I liked the concept of this book
– the way chance and destiny shape our lives.
The story is three versions of the same life having taken different
paths along the way. It starts in 1958
when nineteen year old students, Eva and Jim, meet in a lane in Cambridge. Eva is approaching on a bicycle and swerves
to avoid a dog. From this point in time
three different versions of the same life begin. In version one Jim stops to help Eva and
romance blossoms. In version two Jim merely calls out to her and she doesn’t
stop. In version three, they stop and
speak and a spark is ignited. The story
follows each version of their lives through the years using alternate chapters
for the different versions. This
structure must have been hard for the author to maintain, but she does it seamlessly. At times, flipping backwards and forwards
between the different versions detracted from my enjoyment of the story. The author will be appearing at the Parisot
Literary Festival (Festilitt) and I’m looking forward to hearing her as it is
always insightful listening to an author talk about their book.
