Jess has raised her son William on her own for the last ten years. His father, Adam, hasn’t really been around and Jess is fine with that. But then Adam invites William and Jess to his hotel in France. Whilst there Jess will have to assess her true feelings for Adam and deal with a tragic secret of her own.
This book arrived on a day when I was due to choose a new read. I picked it up to see what it was about and then barely put it down until I finished the final page.
There’s just the right balance between humour and sadness, the prose being both moving and funny in equal measure. The novel deals with issues not always raised in literature. The issues discussed were things I had heard of but this book will be a welcome way of providing the exposure needed. And no, I won’t mention what those issues were as I don’t want to spoil the novel.
All of the characters are well drawn, each of them adding to the story. William is a loveable character, clever, mature and yet also retaining the childlike quality of someone on the cusp of adolescence. The relationship between him and Jess is a well-developed, believable one, and makes the story more effecting because of it. Adam is a charming man, it is easy to see why Jess fell for him. It is also apparent there is more to him than Jess believes. Both he and Jess complement each other, more so than they perhaps realise. The other characters all add to the story, none of them jarring with the narrative.
Film rights have been optioned for You, Me, Everything and it’s easy to see why. This book is one you can envisage as a film as you read, the descriptions of the location so vivid it made me want to visit the Dordogne and the story arc one which flows well, keeping the reader engaged throughout.
This is an entertaining, absorbing, moving novel, one in which I read all 419 pages in one day. I’ll be sure to look out for more books from Catherine Isaac in the future.
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