Rating: 5 out of 5

Read as the first book for a book club I’ve recently joined. And whether I stay with the book club or not, I’m immensely grateful for being pointed at this book. It’s beautiful. Not easy, sad in places, full of love in others, but ultimately beautiful.

I felt sympathy for some characters, I felt annoyance for others, they got under my skin. I loved how the characters were written. Different chapters focussed on their points of view, and this was very effective at bringing the story together.

There’s a passage about train travel, about waiting at the train station for the platform to be announced, and about the anxiety that can go with that. Will I get to the train in time? Will there be someone sitting in my reserved seat? Am I on the right train? My Grandmother, when I was 4 or 5, panicked when we were on the wrong train on the way home from a family holiday in Bridlington. And that has left me with a residue of train travel anxiety. This passage was brilliantly written. My heart raced, I was there, I recognised the thoughts and feelings completely.

I loved this. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up reading it again.

Highlighted passage:

When the love of your life dies, the problem is not that some part of you dies too, which it does, but that some part of you is still alive

Originally posted to my Goodreads account