I was completely engrossed in this book from the beginning. Brit Bennett took me on a ride from the 1950s to the 90s, from the Deep South to California, with such an original and thought-provoking plot and fully developed characters. She really made me think about how the past and our histories can shape us and our futures, and can help to explain why people do what they do.
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP BESTSELLER #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE
'An utterly mesmerising novel..I absolutely loved this book' Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize 2019
'Epic' Kiley Reid, O, The Oprah Magazine
'Favourite book [of the] year' Issa Rae
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years…
I found this novel to be an original take on the romantic comedy genre, and a clever commentary on the modern and often hypocritical world of dating. The dialogue hums with acerbic wit and banter between two people who are inexplicably drawn to each other.
This isn't a long book but it packs a punch. Nora Ephron is a brilliant observer of character and relationships, and of a marriage falling apart. She writes sparely but with humour and astuteness. She made me laugh despite the sad premise.
If I had to do it over again, I would have made a different kind of pie. The pie I threw at Mark made a terrific mess, but a blueberry pie would have been even better, since it would have permanently ruined his new blazer, the one he bought with Thelma ... I picked up the pie, thanked God for linoleum floor, and threw it' Rachel Samstat is smart, successful, married to a high-flying Washington journalist... and devastated. She has discovered that her husband is having an affair with Thelma Rice, 'a fairly tall person with a neck as long…
Oliver Clock has everything arranged just so. A steady job running the family funeral home. A fridge stocked with ready meals. A drawer full of colour-coded socks. A plan (of sorts) to stay trim enough for a standard-sized coffin. And in florist Marie, he’s even found the love of his life – not that she’s aware of it.
When a terrible tragedy takes Marie out of his life but leaves him with her private journal, he discovers too late that she secretly loved him. Now faced with an empty love life, a family funeral business in trouble, a fast-approaching fortieth birthday and a notebook of resolutions he’s never achieved, Oliver resolves to open himself up to love—and all the mess that comes along with it.
But, with a habit of burying his feelings, can Oliver learn to embrace his lovability and find the woman who will make him feel whole?
