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The story is told from the point of view of a woman called Christine, who is in her early thirties. She runs a recruitment agency, where it’s clear that she goes well beyond the call of duty in her care and compassion for her clients. We see her interacting with a nervous young man who is full of fears, so she works with him in a sensitive way, to help him prepare for the possibility of a job interview.
But the story involves a fortnight when she takes time away from her job to be with a seriously depressed man called Adam. It took me a little while to realise this as the first chapter is a bit disjointed, dealing with cliches about lightning not striking twice, and the way this isn’t true. It all feels a bit philosophical and I couldn’t quite see the point of this. It relates to the start of the story, but doesn’t really add anything.
We quickly learn, however, that Christine has twice been with someone who was about to take their life. She is sure she said something unhelpful with the first person - even though she was only with him by chance - so she’s determined not to make any mistakes in dealing with Adam. She’s not a therapist, but he refuses to see a professional…and they have an agreement that she will try to make his life worth living before his next birthday, which is just a couple of weeks away.
Christine is a huge fan of self-help books, and each chapter of this book is head with a different (imaginary) book title of this nature. It’s quite a clever device, and it make her feel very believable. Caricatured, to be sure - but I could entirely relate to the need to buy books on any topic I want to know more about, even if the stereotypical ‘five ways to…’ is not quite my taste.
So, armed with some of these books, Christine first attempts to help Adam enjoy life more - but ends up almost as miserable as he is. It doesn’t help that she has just left her husband, and he’s started leaving very nasty messages for her, and for several of their friends and relatives. There’s some light relief in a few scenes with Christine’s family - her rather camp father and two somewhat bossy sisters - but it’s not until near the end of the book that we learn why Christine grew up without a mother.
There’s a side story involving her closest friend - and the owner of her favourite book shop - who discovers something shocking and wants to follow it up… but it rather peters away and is never resolved. I’m not at all sure why that storyline was in the book, as it doesn’t really relate to the rest. However it doesn’t much matter; perhaps it was just another indication of Christine being determined to help as many people as possible, and gradually realising that sometimes the best thing is just to listen rather than to advise.
It took until I was about half-way through before I started to find the people engaging, but I did grow to like both Adam and Christine very much. I didn’t know where the story was going: one of the things Christine helps Adam to do is to try to woo his ex-girlfriend Maria, whom he had hoped to marry. But she’s clearly starting to fall for him herself.
Despite the very serious issue that is the theme of the book, it’s a fairly easy read, with plenty of light-hearted moments. So I wasn’t quite expecting a very poignant and moving scene involving a new character towards the end of the book. It highlights why some teenagers feel like taking their lives (and in some cases succeed). It’s an important sideline, and very well written, but it’s another part of the book that feels almost added on rather than being part of the main storyline.
Overall, though, I liked the book and would recommend it to anyone who likes women’s fiction that includes some contemporary issues.
Review copyright 2021 Sue's Book Reviews
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