NEW RELEASE
When I Met You - Jemma Forte (2015)
Marianne Baker and her older sister, Hayley, haven't seen their dad since he upped sticks and left them to move to Australia. Or so their mum told them. But one night he suddenly walks back into Marianne's life, explaining what really happened, and it's not an easy pill to swallow. It's time to make amends, but unfortunately Marianne's dad, Ray, doesn't have time on his side. Marianne is desperate to forge a bond with him, but Hayley's not one for quick forgiveness and it's not going to be easy with Marianne's spirited mother against the idea too. She also doesn't want to upset her easy-going stepdad, and then there's the matter of Andy, her holiday fling, who's landed on her doorstep and got his feet firmly under the family table when Marianne can't for the life of her remember what she ever saw in him. And with Ray, keen to know his daughters' lives will be settled, he's not afraid to dish out a few home truths. Once again Jemma Forte has produced an amazing novel, replete with a credible heroine, a larger-than-life cast of characters and a story that is engrossing and honest. There have been a spate of novels about terminal illness in recent times but the success of this one is that it doesn't get bogged down in sentiment. Indeed, although there's never any doubt over where the story is heading, Forte gives it incredible light and shade throughout by making this more than just a novel about illness, and packing it with humour. So whilst the ending is inevitably tear-jerking, Forte doesn't drag this out too long so this is much more than a sentimental, maudlin piece. And it's testament to Forte's skill as a writer that she very much keeps the comedic element alive in the novel. I would have liked to see an epilogue to complete Marianne's story but that aside there's little to dislike about this deceptively wise and powerful novel. (JC)
When I Met You, by Jemma Forte, is about a woman facing the return of her seriously ill father. The summary says: "Marianne has just had the worst year of her life. She's lost her business, her boyfriend and instead gained a mountain of debt. To top it all she's had to move back home with her busy-body mother and garden furniture loving step-father. Her future crumbling at her feet, Marianne is lost. She has no idea where she fits, what her future will be - and then her father turns up on her doorstep, after twenty years absence, with the news that he's dying. With only months to get to know the person who may hold the key to who she really is and who she can be - Marianne has no time to lose. The last thing Marianne needs right now is romance, so when she comes face to face with her father's male nurse the gorgeous Matthew, a man she cannot have and shouldn't want, she's torn. Is she ready to move on, and can happiness really come out of her life's biggest tragedies?" When I Met You is out in January 2015.