How It Ends

By: Saskia Sarginson

Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon

For fans of Maggie O'Farrell and Helen Dunmore, How It Ends is a sweeping and turbulent drama about the anxieties of postwar Britain, where one strong and inspirational young woman looks to find her place, no matter the cost....

1957: within a year of arriving at an American airbase in Suffolk, the loving, law-abiding Delaney family is destroyed. Did they know something they weren't allowed to know? Did they find something they weren't supposed to find? Hedy is the only one left standing, a rebellious girl cast adrift in a world of postwar anxiety - a girl who has the courage to question what really went on behind military closed doors.

Hedy's journey to the truth leads her to read a manuscript that her talented twin brother had started months before he died, a story inspired by an experience in the forest surrounding the airbase perimeter. Only through deciding to finish what her brother started does Hedy begin to piece together what happened to her family.

But would she have continued if she'd known then what she knows now?

Sometimes, it's safer not to finish what you've started....

©2019 Saskia Sarginson (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Gripping, emotional, utterly engrossing." (Lisa Ballantyne)

Praise for Saskia Sarginson: "Outstandingly good. Part thriller, part love story, I guarantee you will not be able to put it down." (The Sun on The Twins)

"Atmospheric, readable, beautifully evoked." (Sunday Mirror on Without You)

Lesbian Romance Novel

This is the story of how a tight knit military family unravels and falls apart after being stationed on an Air Force base in England. It is an historical fiction based loosely on events that were actually taking place in the 1950's (although not in England). I won't give away that part of the plot. The mystery of what is going on and why is an excellent piece of writing. Had the author just stuck to that, I would have rated this book four stars. But...she wrote it in 2018, and as such, I guess she felt like she needed to cater to the LGBT community in order to sell books and land her book in a variety of genres. While 12-year-old Christopher being gay sort of adds to the story line and his lynching, Hedy being a lesbian (also 12 or 13) added nothing. It was a distraction. As was her infatuation with her teacher (who luckily happened to be a lesbian too). While it's perfectly fine to implement LGBT characters in a book, I like to know ahead of time so I can make the decision to read the book or not. I thought I was going to read a book with mystery, a little sci-fi, and some historical fiction. I didn't sign up for a lesbian romance novel. Full disclosure...that's all I would like. For those who are into that sort of thing, you will love this book. It is an excellent mystery and reflects many of the attitudes and customs of that generation.

The narrator sounded like a 12-year-old girl the entire story...even when Hedy was a senior citizen.