Drift Stumble Fall by M. Jonathan Lee

Drift Stumble Fall by M. Jonathan Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - on and off over 2 days

Pages - 310

Publisher - Hideaway Fall

Source - Review copy

Blurb from back cover

Richard Brown has had enough of his life of commitment, resentment, routine and responsibility. Staring out of his window, he enviously observes the tranquil life of Bill, the neighbour living in the bungalow across the road. From his lounge, Bill keenly watches as Richard's young family grows. Yet underneath the apparent domestic bliss both lives are lies, secrets, imperfections, sadness and suffering far greater than either could have imagined. As the two men watch each other from afar, it soon becomes apparent that other people's lives are never what they seem.

My Review

Richard is a married father of two young children, he feels trapped, anxious and needs to get out for self preservation. The mundane life, the screaming children, the coldness of his wife, the irritation of his in laws, Richard cannot take anymore. When he looks out the window and sees his elder neighbour, calm, quiet, perfect he can't help but wish he could swap, even if it meant losing many years of his existence. Richard has to get out, he needs to escape, for himself and for his families happiness, the more he watches his neighbour the more he needs to cement his plan to be free.

Lee is an author who is a campaigner for mental health, from the books of his I have read this is very clear in the stories and his writing. Whilst Richard is the main focus of the story, we see signs of other glimpses of mental health in the other characters. His wife I felt had a huge struggle going on, in the glimpses we get of her and her interactions I think she is also suffering deeply and I think this is very clever writing by the author. We often get so self involved and wrapped up in our own lives, struggles, personal issues, Richard is so wrapped in his own journey and issues his wife is just background noise.

I think mental health is something we need more focus on and doing it in the form of fiction is a fantastic idea. We get to see inside a seemingly happy family life, we see that through Bill's eyes, the neighbour across the way that Richard covet's "happy" home. We see how Richard struggles daily and the lengths he will go to to avoid time with his family. I really wasn't a fan of Richard for a lot of the book, his plan on what he was going to do was despicable. However when you get into the story and understand his suffering, his journey it gives you a different insight.

An important show of how the grass isn't always greener on the other side, something many of us are guilty of yearning for. How mental health can affect us differently and completely control our lives, outlooks, actions. It provokes thought and challenges judgements the reader can't help but make when initially meeting Richard and by the end giving a completely different view point. 3.5 out of 5 for me this time, I have a fair few books by this author on my tbrm I need to bump them up the list.

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Q&A with author M Jonathan Lee

Happy publication day for Broken Branches by M. Jonathan Lee. You can read my review here.

In order to celebrate I invited Jonathan for a chat and I am also offering up my pre loved copy up for competition.





Thanks for taking time to stop by and chat with us. Congratulations on the release of your new book Broken Branches.

Tell us a bit about the book.

Broken Branches is a story about families, about grief and loss. It’s really a study of the effects that loss can bring on a family and how it affects so many generations. It’s also based on the true story of my great-great-great-great grandfather who allegedly set a curse running through my family by his mistreatment of a dog!


What do you hope readers take from the book?

I hope that readers will firstly enjoy the journey that Ian takes to ultimately find the beginnings of light from perpetual darkness. I also hope that readers will follow the story only to find that things aren’t exactly as they appear.


There are some heavy themes to Broken Branches, mental health being one, what made you choose this for the book?

Mental health is a major theme in my life, I lost my brother to suicide and I do feel that drawing people’s attention to the struggles that others suffer can only be helpful in removing the stigma attached. As a by-product of my brother’s suicide, I was also affected with depression and some of the characters in Broken Branches also suffer difficulties due to events out of their control.


Has any of the book been drawn from personal experiences or situations/people in your life?

Yes. As I mentioned earlier, I discovered the alleged curse in my own family when looking at the geneology of my family. Is it a curse though?


Is any of your other books like this, in regards to themes?

It depends what the question means. All of my books have twists in them. Tricking (or at least encouraging) the reader to think one thing and then uncovering the reality beneath. So, yes, I love Roald Dahl, I love his Tales of the Unexpected. My third novel (A Tiny Feeling of Fear), deals candidly with mental health, but is a story of hope. It has the most unexpected twist of all time in my opinion. I loved writing that.


