People Who Knew Me

Product Information

It’s pretty bizarre, but this book has a lot in common with another book published this year, What Was Mine. Both books are set in New York and California, both are about a mother with a teenage daughter, both are about a huge momma secret that has huge consequences, both have the heroine making questionable choices, both have an abrupt ending that can be annoying. I liked both books, though What Was Mine really pissed me off and this one did not. I’m thinking that my reaction to these two books is sort of sexist. In What Was Mine, the birth mother missed 21 years of her daughter’s life. In People Who Knew Me, the father missed 14 years of his daughter’s life. I felt so much sorrier for the mom than the dad. What’s THAT about?! I must think that it’s more important for a daughter to know her mother than her father. That's terrible! Yep, sexist as all get out! Hooper says in her dedication, "This book is for all those people -- cowardly and courageous -- who dare to imagine leaving it all behind." Emily Morris married her college sweetheart but the demands of adulthood soon became such an albatross on their marriage that Emily soon sought comfort in the arms of another. Emily found herself pregnant and caught up between two men when Sept. 11 happened. Emily used the event as a catalyst for a rebirth. She ran from New York City and reinvented herself in California as Connie Prynne.

Dylan Haskins (Commissioning Editor (Podcasts) for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds) says: “Sharon Horgan has been the creative genius behind some of the best TV dramas of recent years – Bad Sisters, Catastrophe, Motherland – and now she, along with the Merman/Mermade team and Daniella, are turning their hands to audio drama for the first time. People Who Knew Me is an emotionally compelling drama with a sensational cast led by Rosamund Pike. It’s fitting that this podcast will be released by the BBC, which has been pioneering in audio drama for just shy of a century.”This terrific book will be released in May, 2016. I was fortunate to win an advance copy in a Goodreads giveaway.

There was none of the usual traffic leading to the Holland Tunnel. We drove right in. I closed my eyes, like I used to as a kid, making wishes in the darkness. As I said good-bye to New York, my only wish was for everyone I left behind to forget me. Episode 1 of People Who Knew Me will be available on first BBC Sounds on 23 May, with episode 2 dropping on the 25 May. New episodes will drop twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the entire series will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from Monday 26 June. This book had my attention the whole way, but I still found the ending less than satisfying. It was still an interesting story. I had my purse under one arm, an overnight bag under the other. To Angel Rivera, I must have looked like a woman committed to her career, flying off to a business meeting in Philadelphia or D.C. or Boston or some other place requiring just an overnight bag. Maybe he resented the tight bun on top of my head, the height of my heels, the obvious expense of my blouse and perfectly fitting skirt—the same blouse and skirt I’d worn the day before those buildings fell. He didn’t want to be there, driving around someone like me. He wanted to be home with the family I pictured him to have—a few kids and a wife who cleaned apartments or waited tables or worked as a nanny for women like me, overnight-bag-carrying women who left their loved ones for big-city meetings. He wanted to hold that family close because we’d all learned a week before that anything could happen. My favourite character was the largely mature thirteen year old Claire. I did think the ending was abrupt and wondered if that was a sign of another book to come with these characters. A thought provoking read about choices and consequences as well things in life we sometimes have no control over.I have goodread friends who enjoyed this book but I'll be the outlier. I don't mind an unlikable character if I find the story itself well-written and compelling. But in this case the protagonist was so selfish I couldn't get past it, maybe because my husband and I are/have been caretakers of elderly parents. What she ultimately decided to do to her husband was unforgivable. Emily recreates herself and has the baby in California. Life is going well until she gets cancer. Now, this is when the novel is in full bloom as it makes the reader realize all the stupid things well-intentioned people say to cancer sufferers. This is when the novel illuminates “what NOT to say or do to a cancer person.” Hooper writes the feelings of Emily (now Connie) so beautifully that one cannot feel the strains and pain of living with cancer and being the sole supporter of a teenage girl. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.

Daniella Isaacs (Writer, Director and actor) says: “I was excited by the challenge of bringing new listeners, people that might usually reach for a tv show or a non-fiction podcast, to an audio drama. I wanted to adapt the book into something that played into the inherent confessional quality of the audio medium. There’s something thrilling about being privy to a character’s innermost secrets, their confessions and their selfish desires. I loved making this with such a brilliant team - all of us set on reimagining the traditional radio play… And I hope your ears enjoy it too.”This would be a great book for book clubs as there’s lots of fodder for discussion. Connie’s actions (as well as those of Drew) for a start. And Connie’s decision to run. I didn’t agree with a lot of her actions but couldn’t imagine what it would be like in those circumstances. People Who Knew Me tells the story of a woman, Emily Morris, voiced by Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe & Emmy winner Rosamund Pike, who uses 9/11 to fake her own death and run away to start a new life in California as Connie Prynne. She must decide how to explain her lies, her secrets, her selfish decisions - and ultimately, her ‘widowed’ husband. Everything she thought she had fled from when she pretended to die in New York. Young marriage... how much can even a 'in love' couple handle? work, (major loss), school, finances, ( major loss), planning a family?, sex, old friends, annoying habits, communication, stress, depression, chronic illness, chronic 'any' long term issue, cheating, lies.