Time Will Tell by Fiona McCallum

Time Will Tell Reviews

• 
  Sharon

  Finally things are really starting to look up for Emily Oliphant. After leaving her husband she is now settled into a lovely old home in Wattle Creek which she rents from two brothers. After some consideration the elderly owners have offered to sell it to Emily. Emily couldn't be happier as this is what she has wanted, but now she is worried about how she is going to come up with the money. And with the house being so old there are quite a lot of repairs which will add to the cost.
  
  Emily has always had a strained relationship with her mother, so she knows she will get no support from her. Emily's father on the other hand is the opposite and helps out wherever he can. And of course there is her friend, Barbara and her husband, David who have offered to help her out financially, but Emily can't and won't take their money. This is something she wants to do on her own, but finding that sort of money is not going to be easy.
  
  With Christmas just around the corner, Emily has a lot on her mind and she still misses her Gran who passed away a short while ago. Quite often Emily finds herself looking at the button jar her Gran gave her just before she died. Wishing her Gran was still here as she would know what to do and would guide her in the right direction giving her the answers she needed.
  Having her friend Barbara around has been a wonderful help to Emily in more ways than one. Then there is, Jake who has also been a great friend and Emily knows she can also count on him. He is working in Whyalla and, Emily is looking forward to seeing him return at Christmas time. And of course there is her beautiful dog, Grace who has been a great companion and Emily wouldn't be without her.
  
  Just when Emily thought her life was heading on the right track there is a sudden death and if trying to deal with that wasn't enough within days she receives more devastating news that will turn her life upside down. Once again Emily is left with difficult decisions, but just what will she decide to do?
  
  I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This is the second book in the Button Jar series the first being Saving Grace and I can't wait to read the third book which will be released later this year. Once again this was a light and very entertaining read which I have no hesitation in recommending.
  
• 
  Brenda

  4.5★s
  
  Emily Oliphant had settled into the lovely old house in Wattle Creek after being offered it to rent by the elderly owners. She loved the house, even though it was very dilapidated – now that they had offered to sell it to her, she had plans to renovate, maybe turn it into a B&B, but just couldn’t work out how she would afford it. She had recently left her abusive husband John Stratten and though she felt totally relieved to have done so, she didn’t have a lot of confidence – confidence which he had succeeded in lowering during her marriage to him.
  
  With Christmas in a few days, Emily had decided to do a quiet lunch at her place; her Mum Enid, Dad Des, best friend Barbara and her husband David, and friend Jake who was currently working in Whyalla and was joining them for the Christmas weekend. And of course her beloved Gracie, the beautiful dog she had brought with her when she’d left John. She didn’t want any fuss made over Christmas and was dreading her mother’s company if the truth was told. But the day passed peacefully and Emily felt things were beginning to fall into place – maybe everything would turn out alright for her after all.
  
  Suddenly though, an unexpected death had her reeling. The shock of the following few days caused her to second-guess everything she did. Emily found she missed her beloved Gran so very much; the button jar which she had given to Emily before her death made her feel closer to her Gran – but that was silly wasn’t it? Then a second shock caused absolute chaos – would she work out what to do now that all her plans had been thrown out the window? Would she find her inner strength to keep going?
  
  I really enjoyed this book which is the second in the Button Jar series – Saving Grace was the first. With the third being released in November 2014 it’s definitely one I’m looking forward to. Emily still needs a good shake now and then, but she’s definitely gaining more confidence in herself in this book. Time Will Tell is a book I have no hesitation in recommending highly.
  
  With thanks to The Reading Room and the publisher for my copy to read and review.
  
• 
  Lynxie

  Time Will Tell is book #2 in Fiona McCallum's Button Jar Series. After a reasonable story in book #1 I wanted to know what was going to happen to Emily...
  
  Ultimately, this book was too repetitive (how many times did we have to be reminded about John, about Nathan, about Enid?). The plot twists were glaringly obvious, the subtle hints were as subtle as a sledge hammer.
  
