Book Review: Whose Side Are You On? by Kerry Fisher

Rating: 4 Stars

Published: August 1, 2025

Pages: 335

Genre: Fiction

Buy: Amazon.com

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I am a huge fan of the author and pre-ordered this book months ago awaiting its release, so it is no wonder that I dropped everything else and jumped on it when the mood was right. I have read all her books, and I have reviewed most of them over the years so you can check them out by searching for Kerry Fisher on this website and you will find my other reviews.

“Whose side are you on?” is another thought-provoking story that follows best friends, Philippa and Jackie and their closely-knit families. Philippa decides after over 30 years of marriage to divorce her husband Andrew and start a new life. Andrew moves to their London flat, and Jackie asks their daughter Scarlet to check on Andrew every now and then to make sure he’s okay. In the course of their interactions, an affair ensues between Andrew and Scarlet, putting Jackie and even her husband Ian in a difficult position of choosing whose side to be on. Will they support their daughter’s actions or will they stan by their long-trusted friend Philippa? This is a story about the friendship, trust, betrayal, loyalty, integrity, and second chances.

Kerry Fisher as always didn’t disappoint. I was invested in this story for several reasons but most importantly it made me wonder (not for long though) what I would have done if I was in Jackie’s shoes. While I understood why Jackie took the side she chose, I still believe that truth, honesty, and integrity must be foremost when you find yourself in a situation like this. Ian her husband, I admired and loved. His courage to stand up to whatever was before them was admirable although one may argue that he was not the one in a lifelong intimate friendship with Philippa and their relationship dynamics were different compared to what Philippa and Jackie had therefore it may have been easier for him to take the steps he did. Scalet on the other hand was my least favorite character for many reasons and on that basis, I was mostly annoyed that Jackie kept on trying to please her at every turn. As a mother, and an African one at that, it does my head in when I see (both in real life and fiction) mothers worship their children causing them to be unable to correct or be honest with them when they do something wrong.

Another thing that annoyed me was the way Andrew’s character was portrayed in this story. I agree that he was a good man blah blah blah but he made a decision to enter into a full-blown affair with a girl, a child he watched grow from infancy (and his daughter’s best friend) and stood as a father figure to her for years and yes she is now 30 years old and an adult woman at that but throwing all caution to the wind that affects his entire family and best friends of over 30 years tells me a lot more about his character. Two things can be true at the same time, while Andrew was a “good and dependable man”, he was also a reckless and selfish person as well and I don’t think that was really explored in the story thus one of the reasons for my 4 stars rating.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I would highly recommend it to all fiction lovers, and it would also be a good choice for book club reads as it will spur so many conversations. Go get yourself a copy.

Also available in eBook and audiobook format on Audible.

Thanks for stopping by.

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The Author:

Kerry Fisher is an internationally bestselling author of women’s contemporary fiction, including The Woman I Was Before, The Silent Wife (USA Today bestseller) and Other People’s Marriages, as well as a non-fiction memoir, Take My Hand. She was born in Peterborough, studied French and Italian at the University of Bath and spent many years living in Spain, Italy and France. After returning to England to work as a journalist, she eventually abandoned real life stories for the secrets of fictional families. She now lives in Surrey with her husband, with an intermittent empty nest as her two young adult children come and go.

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