Are you writing anything currently?

I’ve finished “How Was I Supposed to Know How It Would Be?” my fifth novel. A story which looks at the dangers of the old adage of “the grass is always greener”. I’m about half way through my sixth novel, currently called “The Devil, Idle Hands and a little thing called choice.” Guess what? They all have twists…


What is next for M Jonathan Lee?

We’ve just released a documentary short called “Hidden” which is based on A Tiny Feeling of Fear. You’ll find it on youtube if you search for M Jonathan Lee Hidden. I’m currently heavily involved in setting up a local mental health facility to help people in my locality. That aside, I’m lucky to be writing as much as I am just now.


What does the M stand for in your name? (sorry I am so nosey)

Ha! When I first got a publishing deal we were threatened by the publishers of another author called Jonathan Lee. They advised that we should use a different name to differentiate. I came up with M Jonathan Lee. The M standing for ‘meaningless’… true story.


Where can fans find you?

Okay, so we have www.jonathanleeauthor.com. There is a /mjonathanlee facebok page @mjonathanlee on twitter and I think my publishers say a bit about me on their site. I also write for the Huffington Post regularly.


Anything else you wish I had asked or you would like to highlight or talk about?

Not at all. Thanks so much for having me. Feel free to tell the world about Broken Branches whenever you have the chance…(!)


As always, to enter the competition please use the Rafflecopter below, the more entries you complete the more chances you have.

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Broken Branches by M Jonathan Lee

Broken Branches by M. Jonathan Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - on and off over 3 days

Pages - 294

Publisher - Hideaway Fall

Blurb from Goodreads

'Family curses don't exist. Sure, some families seem to suffer more pain than others, but a curse? An actual curse? I don't think so.'

A family tragedy was the catalyst for Ian Perkins to return to the isolated cottage with his wife and young son. But now they are back, it seems yet more grief might befall the family.

There is still time to act, but that means Ian must face the uncomfortable truth about his past. And in doing so, he must uncover the truth behind the supposed family curse.



My Review

Ian Perkins family has a curse, it has plagued the family for many years and yet the family are reluctant to talk about it. With pressures from work hanging over his head, his relationship falling apart and strange happenings at home Ian is going to get to find out the truth about the curse once and for all.

This is for sure a different read, the authors voice is unique in that I can say I haven't read a book like this before. Shrouded in secrecy, hints throughout that something is not quite right, domestic unrest and even some paranormal echos Broken Branches keeps the reader engaged page after page. I think if the chapters had been dated or named it would have made for more enjoyment, we flip from Ian's present life to years back with his family life as a child. We learn more of the house's history and snippets of the curse. Ian becomes obsessed with uncovering and proving the curse exists, having to face some harsh truths about his life and family.

The book covers a fair few themes, suicide, family dynamics, relationship breakdowns, loss, love and marriage to name just a few. At times the pace is slow going but the claustrophobic tense atmosphere remains almost throughout making for a gripping read. You know something isn't right, you just don't know what. Is it the curse, is someone messing with Ian, just what has happened to his relationship and will the curse actually be revealed?

I think the themes have been written well and some so subtly it isn't until you finish the book entirely you appreciate what certain parts where about. The past and present flip comes together too but for a wee while you are, well I was, a bit lost to what was happening. It is well written and all becomes clear, an emotive and atmospheric read. As always, I love having short chapters, especially when you are reading in between shifts and busy days, Broken Branches offers this making it easy to dip in and out.

I wasn't sure whether to 3.5 or 4 star this one, I have gone with 4 stars as the last quarter pulls it all together and despite having an inkling to where the story was headed I still got the wind knocked out of me a little. This is my first dance with this author and I will certainly read more of his work. Thanks so much to Hideaway fall and Book Connectors for putting this author on my radar, 4/5 for me this time. Broken Branches will be out to buy from 27/7/2017 so you only have to wait 5 days before you can read it too.

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