  I really started hating Emily in this one, her moodiness and stupidity were so bad I wanted to throttle her.
  
  Add to that, the 'country bumpkin-ness' sign she places upon her head as soon as she left Wattle Creek, it almost made me want to puke.
  
  Overall, this was very much a 'sequel'. Not a great deal of importance happens in this one, everything is internally focussed on Emily and her inability to make the right decisions, even the most basic ones.
  
  Having said that, I still found the book easy to read - I read the whole thing in one day and at some point in the future I will probably buy the third book in the series just to see how it all pans out, but I'm not in any great rush.
  
  The saving parts of this book were Grace (the Border Collie pup) and Jake, I also liked Simone's character too.
  
  There were a number of small typos and grammar issues - but as this was an ARC they may have been picked up before publication.
  
  **Note: I was provided a copy of this book from the Publisher in return for an honest review**
• 
  Sally906

  TIME WILL TELL is the second book in the Button Jar series and follows on from ‘Saving Grace’ which I reviewed last year here. With the help of friends Emily has settled into single life. Her soon to be ex-husband John had made her sign paperwork for a few paltry thousand dollars in exchange for a quickie non-contested divorce. So glad to escape from his abuse so easily Emily is happy to sign much to the horror of her friends, but as TIME WILL TELL opens she has found out that he has actually received hundreds of thousands of dollars as his family have bought him out of the family business and he has ripped her off big time. While she is still digesting this betrayal John is killed in a car accident and Emily discovers that he hadn’t told his parents they had separated and they are fully expecting her to sort his affairs as she is still the executor of his will and main beneficiary of his property. Two more deaths follow which blow her budding plans away along with the little bit of confidence that she had gained. Talk about twists and turns – I thought she’d be happily setting up a B&B in this book, but what would I the reader know! I have to confess that Emily’s actions made me shake my head at times, like refusing legal advice - again; she obviously hadn’t learned from when she got ripped off in ‘Saving Grace’. Yes, I got that she had no confidence, but she just didn’t seem to settle on a course of action and was all over the place with her dithering. Then when she should have kept quiet she raged like a bull and then found herself even more miserable. Still part of the joy of reading TIME WILL TELL was watching how Emily got her life on track again and there was a lot more personal growth in TIME WILL TELL as she faced her fears and cocked her snoot at ignorant public opinions and, more importantly, her mother.
  
  Beautifully written, Fiona McCallum just brings the country scenes alive and I could see myself pulling up a chair and having a cuppa after a walk through the paddocks with Emily and Grace. And, for all her dithering and insecurities, I like Emily – she doesn’t have a job and supporters of her husband are not inclined to give her one anyway, she has very little cash and so won’t splash what she has around and she has a vague idea of what she wants to do with her life, with little idea how to do it. That’s where her friends come in – full of useful advice, which Emily promptly dismisses as all too hard - she has to hit rock bottom before she plucks up enough courage to stop being stubborn, listen to advice, and finally make some positive moves to set things in motion. Now, perhaps, there is hope for her on the horizon.
  
  ‘Meant to be’ is the third and final instalment of The Button Jar series, and is set for release in November 2014 and I for one can hardly wait. Will she finally make use of what is contained in the Button Jar? (Because this is one of the issues that made me roll my eyes at her thought process.) Has everything settled after the death of her husband? Has she found Mr Right? All will be revealed – and maybe things I haven’t thought of, because Fiona McCallum has already proved herself to be a bit tricky and thrown a few curve balls into the plot to throw me off balance. I guess I will just have to wait until November.
  
