Close To Me: Now a major TV series

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Jo Harding wakes up on the way to the hospital in an ambulance. Everyone around her is telling her she fell down the stairs. The last thing Jo can remember is taking her son, Fin, to university with her husband, Rob. The problem is that was a year ago. Close to me is told in two parts, real-time and snippets of the past year, though it has a slow build this is not a bad thing as you get to understand Jo's life and how she is the person she is. One of the things I liked about Close To Me was the family dynamics and the rather realistic dramatic reactions to things that were happening. It came across like a reality show at times, with “looks” between different family members, non communicative children and lots of emotional responses once hidden secrets had been revealed. With Jo being of the age she was, she had to deal with “empty nest syndrome” as well which cruelly often coincides with the menopause which can make women more emotional and sensitive as well as having a dramatic effect on their sex life. Jo thinks she may have had an affair but if so who with? And is that the reason that she feels her fall wasn’t an accident? Due to the way the story was set out, sometimes we could see what had lead to events before Jo did but the twists and turns towards the end weren’t the ones that I had been expecting! I trusted nobody in this book and that’s just the way I like it! And then there's the mystery of her mobile phone. Jo is sure that she didn't break it during her fall. But she has no reason to believe that anything her husband is telling her isn't the truth.

Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds | Goodreads

Close to Me is a British television psychological drama based on the book of the same name by Amanda Reynolds. It stars Connie Nielsen as a Danish translator who loses a year of her memory following a fall. Christopher Eccleston, Susan Lynch, Leanne Best, Rosy McEwen, Tom Taylor, and Ellie Haddington also star. The six-part series commenced on Channel 4 in November 2021, with all episodes made available for streaming concurrently. [1] Synopsis [ edit ] Oh, and what are we to make of the fact that Jo seems to be menopausal? As Chekhov said: don’t leave an oestrogen deficiency providing a host of symptoms including dizziness, brain fog and paranoia on the mantelpiece in the first act if you’re not going to exploit them in the third. I liked the family drama portions much more than the mystery element (did she fall or was she pushed) especially the relationship Rob and Jo have with their two children, growing pains for everyone as they leave home and make questionable choices.The plot is fast-paced, the drama superb, and the twists and turns in this novel are all excellent and are sure to keep you on your toes. While the characters are not exactly likeable, they are compelling, and as different scenarios ran through my head I wasn't sure which way the story was going to go - and I love the fact that I was kept guessing! Really enjoyed Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds, wasn't sure what to expect this being a debut author but I certainly wasn't disappointed. I quite liked Close To Me, read it fast, but I have to say these are all becoming a little bit samey. And why on earth can't she remember volunteering at a drop in centre with a lovely lady called Rose, whose messages she has found, and who seems extremely concerned about Jo.

Close To Me ending explained - Digital Spy Close To Me ending explained - Digital Spy

This engrossing story of lies,families,secrets and betrayals is voiced entirely by Jo in the third person pov.It unfolds in chapters that alternate between before and after the fall,the chapters are clearly headed and the story flows along nicely.The characters are well developed and realistic but mostly unlikable apart from Jo`s son Fin and Rose who works in the drop out centre where Jo volunteers.It must be absolutely terrifying to lose a whole chunk of your life and the authors portrayal of Jo`s fear,frustration and confusion was believable and realistic but I found it hard to feel any sympathy for her because of some of her thoughts and actions as the story unfolded. So this was a great psychological read, it kept my interest and pulled me in, the writing was superb, and the storyline very easy to follow. I myself have grown up children there is no way on this planet I would be paying for their accommodation. Now everyone knows I LOVE a dysfunctional family (rumours that this is because it shows my own family in a slightly better light are of course unfounded!!) so I was totally tempted by the blurb of Close To Me which seemed right up my street, with family secrets lying at the heart of this memory loss suspense.Instantly hooked, CLOSE TO ME by Amanda Reynolds threw me into the story and I didn't resurface until I had reached the end - and boy, what an ending! In this domestic thriller debut, a woman with post-traumatic amnesia struggles to regain her memories only to realize that perhaps ignorance was bliss. While the story line is good/intriguing, I was confused by the timeline that switched between Before the fall (with different increments of the months) and After the fall. I felt like I was reading different versions of the same events over and over. I also felt the story was being told by Jo, but I wasn't experiencing it. I was never pulled in or interested in finding out the truth. Rob denied pushing her, and then begged her not to leave him. He confessed that they had argued (and said some pretty awful things to each other) and that she had stumbled near the top of the stairs as she went to leave him but he had caught her, before she slipped out of his grasp. Jo realised he was lying to her – and that on that fateful night he had let go of her hand on purpose. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds | Waterstones

The following morning, Jo realises that she has somehow forgotten all that has happened in the past year. Her Son hasn't just left for University, he has in fact left University early. Her Daughter has a boyfriend that the family don't really approve of, but she can't work out why. Ma. Reynolds has something to say and I look forward to her future works. In CLOSE TO ME she blows the door wide open on familial issues: indifference in relationships, the solitary life couples lead once they are empty nesters, realizing the family glue is the children and no effort has been taken to preserve the first love. Strong, thought provoking messages, unraveled in a tragic setting, but is is an important read.

The story moves easily from past to present and it really worked as the reader gets to learn the events of the past year before Jo actually remembers it and this really adds to the momentum and tense atmosphere of the book overall. There were a few times where I felt that the story dragged out just a little bit, but overall it was a well-paced and riveting read. If you like psychological thrillers with plenty of creepy undertones, then you should definitely read CLOSE TO ME by Amanda Reynolds. Jo Harding wakes up in a hospital with partial amnesia,she has lost a whole year of her life.She is informed that she fell down the stairs but she has no memory of what happened on that night. As you can see, straight away from the very first sentence, there is a chasm siting between these two people. Some unknown trouble that lurks there. And, you will see, what follows, as you delve into this book, grows and grows into something so much more than a simple grim miasma.

Close to Me - Is the Channel 4 drama based on a book?

What would you do if you woke up after a fall and can't remember the last year of your life, find yourself apprehensive about a husband you think you love and everyone is tip toeing around you? Close To Me tells the story of Jo Harding after she falls down stairs hitting her head and losing her memory of the past year. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. I have no frame of reference for what just happened and no idea what to do next. He’s my husband of twenty-four years; I thought I knew everything about him.” Danish language interpreter Jo Harding ( Connie Nielsen) suffers head trauma after a fall in her home, causing her to lose her memory of the past year. Harding works to piece her memories together along with her husband Rob ( Christopher Eccleston) to understand what happened to her, and in doing so learns that her life was not as perfect as she thought it was. [2] Cast [ edit ]The story-line is told from Jo’s POV from before and after the fall as she tries to regain her memories from the last year. As the 2 timelines converge, the facts surrounding what occurred before vs after the fall became very confusing. I had a great difficulty connecting with Jo. She wasn't a likable character at all. Truth is, I had a hard time finding any likable character in the book. I found the dialogue frustrating at times. Everyone talking but with no urgency to fill in the gaps of her memory! With this same behavior repeated over and over with very little progress, the book seemed to slow to a crawl.