NEW RELEASE
The State We're In - Adele Parks (2013)
Dean Taylor and Jo Russell have had completely different childhood experiences. Dean's father, Eddie, walked out on his family, while Jo was brought up in a loving environment overseen by mother Clara. Now, as Eddie Taylor lies dying, Dean flies over from Chicago to London to seek some answers but to little avail. Meanwhile Jo, searching for her happy-ever-after, plans to stop her ex-fiance's wedding in Chicago. So it is that Dean and Jo find themselves sat next to each other on a flight to Chicago and it seems that fate has brought them together. This is an absolutely engrossing read and a masterclass in storytelling, characterisation, and emotion. The impactful ending will determine most readers' opinions of the novel, and for me it was the perfect, if heartbreaking, conclusion to a novel that highlights the challenges of love and encapsulates the motto 'the course of true love never did run smooth'. An epic of a story. (JC)
The State We're In, by Adele Parks, is about two opposites meeting on a flight. The summary says: "What are the odds that the stranger sitting next to you on a plane is destined to change your life? Especially when they appear to be your opposite in every way. She's a life-long optimist, looking for her soul mate in every man she meets; he's a resolute cynic - cruel experience has taught him never to put his faith in anyone. People can surprise you. In the time it takes to fly from London to Chicago, each finds something in the other that they didn't even realise they needed. Their pasts are such that they can never make one another happy and it's when they get off the plane that their true journey begins..." The State We're In is out in July 2013.