  With thanks to Harlequin (Australia) and the author for my copy to read and review
• 
  Erica

  Emily's such a passive character. I wish she'd show some initiative!
• 
  Shannon

  Emily Oliphant is finally on a fulfilling path. She's left her abusive husband, John; she's living in a lovely old house and just been given an amazing offer to buy it from the owners, two old farming brothers, Trevor and Donald Baker; she's enjoying the supportive and honest company of her friend Barbara; and she's taking small but increasingly certain steps in standing up to her overly-critical, judgemental, guilt-tripping mother. So she has hardly any money because she signed-off so quickly on a settlement with John rather than fight for her fair share. So she has no job and doesn't know what she's going to do with herself. She's free of her miserable marriage and living independently for the first time in her life, with her dog, Grace.
  
  In the days before Christmas, which she's hosting at her house, she has an unexpected visitor: Nathan, the new, young assistant bank manager who her mother has been trying to set her up with. He's moved back to the area and doesn't want to live with his parents. He asks if she'd like a lodger, and while the money would be extremely helpful, Emily is learning to put herself first and think things through, and declines. She doesn't want to give up what she's so recently gained, and have to share her home. Yet when she gets a call from architect Jake, her cousin's friend, asking her if he can stay the weekend while he's in her area on a business trip, she eagerly agrees.
  
  When Jake arrives, Emily's in the midst of organising her grandmother's button jar, something she gave Emily before her death several years earlier. Emily finds the job therapeutic, but when Jake joins in he discovers something with potentially huge repercussions: uncut diamonds from India. Suddenly it seems like Emily's sitting on the answers to all her problems: money, and lots of it too. But almost immediately Emily starts thinking about all the problems that could arise if she tries to cash the diamonds in, and even more importantly to her, that there's something slightly sacrilegious about selling things her gran had held onto for so long, and kept secret. So the buttons and the diamonds go back into the jar, and Jake agrees not to tell anyone about the find.
  
  After Christmas - blessedly mother-free - Emily receives a new shock, and then another. It seems like just when she was on the road to sorting out her life, figuring out what to do with herself and looking forward to the future, fate intervenes in more ways than one. Now she must draw upon her new-found strength and resilience to work her way through these new circumstances, but Emily is still a novice at being an independent, strong, resourceful woman, and she doesn't always make the best decisions.
  
  When I expressed my interest in reading this book, I didn't realise it was the sequel to Saving Grace, or part of a series. The premise interested me: I was drawn to the idea of a woman finding her feet, putting her love into home and land, and "turning a new leaf". That certainly is what the story is about, only not in a way that I enjoyed all that much.
  
  The trouble is, mostly, Emily herself. She's a tricky character to pin an entire story on, someone who lacks courage, inner strength, experience or, sometimes, a sane head on her shoulders. She did try my patience more than once, and it was hard to feel sympathetic for her when she seems like such a drip. I guess I don't have all that much patience for someone so gauche, so insipid, so uncertain and, at times, childish. I haven't read Saving Grace - and I don't feel a strong need to, since Time Will Tell covers the pertinent details well - so I haven't seen the character's growth arc from the beginning (having read a few other reviews, I gather she's come a long way, so it's just as well I started with book 2). Emily does make progress - I find I have to tell myself that sternly, because it's easy to forget - and she does learn to stand up for herself a bit more, but honestly she could be pretty infuriating at times.
  
  My struggle with Emily was compounded by the fact that I could empathise, sympathise and understand her problems and what she was going through. McCallum did a good job in bridging the gap between me and my personality, and Emily. It almost made me angry, at times, sympathising and empathising while at the same time wanting to throw up my hands and leave her to it. She does go on a bit! It's a slow-paced novel, and while some plot points felt horribly contrived (what happens to John, especially), others seemed to evolve naturally. There were things that I wasn't really sure about - such as whether the townsfolks' censure of Emily was all in her own head - and some things that seemed ominous and sinister - like Nathan's pushy self-invitations and phone calls (does she know she has diamonds and wants to steal them? Nah, he couldn't, but then what's with his behaviour??). I couldn't quite get a grip on this story, and that bothered me more than anything. The cosy relationship between Emily and Jake was both too easy and too formulaic, and I didn't really feel much chemistry between them - exacerbated by the fact that if I was annoyed by Emily, how could I understand what someone lovely like Jake saw in her? That's the trouble with being so firmly inside the head of someone like Emily (told in third person but strictly from her point-of-view): we see her in much the same negative light as she sees herself.
  
