The Little Pieces of You and Me by Vanessa Greene
| The Little Pieces of You and Me by Vanessa Greene | |
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| Category: Women's Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Morris
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| Summary: A bittersweet story of life's challenges and triumphs, we have a nice friendship that shows that girls can conquer anything | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 384 | Date: August 2016 |
| Publisher: Sphere | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0751563764 | |
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Sometimes you know exactly what you want in life, can list it all quite easily. At the end of their first year of uni, Isla and Sophie make lists. Just one list each, but with a number of items on. Things they want to accomplish in their lives. Lofty goals and easier wins. It's a fun idea, and I did the same when I was 17 and nannying in Italy for the summer. I found the list maybe 10 years later and it made me smile, remembering what was important to me at the time, because oh, how those things change. For Isla and Sophie, they don't have to wait as long, as their lists play a more prominent role in their lives.
A few years later, Isla is living her list. A job doing what she dreamed of, a life abroad, it's all come together. Sophie, on the other hand, has not fared quite so well. She's reasonably happy but being a second wife, with a teenager step daughter, and working in admin wasn't what she originally had in mind. The two are still good friends, though, and whenever one needs the other, she's there. Of course, it's that kind of book. One does need the other, after receiving some rather sad news, and suddenly all those years and all those miles don't represent any distance at all between them.
This is a heartfelt book with sweet but also funny elements. It's not entirely a sob story, though it has its moments, but more than that it's about the triumph of female friendship. In the end, both Isla and Sophie find out things about themselves and make changes to their lives, some enforced, some more voluntary. Along the way we have family drama, work drama, bloke drama and a spot of illness thrown in. There's lots going on, but these girls can manage it.
I really enjoyed this one as an easy read that neatly trod the fine line between welcome compassion and unwelcome sympathy. I felt for Isla and Sophie, but more than that I believed in them. They seemed resilient enough on their own, but even stronger together. The book has a clear direction to it and I wasn't sure how it would, or could, end, but by the final few pages I was content with the path taken. Because sometimes you know exactly what you want in life, can list it all quite easily. But then life changes...it turns out that the thing that makes you happiest was never on that list at all.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending us a copy to review. After more uplifting friendships? (As in further examples, not ones that are better than Isla and Sophie's)? The Vintage Teacup Club by Vanessa Greene is another good read.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Little Pieces of You and Me by Vanessa Greene at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Little Pieces of You and Me by Vanessa Greene at Amazon.com.
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