstly, I listened to it on Audible and the narrators Kayi Ushe and Joanna Brookes were absolutely incredible and I could see them quite clearly in my mind and to me Kerry was a very young Kathy Burke and Noah a young Adrian Lester! Half a World Away is honest, raw and moving story about finding one’s self, about family and about unconditional love and sacrifice. It’ll go on the “read again” shelf for when I feel I need the warm hug of a family when I’m unable to be with my own. Kerry and Noah couldn't have had any more different upbringings if they tried, but yet there are a few similarities in their lives. What I particularly liked was how Gayle didn’t choose to make the narrative fluffy. There were so many opportunities for him to make it a story with a happy ending, but he chose to keep it real and I appreciate it so much. It took me a while to warm up to Kerry and Noah and the rest of the crew, but once I did it felt like they were part of my own family. Personally I think it’s a skill to be able to write a cast of characters that become so dear to the reader.

Single mum Kerry trys her best to support her young son Kian through various cleaning jobs, whist Noah is a successful barrister and happily married father.

Hobbies

The characters were drawn well, especially the differences between Noah and Kerry. Broadly, the story was pulled together well - especially in the second half of the book. Very realistic in places - might have been half the problem for me! Kerry Hayesis single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot forget her past. There's been many takes on the traditional tale of the different paths those of a certain upbringing are able to take, that it's testament to Mike Gayles strong writing that I was instantly invested in siblings Kerry and Noah reunion after being parted during a traumatic childhood.

Kerry Hayes is single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never hope to afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot ever forget her past. Heartbreaking and wonderful, a beautiful book about the power of love to surmount almost anything. (Julie Cohen) From the past, the most saddest thing ever is that when her mother couldn't look after Kerry and her brother, anymore, they went into separate care. This is the first contemporary fiction novel that I have read by Mike Gayle, and I absolutely loved it, despite the fact that I found myself emotionally wrung out from the experience. Kerry Hayes is in her early 40s, a single mom with young son, Kian, living on a tough and challenging London estate. She is a hardworking cleaner, determined to be a good role model for her son, and given where they live, she has her work cut out in steering Kian along a positive life path. Kian's father is the no hoper, Steve, not interested in his son, Kerry has no illusions where he is concerned, but it means that she and Kian are on their own in life. Her best friend, Jodi, from Milread Children's Home, is now living in the North East with her family, although the two of them remain close. The only other person that Kerry has loved unconditionally was her baby brother, Jason, who she cared for and looked after, before she was separated from him by a uncaring social services when they were taken away from their problematic mother, Mary.

Games

How have I not read a Mike Gayle book before? I want to give this book all of the starts in the universe. I cried my eyes out at the end. It is touching, heart-wrenching and thought-provoking.‘ Netgalley Two family members , living world's apart, like strangers really, with not much in common as one a cleaner and the other a barrister. Without a doubt Mike Gayle's best book, and I've read them all, and its such a powerful but heartbreaking story, Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Gayle has a profound talent for acute observations. He makes us care, pulls at our heartstrings then hits us with humour. And he doesn't disappoint with his latest offering * Sunday Post *