In her blockbuster international bestsellers, Harriet Evans perfectly captures the complex lives of young twenty-first-century career women. Now she returns with a new novel about a young woman who refuses to believe happy endings are real.
Synopsis: At twenty-two, Eleanor Bee is sure about three things: she wants to move to London and become a literary superstar, she wants to be able to afford to buy a coffee and croissant every morning, and she doesn’t believe in happy endings. She saw what divorce did to her parents, especially her mum—happily ever after’s fine on the last page of a book, but it just doesn’t happen in real life.
Elle moves to London. She gets a job at Bluebird Books, a charmingly old-fashioned publisher. She falls out of pubs, wears too-short skirts, makes lots of mistakes, and feels like she’s learning nothing and everything at the same time. And then, out of the blue, she falls in love and realizes just how much growing up she has to do.
Ten years later, Elle’s life has changed in ways she could never have predicted, from moving to New York to becoming a highly successful editor. Because no matter where you go and how much you try to run away, the past has a funny way of catching up with you, and happy endings come in all shapes and sizes.
Review: This was NOT a quick read, at almost 500 pages (!!), yet I finished it in 3 sittings, none the less! It's like having a trilogy in one book- there's young Elle, New York Elle, and older Elle. In many ways the book echoes what a lot of working women go through- the fleeing with eyes wide open into the business world, with wrong expectations. Then finding your footing and making decisions about what to let go. And then finally getting enough experience to look back on your life with hindsight and see where you made the wrong decision, and hopefully be able to take the right turn, to lead you back to that happiness. Ok, so a lot of people call it mid-life crisis, but I think Evans has it right when she calls it finding the "Happily Ever After".
This was an enjoyable read and one that I will be sharing with friends, so we can laugh and reminiscence and discuss the future! But I'm sure ti will come back around to the Top Shelf in time! Check it out, you'll find yourself laughing, sighing and crying along with Elle!
Review: This was NOT a quick read, at almost 500 pages (!!), yet I finished it in 3 sittings, none the less! It's like having a trilogy in one book- there's young Elle, New York Elle, and older Elle. In many ways the book echoes what a lot of working women go through- the fleeing with eyes wide open into the business world, with wrong expectations. Then finding your footing and making decisions about what to let go. And then finally getting enough experience to look back on your life with hindsight and see where you made the wrong decision, and hopefully be able to take the right turn, to lead you back to that happiness. Ok, so a lot of people call it mid-life crisis, but I think Evans has it right when she calls it finding the "Happily Ever After".
This was an enjoyable read and one that I will be sharing with friends, so we can laugh and reminiscence and discuss the future! But I'm sure ti will come back around to the Top Shelf in time! Check it out, you'll find yourself laughing, sighing and crying along with Elle!
About the Author: Harriet Evans a former publishing executive in the UK, is the author of four novels. She lives in London where she is writing her next novel. Check out her website for more info!
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Gallery Books, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, besides a small monetary one, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
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