I had a bad migraine in the past few days. I can’t help. Some periods my head hurts so much that I can’t cope with anything; even reading, writing and listening to music, some of the things I love to do the most, become impossible activities. I just know that if I insist to indulge in one of those, I will have to struggle with pain even more the following hours. There are exceptions. There are books that refuse to be closed, even if this means that you will pass out from pain.
THE ONE PLUS ONE by Jojo Moyes was one of those books.
ed : Penguin, 2014
368 pages
One single mum
With two jobs and two children, Jess Thomas does her best day after day. But it’s hard on your own. And sometimes you take risks you shouldn’t. Because you have to . . .
One chaotic family
Jess’s gifted, quirky daughter Tanzie is brilliant with numbers, but without a helping hand she’ll never get the chance to shine. And Nicky, Jess’s teenage stepson, can’t fight the bullies alone. Sometimes Jess feels like they’re sinking . . .
One handsome stranger
Into their lives comes Ed Nicholls, a man whose life is in chaos, and who is running from a deeply uncertain future. But he has time on his hands. He knows what it’s like to be lonely. And he wants to help . . .
One unexpected love story
The One Plus One is a captivating and unconventional romance about two lost souls meeting in the most unlikely circumstances.
Review. I bought it months ago, soon after its publishing. I couldn’t wait for the italian translation, not even the few months it occourred to come out; cause I had in mind the feverish sensation the reading of Me before You gave me.
It tooks me three days to finish The One Plus One, without even discount the hours of work. Three days of crying and laughing with the earth in my throath, or in the pages.
It was impossible leaving this story, even with the massive headache I was suffering.
The One Plus One talks about what it means to be part of a family, to love, and to confront the struggles of the real life. Life does not watch anyone in the face. Nor the poor, nor the rich. Bad things happens. Everyone commits errors, or have ill thoughts in desperate moments. Nice things happen too, even when you are not expecting them at all. Keep going. Never give up. Its get better. It will be okay. Seems a bunch of bullshit, isn’t it ? But Jess Rae Thomas and her crazy family will make the reader confident and full of hope about what life can reserve, if only you … keep going. And again. The world is full of dangers and bad person. But when in need, you can count in the kindness of strangers. I could tell you something about the kindness of strangers. It is a real thing. A real, real, thing. Crossed fingers on my heart, I swear it. Then, you don’t need to love romance, to simpatize with Ed and Jess. You don’t need to love math to feel for Tanzie, to admire her and hope for her future and smile and laugh and cry for her.
And surely, you will love Nicky, its own craziness, he “being different”, but not in the way you expected, he being vulnerable but kind and protective and observant. You will want to punch that monster of Jason Fisher in the face. And probably, at the end, you will be satisfied and happy and sad at the same moment, with puffy eyes and all …
Let me tell you sincerely, I will pay this stunt, but it was worth it. Like a crazy, amazing, full-of-trouble journey from England to Scotland in a Audi that could not go over 40 h/km with an enormous farting dog (you will love Norman, too !), bags of inconvenients, and not so much rest !
Really, it was worth it. You will love it. It is a true story, eventually it gets better, if you only permit yourself to fight, to be honest and to love.
Loving books 