I enjoyed this modern day spin on Pride & Prejudice. It takes place in London, so it has the British quirkiness that I have come to love in a story. I would place Marianne Kavanagh in a similar category as authors JoJo Moyes and Sophie Kinsella.
Eva and Kim are sisters living together, but on their own without parents since they were in their late teens. Their selfish and arrogant father left them for Jia, a younger wife with whom he now has two little boys. Grace, their selfish mother, left them for Jean Luc and his Parisian estate. Kim and Eva are close, and when Eva’s friend Harry becomes part of the picture, Kim starts to feel like a third wheel and get left out of much of Eva’s daily life. Harry is handsome, rich, and a charmer. Women fall all over themselves for Harry, including Eva and Kim’s friends Damaris and Izzie. Kim can’t understand because she finds Harry, a banker, to be flashy, arrogant, and insensitive. She doesn’t give him much chance to change her mind, and decides that she will go on hating him, even though she has to be around him all the time. Harry doesn’t understand why Kim hates him, so he deals with her in a joking manner, which fuels her anger and resentment toward him. Kim assumes that Harry is Eva’s lover and therefore the father of her young son, Otis, as well. One would think Harry is the father, especially because he pays for the flat where Eva and Otis live. He offers to help Kim, but her pride and vendetta towards Harry prevent her from accepting.
The story follows Kim, Eva, and Harry through the years as they travel and move from place to place, Harry ending up in New York for a time and Eva living in various communities around the world. When a few successive tragedies strike the group, Kim finds herself unable to escape Harry and his kind demeanor and offer of assistance. Will she let go of the feelings she has been harboring for years? I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, because I wanted more from the characters, mainly from Kim and Harry. However, the author didn’t tie up the ending in a neat little bow. There is quite a bit of heartache in the novel, but selflessness and love can be found as well from Damaris’s mother Christine, and Harry with his relationship toward Ethan, a young boy at the gym where Harry goes for boxing.
I would suggest this book for fans of general fiction, comedy, and/or romance. It’s quirky, witty, and fun.
Librarian Laura 