  Overall, it's not a bad story, and I had no trouble reading to the end, it's just not a character I could really love. I appreciated her struggles, her personal growth, but she's just not the kind of person I could be friends with in real life. I'd have better luck with Barbara (though who calls their kids "Barbara" anymore? It made me picture her as a fifty-year-old woman, at least, and I think she's meant to be Emily's age). Not sure why Barbara doesn't lose patience with Emily, though. The woman is more patient and kind-hearted than I am, it seems. Oh which reminds me, there was something of the "kicked dog" to Emily - apt, considering she is the victim of domestic violence and worse at the hands of her ex-husband. Not having lived through that with her (in Saving Grace), I could only sympathise in the abstract. Perhaps that, ultimately, is the problem with reading the sequel to a book you've never read: you don't "get" the protagonist in the way you should. But I don't think so. There are plenty of stories that leave people's back story in the past, and don't relive it. I treated this like that, and found that the references to the past were enough. It's really just Emily, and to a slightly lesser degree, the writing style, that just didn't click with me.
  
  My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book.
• 
  Bec Whyte

  I liked that this book started where saving grace finished because there was no trying to fill in the gaps. But I don't like the fact Emily is such a weak character - she's had enough time and change to begin to show her true self yet she's still relying on other characters like jake and Barbara to reassure her.
• 
  Tracy

  Emily the main character is selfish and shallow. I really can't take to her. The writing is so stilted and false. Didn't really enjoy this book very much but I am reading the 3rd in the series as I may as well finish it off and see what happens.
• 
  Jo :: The Country Book Nerd

  This book was infuriating. I can’t tell if I loved it or hated it. The main character needs a back bone and her constant willingness to lie down and get walked all over was annoying. That said, I am interested to see how this trilogy ends.
• 
  Don

   
  Time Will Tell 
  (Button Jar  #2)
  by
  Fiona McCallum
  
  Still small town Wattle Creek,  Time Will Tell picks up where Saving Grace left off.  In fact both books only cover a period of about two months.
  
  Emily struggles financially as she was bullied into signing a less than desirable financial settlement by husband John.  She regrets not consulting a lawyer and then repeats the same, or similar, mistake several more times.  In fact those times I found her decision making extremely frustrating.
  
  Before the demise of her marriage, Emily had dreamed of opening a B&B in a small stone cottage on the farm, until John razed it to the ground.  This dream continued with her new home; however she was only renting, struggling and worrying about her finances, or lack thereof.
  An option to purchase her rental, on good terms, was too good to pass and all seemed to be looking up, until….
  
  Tragedy and a new love develop roughly, very roughly, about the same time.  Will the new love work out?  Only time will tell.
  
  Again Narrator Jennifer Vuletic is to be showered with kudos for her narration and her character voices which aids greatly in identifying each character and therefore, the overall enjoyment of Time Will Tell.
  That said I still felt the Time Will Tell was worthy of a four star rating.  The story flowed and was reasonably believable.  And having spent most of my life near a small town I could identify with many of the characters included.
  
  Time Will Tell  is book two of the Button Jar Trilogy and, therefore, is not my first nor will it be my last review of Fiona McCallum's offerings.
  
  If you enjoy Australian fiction, you will enjoy Fiona McCallum’s work.
  
