It’s a story of companionship between Christine Rose and Adam Basil. Two strangers who develop a connection after meeting under stressful circumstances. Adam standing on the Ha’penny bridge in Dublin is poised to jump when his intentions are interrupted by Christine who happens to be walking across the bridge. She is desperate to help and talks him into a reckless deal and stops him from jumping. The deal is quite simple,yet crazy. In the following 2 weeks with Adam’s 35th birthday looming she will prove that life is worth living.
This is Ahern’s third book that I am reading and it’s my least favourite book. She is known to write thick books that keep the reader gripped throughout. The first romantic book I ever read was “ Where rainbows end” (the movie Love, Rosie is based on it) written by Ahern was nothing less than a rollercoaster of emotions for me back in 2008 and I was expecting nothing less from this one. Sadly, I was disappointed. It’s a British book and has it’s slangs which are fun to read but couldn’t help me like the book any more. It is written as a non fiction self help for the protagonist with chapters titled as- “How to” which makes it quite an interesting read.
About the characters, Christine Rose is going through an emotional phase in life after witnessing something traumatic. Not just that, she brings about a turmoil in her own personal life and just is in the midst of a chaotic situation when she meets Adam. The deal she makes with him almost sounds absurd and it is one of the reasons why I chose to read this book. The 2 weeks of grand escapades, romantic gestures and deep conversations kept me hooked, maybe I kept looking for some meaning behind it all. I guess I failed. The book has amazingly well written conversations that includes funny banter between the characters almost similar to the one I have with my friends and family. I wish I had gotten to know more about the supporting characters, it would have made me more emotionally connected to the story but nevermind. There are moments when the backstories are being revealed and you understand where the characters are coming from, but it didn’t have that impact on me that I hoped for. One thing that I did love about this book is the psychological lesson that Christine learns, taking the power away from someone is not going to help them. It’s only going to make you feel good about yourself. When you don’t feel like you are in control of your life, it does make you feel better to gain control over someone else’s life.
Spoiler alert! Love does happen at the end of the book and that too on Adam’s birthday! Some lives are saved and well, some are not. Give it a read if you love a light, funny and romantic book. I personally did not like the book, but do share your feedback with me since some might argue this to be Cecelia’s one of the best.