  Goodreads readers have rated
  Time Will Tell  
  an average of 
  3.93 stars
  from 415 ratings and 56 reviews 
• 
  Marles Henry

  Time Will Tell is the second book in a series called the Button Jar series.  I wasn’t aware of this before I read it, so it is good that the button jar is referred to again, and its secret is revealed!  The jar is full of odd buttons her grandmother used to own and this secret is what propels a few of the activities in this book – I’m not giving it away though, and I had to re-read that part twice just to make sure I read what it was properly! There is so much more to this story than then blurb on the back, and I was really happy to find this out through reading. I think that this is a element very true of Australian authors: they know how to pack do much in and twist a plot in such a way that you might never expect it. 
  
  Emily is rebuilding her life and still struggles with confidence. You can see why she is so hard on herself, and seems like she cannot make a decision. Her heart is in the right place, though, more than her head sometimes which was a little worrying. Again, a good reflection of where your head and heart may be after such a traumatic relationship, and all of the other incidents that occur in this story. The title is quite apt for describing Emily’s predicaments: everything is about timing, and persevering (and wanting to slap her mother out of the book!). Emily’s friends are more liker her family, and they are there for her when she finally pushes her stubbornness aside to make changes in her life.
  
  For those who have not read a lot of literature set in Australia, this is a great one to sink your teeth into. Fiona McCallum captures the serenity of the country so well, I felt like I could sit out on a verandah watching Emily run though all of her challenges. This was my first foray into Fiona McCallum’s writing, and I know I will definitely find some more books of her books to read. 
• 
  Maria

  Second the Button Jar series, and like the first book I had to download it from Kindle store as I was unable to find this book anywhere, already owning book 3 I was determined to read the story of Emily and her life.
  
  This book was a great read, however, I did find it getting bogged down with too many same again-same again similar passages. We establish how Emily is feeling, so re-hashing her thoughts over and over again was becoming tedious. Yes, the character is going through a lot and I understand the flow of the writing to allow us into her anxieties, but it was just a little too much for me.
  
  However, the story itself was very good, and kept my interest. I had read it all in one day! I had lost myself in it and found wanting to know more of the decisions she would or might make to sort out her difficult mother, her ex-husband's finances, and a possible new love interest. I am rooting she stays in the house she is living in and wishes to renovate, however I will only know when I read Book 3.
  
• 
  Mary Ladrick

  A fabulous book by Fiona McCallum. If you want a feel good book about relationships then read this! This is book two in the Button Jar story. I enjoyed this follow on and the growth in Emily. Emily's mother does not surprise me after book one! I listened to the audiobook which was narrated so well. Very engaging! I look forward to book three!
• 
  Rebecca

  Book two wow gorgeous sweet loving but heartbreaking to it's a stunning read of friends family and love you need to read book 1 first. Then follow Emily through her love heartache and life so loved it.
• 
  Vicki Robe

  A fantastic continuation to Saving Grace (Book 1 in the Button Jar Series) and the life of Emily Oliphant. The motto to this book is your life can change so much and so quickly if things are not done properly and adequately in a legal sense.
• 
  Christine

  Excellent read.
• 
  Reannon Bowen

  Hhmmm not as good as the first book in the series, a little reparative & at times frustrating but as with my chick lit it keeps you reading & looking for the happily ever after. Book 3 here I come.
• 
  Trena

  The book was a good one,character so really I wanted to throttle Emily.She is stubborn ,hasn't learnt from her mistakes.Cant help but like her.
• 
  Sherryle

  Great storyline!
• 
  Michelle McColl

  Nice continuing story. Cute the different twists and turns, keeping your attention.
• 
  Maddy Smith

  finally, i predicted that bloody jar as soon as we read the letter.
  oh emily you poor thing, but seriously pick yourself up and grow a pair, hun.
• 
  Sandy

  A thoroughly enjoyable book.
  I love the story and the characters and the twists that happen.
  Moved at a great pace (the first book in the series was a bit slow).
  
• 
  SingleMummy24

  Oh my God I loved it! I love how Fiona's books are realistic and the characters are so real. It makes me hope that things really DO work out...eventually
• 
  Sharon

  Really enjoyed this book